'Although many of these voluntary associations were defined in terms of the services they provided, their social functions extended beyond their immediate stated goals. These institutions gave structure to the groups which operated through them and gave a social meaning to the network of individuals that composed the groups.'

Philip James Handrick, Institutions, Ideology and Power: Social Change in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Ann Arbour (Michigan), University Microfilms International, 1984, p. 290.