PARTIAL ALIENATION AS ORGANIZATIONAL PARENT-MEMBER ACCOMMODATION - ANURBAN, MIDWESTERN CATHOLIC PARISH

Hout and Greeley (1987) use the term ''partial alienation'' to designa te how many American Catholics remain active in the Church, even as th ey disagree with numerous positions and policies. In studying American Catholicism, however, researchers have paid little attention to the p henomenon of partial alienation at the parish level. But a parish, sim ilar to an individual, may exhibit partial alienation. This article an alyzes the dynamics of parish-based partial alienation in one self-ide ntified ''Vatican II'' parish. When examined in-depth, such partial al ienation reveals the dynamics whereby, a parish remains apart from the larger Church even as it re-identifies with it. Even when alienation seems to dominate, it is only partial, predicated on a deep affiliatio n with the larger Church that members simply assume. Thus, the Church- parish relation is an ambiguous, many-faceted one marked by tenuousnes s and tenacity.