Under the present invention, role types are defined by association with certain permissible actions. Once defined in this manner, a role type can then be bound to "nodes" of a hierarchical tree that represent computer-based resources such as dynamic object spaces. Once bound to a node, instances of this role type are created that will be inherited by hierarchical descendants of that node unless a role type block (e.g., inheritance or propagation) has been established for the corresponding role type. The present invention also allows the computer-based resources to be defined as virtual or private. Virtual resources represent general protected concepts in the system instead of computer-based resources and are subject to be bound with roles, while private resources are not. That is, the private resources remain the "property" of the creating user or group.