| Abstract: | Investigated the nature of help-giving provided by 90 hairdressers, 62 family-practice attorneys, 97 industrial supervisors, and 76 bartenders. It was found that moderate to serious personal problems were raised with all groups, but particularly with hairdressers and lawyers. Although those problems in the aggregate were similar to those brought to mental health professionals, somewhat different problems came up with different groups. Ss used a variety of handling strategies, some of which were similar to those used by mental health professionals. The special ecologies of the several situations related both to the number of personal problems raised and to how they were handled. Most Ss felt good about providing interpersonal help and believed that they did so moderately well. It is concluded that more precise knowledge of society's de facto help-giving mechanisms is an essential precondition for rational future planning by mental health professionals. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
