A completely different perspective has come from a number of descriptive studies which have sought to identify general personal characteristics of radicals. One important study has been concerned with the so-called "deprivation hypothesis". This suggests that recruits are deprived In some way. Hoffer (l95l) provides one of the most complete statements of this hypothesis. He cites seven categories of deprived people who he claims are "potential converts". These people he sees as frustrated by
"the consciousness of an irremediably blemished self", (p.58.) This promotes a feeling of a lack of confidence and produces a strong desire to feel a part of something which transcends the self and compensates for the inadequacy. Geschwender (1968) has
produced three temporal variables, rising expectations, relative deprivation and downward mobility and one non-temporal variable, status inconsistency, which he suggests predispose recruits in joining social movements. All of these variables involve
deprivation. On the other hand, Gerlach and Hine (1970) suggest that the most important factor was face-to-face contact with members of the movement. They found the deprivation hypothesis to offer little relevance. Laver (1972) supports Gerlach and Hines’ view when studying the L.S.D. movement where as many as 75~80>o of recruits to one aspect of the movement were professional
middle-class people such as psychologists, businessmen, engineers, teachers, artists, architects and theologians.. He goes on to suggest that the meaning of a movement to those who join or are potential recruits
"is a function of three factors: the societal definition of the movement; the movement’s self-definition; and the adherent’s or potential adherent’s own definition which is derived from his perception of the first two” (p.325)• Such an interactionist analysis ignores the unconscious variables which have been argued to play an important role in the motivation of recruits, but provides a more complex model of factors involved than the simplistic assumptions of the deprivation hypothesis.
Flacks (1967) in quoting both anecdotal and systemmatic
findings regarding the class structure of student radicals suggests that
’’the student movement represents the disaffection not of an underprivileged stratum of the student population but of the most advantaged sector of the students" (his emphasis), (p.55)*
Not only were students found to be from higher status families, but Flacks also reports that many activists -
"are academically superior, and that very few activists are recruited from among low academic achievers" (p.56). Indeed, as a group, the grades of student protesters averaged higher than those of non-protesters. Some of these findings are in conflict with work done by Geller and Howard (1972) who
investigated the motives, values, attitudes, intelligence and sociological background of signers of a pledge resisting induction into the Armed Services. They found the signers to be neither significantly better students nor more privileged. They suggest that the signing was a manifestation of an
"anti-institutional, yet non-fatalistic and non-authoritarian life style which is highlighted by a marked concern with developing helpful, protective, intimate relationships and a devaluation of achievement, deference to authority and self-restraint" (p.114).
Whilst the demographic and intelligence data are in conflict with Flacks (1967), these latter findings are in general agreement with the four value patterns which Flacks suggests are highly correlated with activism, romanticism, intellectualism,
humanitarianism and moralism. The first three have a strong positive correlation and the latter a strong negative. This position is broadly supported by Say (1967), Sampson (1967), Soloman and Fishman (1964) and Keniston (l965> 19^7» 1968, 1971) who has introduced the idea of a "post modern style" among student.. activists which emphasises openness and responsiveness to change, an abhorrence of exploitative and artificial relationships, inter racialism, internationalism, an ambivalence toward technology and a psychological commitment to non-violence. All of these \/riters and researchers seem to be suggesting that these radical activists are attempting to find -
"a new form of personal existence for themselves and others” (Schaull and Ogelsby, 1967* P*194)»
Several criticisms may be made of this approach to the study of recruits, particularly with a view to the present study of organisation development consultants. Firstly, one can criticise the early deprivation hypothesis. The weight of later findings suggests a more complex motivation in need of a sound theoretical formulation which appears to be lacking at the moment. Hence, the later studies tend to be descriptive rather than causative, producing concepts derived from the field but with little
theoretical backup in terms of relationship with existing theory or relationships between concepts and studies. This is a similar criticism made concerning studies of authoritarianism and stems from a similar methodology. An important criticism of many of the later studies is the student population on which they were performed. One can suggest that it is hardly surprising that the dimensions unravelled reflected attempts on the part of activists to discover new forms of personal existence. Perhaps this could be interpreted as the major task of most students and that radicalism provides a useful arena for that purpose, other students using different mechanisms.' Although the findings at the level of description are interesting, one must question seriously the relevance of findings pertaining to this group for the study of a professional subgroup. The level of causality of motivation, to be discussed in the next section, may produce, however, some transferable insights into why some individuals choose primarily anti-establishment methods of finding meaning whilst others do not.