Integrity - January 1955 - Vol.9 No.4 - Group Action Versus Individualism

Sep 29, 2026

Integrity January 1955, Vol.9 No.4 examines the tension between group action and individualism, arguing that modern American life lacks a true sense of community. It frames community as essential to belonging and contrasts older local stability with contemporary social fragmentation. The editorial discusses scholarly observations on human solidarity, dehumanized work and home life, and social disorders like delinquency and mental instability. It also outlines psychological symptoms such as alienation and a loss of belonging.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryReligion & Spirituality

FormatPDF

Pages52

Reading Time2 h 11 min

AccessFree to download

Group Action Versus Individualism

Understanding community and its absence

Practical importance: social disorder and delinquency

The personal problem: loss of belonging

Symptoms: alienation, boredom, and escapism

人LINnwWO 33u S96 N人1N⁹1INI INTEGRITY,January 1955,Vol.9,No.4 EDITORIAL 1 # GROUP ACTION VERSUS INDIVIDUALISMby Ed Willock 2 WORKSHOP IN LoVEby Sister Mariel,S.S.S. R.C.Hessler452 E.Shadbolt St.Lake Orion,Michu 9 # SILENCE,DoUBLE TALK OR BETTER UNDERSTANDING by Rolf Lynton14 A SITE FOR A VILLAGEby Niall Brennan19 CREDIT UNIONS &THE COMMUNITY.by Mary Jean McGrath26 # CoMMUNISM,COMMUNITY &CHRIST by Alan Keenan,O.F.M.32 BoOK REVIEWS39 Integrity is published by lay Catholics and devotedto the integration of religion and life for our times. Published monthly by Integrity Publishing Co.,Inc.,157 East 38thStreet,New York 16,N.Y.,MU-5-8125.Edited by Dorothy.Dohen.Re-entered as Second Class Matter May 11,1950 at thePost Office in New York,N.Y.under the Act of March 3,1879.All single copies 25c each;yearly subscription:Domestic $3.00,Canadian $3.50,Foreign $4.00. ×FREE Two ladies on the bus were talking;the one telling glowinglyall about her daughter's moving into a new suburban develop-ment."And best of all everyone's so friendly.Not like our oldneighborhood where you could drop dead and no one would notice.Why there if you need any help at night you switch your outdoorlight on and everyone comes running.” It was a simple conversation but it was to me a reminder thatwhen we paint in dark shades the modern lack of community,weshould remember that here and there for the contemporary scenewe can use lighter,brighter hues.Young people whose parentswere rugged individualists are discovering new values in co-opera-tion.Where the previous generation chose the glamor andanonymity of big city life,some of the younger generation arerecognizing the importance of living in a place where one isknown. This sense of belonging is of the essence of community.Yetan exact definition of community is hard to come by.We recog-nize community when it is present;we know when it is absent;but what exactly community is is difficult to say. In his recent perspicacious analysis of the American charac-ter,People of Plenty,David Potter points to the fact that the much-vaunted American freedom to improve our lot in life has back-fired.People who rejoiced that they could get ahead in the world,now sense dejectedly that they have no place in the world—thatis,no special status,no sense of function.The humble craftsmanof a former era who felt at home in his community,who wasaware of his role there(even though it remained a static one)hada contentment denied the modern American who pays the priceof "chance for advancement"in psychological insecurity.Theintangible goods of community have only too often been sacri-ficed to material prosperity × The contributors to this issue all look at the idea of cwm-munity from different angles.It is a complex subject and theycannot cover it exhaustively.We hope to devote future issues tothe parish as a community,and to the problem technology posesto the development of a sense of community in work life.Weinvite our readers'comments.X 1 人 x Group Action Versus Individualism by ED WILLOCK Why isn't there a sense of community in American life?。Are Catholics too individualistic? We simply cannot breeze into the subject of "community"andexpect fellow members of the machine age to know what we'redriving at.They have the notion that community was a medie-val,pre-industrial thing(which,in a sense,is true)and then theygo on to conclude erroneously that it has no more to do with 1954than Eric the Red's mustache. It's very hard to talk sense when we're talking about some-thing that isn’t there.We sound like a nearsighted bloke describ-ing a mirage!But that is precisely all that is generally notedabout community these days:it isn't there!Popes and scholarsnote its absence in academic terms.They speak of the "lack ofhuman solidarity,""de-humanized wage-earners,"the "deperson-alization”and “mechanization”of the home and of society,the"lack of rapport"between the individual and his so

FAQs

What does the editorial say is missing from American life?

It argues that there is no true sense of community in American life.

Why does the editorial claim community matters practically?

It connects the lack of community with practical social problems such as juvenile delinquency, mental disorder, and growing criminality.

What psychological disturbance does the editorial describe as a key symptom?

It describes a loss of the sense of belonging, expressed through alienation, loneliness, boredom, and chronic dissatisfaction.

Sep 29, 2026

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