ABSTRACT
Migrants to a radically different environment from their accustomed one usually require some kind of adaptive mechanism to ease the transition to a new situation and a new life. Often the mechanism is a social grouping of some sort in the new location. This is particularly so for migrants arriving without any kin or friends to receive them. Much has been written about adaptive organizations, ones that help new immigrants with basic initial needs-housing, jobs, and social support in particular. Important as adaptive organizations may be to newcomers, they may also fill the needs of "old timers," or those who have been residents of the new locale for some time. Adaptation, in other words, is not just what an immigrant does; it is an ongoing process for residents past the immigrant stage. This is so because the needs of a resident change over time as he or she adapts to the new environment, and so do his or her attitudes. I In other words, we can look at adaptive organizations as bodies that provide varying services and meet the varying needs of newcomers and somewhat older ex-migrants over, sometimes, a period of several years. What determines how long that period is depends on how thoroughly the ex-immigrant is integrated into the receiving society and how he sees himself in relation to it and to the country and people of his origin.
