980). Living systems can and do operate at varying levels of effectiveness and efficiency, but, to be able to operate at all, some minimum level of balance, both internally and externally, must be maintained (Johnson, 1980). A behavioral system possess sufficient flexibility to react effectively to usual variations in the forces acting upon it, and it possess sufficient stress tolerance to permit effective adjustment to many extreme variations in these forces (Johnson, 1980).
The structural analysis of social systems may be either systems centered or actor centered (Bertrand, 1987). The purpose of actor centered analysis is to see the actor as related to a system of behavior which persists throughout a given social space. The relevant factors in actor centered analysis are (1) norms, (2) roles, (3) status positions, (4) actor situs, and (5) actor station. Actor centered analysis relies on the application of role theory. In such applications, the structure of social roles, the process of commun
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