ABSTRACT
Perhaps the key to understanding the psychology of this group lies in the relation between the individual, his family and those people not in the family group. It might be said that in our culture pattern in general, as we grow up, family associations lose some of their importance while work, recreational or intellectual associations supplant them. With this group this does not seem to happen on the whole. The men have work associations but the women have nothing. It is interesting to note that many of the men are dockers and dockers just now are in a perpetual state of unrest. Undoubtedly the break-up of their traditional associations is a strong contributing cause. Most of these people are Catholic and therefore it might be thought that the associations centred round the Church would absorb what energy might be advantageously used in group life. However this is not the case. The majority of adults neither go to church nor take part in its social activities very often. The interesting thing is that the children are often ardent churchgoers, owing to the fact that they attend Catholic schools. Most of their parents also attended these same schools but the religious feelings generated in childhood do not seem to persist, in general, into adult life. From a practical point of view the busy mother will not have much time for church. All associations, except those concerned with the family, seem to drop away at marriage.
