Richard Estes, MSW, DSW

Professor

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Research - Current Projects

Benevolence and the Stranger: Continuities and Discontinuities in Western and Eastern Approaches to Philanthropy

Project Description:
Societies everywhere establish hierarchies for offering assistance to those who cannot provide fully for their own needs. Parents, for example, care for dependent children and children, in turn, care for their parents when the are no longer able to care for themselves. Similarly, complex systems of social expectations exist concerning the mutual obligations of members of extended family and kinship systems. Social norms also govern the expected benevolent behavior of formal organizations toward their dependent members, but especially on the part of religious communities, workers collectives and similar types of social collectivities.

What norms, though, govern acts of benevolence toward persons (and groups) for whom one has no blood, legal, or other type of formal relationship? On what philosophical, moral, or ethical basis are these norms established? What are the limits of benevolence toward strangers and others with whom one will never come into contact.

This project seeks to explore the origins and current manifestation of social norms that inform acts of charity and philanthropy--i.e., benevolence--toward strangers. The project is especially interested in exploring the dynamics of philanthropy in societies in which social obligations are becoming increasingly more "anonymous."

Project Dates:
2001-2004

Project Staff:
Richard J. Estes, Principal Investigator

Research Sites:
United States, Europe and Asia

Related Publications:
Estes, Richard J. (2003). "Benevolence and the Stranger," [in preparation].

Estes, Richard J. (2003). "Ethical Dilemmas in International Development: A Search for New Understanding," [in preparation].