ABSTRACT
This study of the lodge society has brought into sharper focus a number of current social issues. The subordinate social position of the mental patient, from the time he comes to the attention of the community because of his aberrant behavior until he leaves the treatment subsystem itself, is not his exclusive possession in this society. With the disappearance of the frontier, technological advances, urbanization, and persistent prejudices, relatively nonparticipant social positions, or at least substantially marginal social statuses, have developed for many other citizens. Persons who occupy this type of lowly position are often involved in the social problems of our time. These members of our society may be ascribed such a marginal social status because they are elderly, alcoholics, drag addicts, criminals, delinquents, the physically incapacitated, those with “different” skin colors, or—in latest vogue—the socially and culturally disadvantaged. In a recent publication, Fairweather (1967) describes such marginal members of society as follows:
. . . marginal man is the product of his society. He exists as such because his social status and role are clearly defined at the fringes of social organization. This status effectively isolates him from meaningful social participation. He therefore has little commitment to or identity with the generic goals of his society. The permanent social problem of marginal groups therefore is their need for new social statuses and roles which will bring 338about their integration into the social life of the community accompanied by some personal feelings of achievement.
