ABSTRACT
2The initial essay in this volume is broader in scope than those that follow, providing a programmatic framework for the analysis of social relationships as social organizations. It describes the nature of social relationships and differentiates it from similar phenomena, such as interactive encounters, groups, and role relationships. Having defined the concept of social relationships, the essay examines certain organizational features of relationships—their substance, shape, structure, and culture—and the distinctive forms these features assume in this smallest of enduring social organizations. The life of social relationships is viewed in terms both of organizational dynamics (such as recruitment, socialization, interaction, innovation, social control, and logistics) and of organizational change.3
