Abstract
This article discusses the need for organizing concepts with which planners can formulate goals or policies to deal with social problems. The literature on social systems is reviewed and five models are identified which serve this purpose. They are (1) the microcollectivity, (2) the complex macrosystem, (3) the exchange system, (4) the interorganizational field, and (5) the ecological system. Each model is described in terms of the level of the system, its structure, and its integrative mechanism. Illustrations of planning problems to which each model would apply are provided, together with a discussion of the model's relative advantages and disadvantages.

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