Describes selected rules that may be abstracted from discussions in a given natural group, in this case, a nursing home admissions board. Suggested that to comprehend group structure, investigators must move beyond the internal units of conversation and consider conversational behavior in the larger context of an ethnographic present. (LLL)

Argues that adjustment to nursing homes is influenced by peer group and staff-patient interaction. Concludes that both staff and residents place demands and expectations on newcomers' conduct, and staff define successful and unsuccessful adjustment so that patients are constrained in the range of socially acceptable behavior they are permitted to…