Socialization to Heroism: Individualism and Collectivism in a Voluntary Search and Rescue Group

Abstract

In this paper I examine the tension between self-interested individualism and norms of self-sacrifice in a volunteer search and rescue group in the western United States. I draw on 3 1/2 years of ethnographic fieldwork to highlight how individuals were socialized to membership by conforming to the group norms along three general dimensions: the consciousness they displayed, the resources they provided, and the commitment they developed. Within each of these dimensions, I identify stages denoting members' change in status from new member to peripheral member to core member, and I show how those who achieved core membership were granted heroic status I conclude by examining how the meanings of this symbolic reward, heroic status, guided members' behavior producing a layered stage model of organizational socialization that helped them to reconcile their own interests with those of the group.