'I'm calling in regard to my son': Entitlement, obligation, and opportunity to seek help for others. (5th December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tennent, Emma
• Is Part Of: British journal of social psychology. Volume 60:Part 3(2021)
• Page Start: 870
• Page End: 887
• Publication Date: 2020-12-05
• Subjects: categories -- helplines -- help‐seeking -- social relations -- victim support; Social psychology -- Periodicals; 302.05
• DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12429
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0144-6665

Abstract

Abstract : From mundane acts like lending a hand to high‐stakes incidents like calling an ambulance, help is a ubiquitous part of the human experience. Social relations shape who we help and how. This paper presents a discursive psychology study of an understudied form of help – seeking help for others. Drawing on a corpus of recorded calls to a victim support helpline, I analysed how social relations were demonstrably relevant when callers sought help for others. I used membership categorization analysis and sequential conversation analysis to document how participants used categories to build and interpret requests for help on behalf of others. Categorical relationships between help‐seekers, help‐recipients, and potential help‐providers were consequential in determining whether callers' requests were justified and if help could be provided. The findings show that different categorical relationships configured seeking help for others as a matter of entitlement, obligation, or opportunity. Analysing the categories participants use in naturally occurring social interaction provides an emic perspective on seeking help for others. This kind of help‐seeking offers a fruitful area for discursive psychology to develop new conceptualizations of help and social relations.