Fictive Kin and Helping Behavior: A Social Psychological Exploration Among Haitian Immigrants, Christian Fundamentalists, and Gang Members

This paper is primarily about why individuals choose to help others. Kinship is an important concept in research on helping behavior with common distinctions made between kin, non-kin, and fictive kin. Unrelated individuals become "adopted" family members who accept the affection, obligations and duties of "real" kin. Understanding more about the subjective nature of fictive kin relations is important for understanding individual motivations for engaging in various helping behaviors. Gang members are found to use fictive kin terminology and gangs are a substitute family for members.