ABSTRACT
A complete account of any social subsystem should include a description of the social and economic surroundings in which it is placed because the environment is a part of the subsystem’s definition (Fairweather, 1967, p. 77). The lodge was an innovative social subsystem aimed at solving the problem of chronic hospitalization for mental illness. The social and economic environment in which it was implanted was very important because some outcome criteria, such as employment, necessarily involved the active interaction of the participants with the surrounding community. Since social events outside the lodge affected the well-being of its members, the lodge had to be compatible with the larger community. Thus, the success of the lodge depended on the social and economic character of the environment in which it was implanted.
