Group Structure and Social Organization

In order to examine the impact that group structure may have on individual outcomes, a working definition of the term may be useful. That, in turn, should help explain the principles underlying group formation and enable the research to identify the effect of SES on group processes and behavior. The definitional difficulty is that, even though the bare-bones sociological understanding of group structure is that it deals with roles that individuals assume when they join a group and how the roles interoperate, there is great variation in how group structure is analyzed.

Max Weber's social theory is one point of departure. Weber takes the view that the individual derives psychological self-worth from association with social groups or subgroups that

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mplification of racial and ethnic "difference" vis-à-vis the white-dominant culture can lead to alcoholism in individuals who perceive themselves as being in the outgroup. Alcohol use, on this view, is a response to the fact of being a member of an ethnic minority in a mainstream culture. However, the attributes of group structure can also play a part in the process of reclaiming health. One example is the experience of African Americans in Alcoholics Anonymous, though the organization's early years were marked by racial segregation (Hudson, 1985-6). Hudson suggests that the "culture" of AA, which promoted mutual support and self-help of members in the nondrinking in-group, provided resources to members in a way that overcame racial issues and fostered "focused" fellowship and socialization and something of a cross-cultural success story. In other words, racial solidarity was not the sole path to successful AA outcomes for African Americans; the fellowship and support dynamics were also important. The effect of SES in matters of unhealthy substance abuse has been factored into recent research on group structure. SES would appear to indirectly confirm that part of group-structure theory that emphasizes the importance of the roles
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2141
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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