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Helping people who are in need around us can be taken as a way every individual can contribute to the overall wellbeing of the society, it can either be inform of material possessions or rendering a service to the less fortunate. However, despite this requirement by the society, some individuals have found reasons for them not to help the needy members of the society, these reasons vary depending on the individuals, their perceptions and the context in which that help is needed. The barriers to helping people who are in need are not always put by the helping person but sometimes the person who needs help may also act in such a way that he or she makes it impossible or extremely hard for help to be accorded to him. This means that in order to help individuals in need, both the party which is helping and the one that is being helped have to actively participate in the process otherwise if one of them does not play his part, then it becomes very hard to help. For instance, a needy person who has lost direction must be willing to ask for directions and at the same time listen to the person giving him the directions. This paper will discuss some of the reasons and perspectives that make people not help others who are in need.

The perceptions of an individual regarding his or her responsibility to help or the need of the person to be helped will determine whether he will help or not. Some individuals have the notion that it is not their responsibility to help the needy; this is aggravated by the fact that there is no law, legal or otherwise that forces an individual to help one another. Such cases where individuals feel it is not their responsibility to help are common in societies that embrace individualism. An individual’s sense of self worth may also hinder him or her from helping the needy; when an individual feels that he is more superior or very important he may not participate in charitable acts, which do not consummate with his or her position in the society. For instance, in Hope’s boy memoir, one of the people responsible for documentation of staff had responded rudely “Young man, I told you I don’t remember. And if I did, I couldn’t give it to you without her permission” (Bridge, 222). Due to different experiences among individuals, a person may downplay the necessity of giving help to a needy person on the assumption that the event that requires help may be too small or within the person’s ability to handle. For instance, a person who has always been mistreated or rejected at home may have issues with his or her self esteem or depression, on the other hand, a person in a position to help may ignore this problem assuming that it is a minor issue which would disappear with time as the person grows up and becomes independent.

The context in which help is needed may also restrain people from helping those who are in need. Different situations need different forms of help that may make an individual unable to help. For instance, some situations may require an individual to have some form of expertise in order to help, in such cases, a person without that expertise needed may not be able to help. For instance, a person who is depressed may need the services of an experienced counsellor, therefore, a lawyer, who may be willing to help may find him or herself constrained by this requirement as the only thing he can do is to listen to the person but he cannot make any diagnosis or advice the person accordingly. The law may also constrain a person from helping those around him. For instance, in some countries, cases of criminal activities must be reported to the police before a victim can be treated therefore if a doctor finds a victim of a robbery he may not be able to treat the patient before the case has been reported to the police. In other situations, the cultural and societal norms and traditions may also hinder an individual from helping people around him who are in need, for instance, after the terrorist attacks in united states of America by extremist Muslims, some residents have developed hatred towards Muslim faithful whom they regard as terrorists. This makes them not enthusiastic to help members of the religion even if they are able to help.

Individuals who are being helped may also be the reason why they cannot be helped even when others are ready and willing to help them. Sometimes people who are in need of help tend to be very hostile to people who want to help them as some think they are being looked down upon. For instance, a person may have lost his job and with the unfavourable economic climate, it may have been difficult for him to get another job. On the other hand, his neighbour who is well off may volunteer to offer him a job, which may not be as lucrative as his previous one, which may make him feel as if the neighbour is looking down upon him therefore triggering him to reject the job. Religious and cultural practises may also hinder an individual from being helped even in the most needy cases, for instance, some religions, such as Jehovah Witness among others do not believe in blood transfusion or organ transplant which may make it difficult for a willing donor to help. Bad experiences that an individual may have with other people who wanted to help may also make a person not ready to be helped. For instance, when the junior lawyer promised Jeff he would come back, he is quoted as thinking “I winced, knowing that I was no different than the countless others who had asked Jeff for his story, listened as he surrendered it, then packed it up and left” (Bridge, 18).

Helping a person who is in need is determined by several factors that are caused by the person helping or the one who is being helped. The perceptions of the person who is helping may determine whether he is willing to help or not, secondly, the context in which the help is needed may make it impossible or extremely hard for some people to help. On the other side, the person being helped may also make it hard for people to help him based on his beliefs or previous experiences of people wanting to help.

Works cited

Bridge, Andrew. Hope’s Boy. Hyperion, 2008. print