249
As a new generation grows to adulthood, allegiance to the
* * 4
larger grouping, the Strelley Mob, will continue to rest on a
fusion of inheritance and voluntary acceptance. Since the
individual’s parents were members of the ’founding fathers',
membership of the total group is inherited.
However, the choice for the individual to hive off from the
Mob will continue to be a possibility, as it was for the group
itself which split in two in the fiftiesɪ. The choice to opt
f
out of kinship groupings "is not possible. This is one of the 'plurels,
* ` ∙ *
which Sorokin points out are not socially constructed and therefore
cannot be changed.
The choice to distance oneself spatially from kin, however
remains as a possibility.
Individuals may, and do move out.
However, apart from the masculine∕feminine identity and its
’known’ characteristics, it may appear that, in this society, except
in a limited sense, there is no choice of identity. The Law iδ
prescriptive. If individuals remain spatially within Strelley,
identity is ascribed.
15.3 Choice of identity∕achieved identity
While choice is limited by the psychological model of
the Mob and consequently the psychological reality to be found
within that model, there are choices of particular roles to be made
within that framework.
At Strelley, significant others watch the young person closely
for signs of developing characteristics which point towards a choice
of role, and which influence the decisions made by adults. Mention
has been made of the selection of people to be teachers. The same
process applies to other 'identities’ which are associated with
particular roles - health workers, station hands, horse-breakers.
See p. 230a.