Social norms and helping in a community of limited liability

The social norms constraining interpersonal helping (formal and informal) were studied by the analysis of interviews of 348 persons in the Chicago area. The findings showed that only half the respondents who received help from family and friends believed that they had a right to such help. Three-fourths of those persons receiving help from professional practitioners believed they had a right to such help. There was a definite relationship between the kinds of rights and the kinds of duties reported by those who believed they had such rights and duties. The relationship was significantly different in personal helping among families and friends from what it was in professional helping processes with practitioners.