ABSTRACT
Institutional theory is based on a functional analysis of the social system. The intersecting careers of work, family, and leisure are reciprocally related through the life course. Leisure contributes to family solidarity, offers a time for contemplation and religious practice, gives play contexts for expression and development, offers symbolic expressions of basic social values, and may be an alternative setting for school-related learning. The institutional social system is a significant element in choices, opportunities, meanings, and styles of leisure. The two primary institutional relationships or contexts for leisure are the economy and the family. Leisure includes self-contained experience, personal development, existential decision, and interaction process; but none of these elements distinguish it from work. Institutional approaches have been placed in a context of the life course in the preceding analysis of work, family, and leisure. A revised institutional model is offered as an alternative.
