Hairdressers as caregivers. I. A descriptive profile of interpersonal help‐giving involvements

Abstract

The interpersonal help-giving behaviors of 90 hairdressers were explored in depth in an interview study. On the average, hairdressers saw 55 customers a week, and talked 25 minutes with each. About one-third of the talking time concerned clients' moderate to serious personal problems--particularly problems with children, physical health, marriage, depression, and anxiety. Hairdressers reported that offering sympathy and support, being lighthearted, just listening, and presenting alternatives were among their most frequent response strategies. Although they often enjoyed fielding clients' personal problems, at times they felt perplexed by them. Hairdressers perceived listening to customers' interpersonal problems to be an important part of their everyday function and expressed a need for professional inputs in that domain.

'That's a good sign': Encouraging Assessments as a Form of Social Support in Medically Related Encounters

“…"Some of the most effective supporters may be those who share a context with the person in need" (Albrecht & Adelman, 1984). Those outside of a person's normal circle of contacts, termed "weak links" (Granovetter, 1973), have also been considered support givers (e.g., hairdressers, bartenders, apartment house managers; Cowen et al, 1979;Kelly, 1966;Wiesenfeld & Weiss, 1979). This latter group of individuals are usually public service providers, in a position to offer counsel and advice (Sarason, 1974).…”

“…Second, supportive messages can serve to enable a distressed person to examine the source of the stress and to present alternative courses of action (Albrecht & A.delman, 1987;Cowen et al, 1979). House (1981) described this as informational support and included in this category advice, suggestions, directives, and technical information.…”

Social Support and Its Relation to Health: A Critical Evaluation

“…However, other informal avenues of assistance may be obtained from what Henderson termed "diffuse sources", such as other interpersonal contacts and ties with community organizations. Indeed, as Cowen (1982) noted, "help is where you find it" (p. 385) and his research has examined the extent to which agents such as hairdressers (Cowen, Gesten, Boike, Norton, Wilson, & DeStephano, 1979) or bartenders (Cowen, McKim, & Weissberg, 1981) can serve in this added capacity. Finally, it can be noted that professional sources, such as therapists and counselors, may also be employed by individuals, either to augment or supplement the informal helping source.…”

In backyards, on front lawns: examining informal risk communication and communicators

“…regularly occurred between cosmetologists and their clients. Finding support for earlier research that cosmetologists are "natural helpers" (Cowen et al, 1979;Weisenfeld and Weis, 1979), the authors observed that:…”