NATIVES AND STRANGERS IN BOZEMAN, MONTANA: AN APPLICATION OF SCHUTZ'S CONCEPT OF "THE STRANGER" TO A COMMUNITY EXPERIENCING RAPID GROWTH AND CHANGE

Until recently, the Bozeman area had a slow but steady growth as an agricultural and university community in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Montana. This area is currently experiencing a period of rapid growth and change, created in large part by the influx of many new residents attracted by the natural setting of the area. Residents are now beginning to consider both the physical and social effects of this growth and development. This study is both a descriptive case study of one community at a time of rapid growth and change and an exploratory study to begin to test hypotheses and to determine how various types of residents in the community define the situation there and what consequences are likely to result from their definitions. Data were collected from a questionnaire distributed to a systematic random sample of 2 percent of the adult Bozeman area residents. Survey data have been supplemented by information gathered through participant observation in the community and analysis of available data about the Bozeman area. Concepts drawn primarily from Schutz's description of "the stranger" provide a framework for developing a typology of community residents based on length of residence in the community in terms of both actual and anticipated residence there. Six of the seven hypotheses tested showed no statistically significant differences between types of residents and their opinions in response to statements about change in the community, reliable sources of knowledge, the role of conformity, self-interest, the local economic situation, and what actions should be taken to deal with growth and change in the community. The only hypothesis for which there was a basis for rejection was the general null hypothesis that "there is no relationship between length of residence in a community and residents' definitions of the situation in that community.". For 40 percent of the statements, there were significant differences between types of residents and their opinions. Generally, the native who has lived in the community all of his life, and not Schutz's stranger, is the type of resident whose opinions differ from the others. Natives often prefer Bozeman "the way it used to be." They have noticed the most change in the community and feel more negative about these changes. They are generally more willing to support measures to guide and direct growth and change. Some revision of Schutz's theory may be necessary when describing natives and strangers in a rapidly growing community. Data indicate that the natives, even more than the strangers, may be questioning the basic assumptions about life in their community when it is growing quickly. The stranger, as a concept, may be less time based than Schutz suggests and more a function of one's definition of the situation in terms of the degree of discrepancy between the cultural patterns which formerly had "worked" and the current situation. A rapidly growing and changing community may be more "new" to the native than to the newcomer who expects and is prepared for a new situation in the community to which he has moved. As Bozeman area residents question basic assumptions about life in their community, the stage is set for the crises which Schutz has described when persons feel they can no longer rely on the conventional thinking which has served them in the past. There is also the potential for the precipitating incidents and conflict which Coleman has described when there are differences in values and interests in a community.