These groups of counter- or subcultures range in purpose and form from organizations that try to change laws, political ideas, and religious ideas to groups trying to change such basic things as life style, by changing themselves and sharing with others.

I have had personal contact with people in many groups like this. The first ones that come to mind are the basic groups that one meets during adolescence: the social cliques from school, extracurricular clubs, and the religious groups from my own church as well as the new Jesus movements. I have also had contacts with groups such as the International Meditation Society. I am now a member, as a little sister, of a fraternity, and also an active member of a house in a dormitory.

It seems that most of these groups have specific sets of rules and objectives, and each member can have various roles assigned to them according to their abilities and interests. In most of these groups each person is assigned certain responsibilities that they must handle, and a certain behavior is expected of them. One group with which I have come in contact very recently follows some of these patterns but not all of them. As a matter of fact, it appears in some ways to me as an anti-group.

This group, a primary one, is first of all and most of all, very simply a group of friends, a circle of friends. I shall refer to it as "the circle".

I was first introduced to the circle by an acquaintance, the traditional friend of a friend introduction. After the initial meeting, I was introduced to a few more members of the circle. When I look back on that first exposure to the group I realize why I was invited into the circle.

The first, and probably only, real role expectation of this group is a friend. The group is based entirely on acceptance. My friendly attitude, openness, and open mindedness were the characteristics that made me acceptable as a member because I was accepting these people as my friends, as they were accepting me.

In looking at the group as a whole, the only single norm that is a norm for the whole group is simply acceptance. The circle is a very diversified group of people. Though it is almost entirely composed of present and past I.S.U. students, they are all very individual people, more individual people than members of any other group of this type I have been exposed to. Yet it is a definite circle, acknowledged and named.

There are included in the group people from different social classes, ages, occupations, religious beliefs, political beliefs and even moral beliefs. This may be a reason that the group is so strong. Each person as an individual can put into the group what he or she has to offer, take from it what the others have to offer, and still be an individual free from pressure to incorporate another's values or execute another's expected role without rejection. It is tacitly understood that each person as a member is accepting and understanding another's ideas without having to change his or her own.

There are members of the circle who are very liberal in their political ideas, and some rather conservative. There are members who could fit as easily into a fraternity or sorority, as well as those who could spend the rest of their lives in a "hippie commune". There are people who are very religious and those who are not. Some of the members of the group use liquor, marijuana, and cigarettes while still others do not. Some of the members are progressing toward professional careers, while others will end up pursuing lives of simplicity.

Each member of the circle is an important person. There is a strong and lasting bond of friendship, love, and sharing within the circle. Material possessions are shared freely and each person is expected to treat others and their possessions as though they were their own, and there is a strong trust among the members of the circle. Though none of these ideas are openly stated they are understood, felt, and observed continuously. These ideas of sharing, acceptance, and trust are essentially folkways held by the whole group, there are no laws as such.

With the possible exception of the two original members of the circle, each person holds essentially the same social position within the group. There are no special role expectations: no assignments of roles such as leader or follower, or doer or observer, the only ones being the role of a human individual participating in social Interaction that has no drastic impact reward changing the group or its individuals. While there are definitely special relationships between some members of the circle, for example, romantic, the effects of these on the group as a whole are not significant. After the relationship has ended romantically it almost always continues, as before, as a close friendship.

The relationships here are continuos. Members stay in contact with each other continuously even after they have moved away. Whether by phone, by mail, or by thumb, contact is always maintained.

Though a few people may consider this circle a counterculture, I must say that most people as myself would see this group as a subculture. It is a group of people sharing their ideas, their lives, and their love; and it is growing. It shall continue on, and when each of its members goes out, away from this school, they will take with them the circle, and from the friends they make the rest of their lives they will add to the circle and make it larger and stronger. It shall be passed from one generation to the next and as long as there is a member of the circle alive, it will remain unbroken.

-Mollie Frances

Editor’s Note: This paper was written in 1977 when some of us were living, and everyone was partying, in the pumpkin house on Sunset Drive in Ames, Iowa. It was written for a class at Iowa State University, and "the circle" was used to replace Elsewhen. I'm not sure how much of what Mollie wrote was good wishes, hopes, or true beliefs; but eight years have passed since this paper, and there is now a newsletter and still a circle which, as predicted, is still growing. Good shot, Mollie.

-Scott

Editor’s Note: The above editor’s note was written in 1985 for the tenth birthday of Elsewhen and we have added a Web site. Outstanding shot Mollie.

-Scott