“I Got to Try to Give Back”: How Reciprocity Norms in a Poor People’s Organization Influence Members’ Social Capital

Norms of reciprocity partially govern social support behavior, particularly in the context of an organization requiring participation in an exchange network. This article focuses on ethnographic interviews with 25 members of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU). The social capital KWRU offers members helps them survive, but members can find reciprocity obligations onerous. Reciprocity fosters social capital for those who fulfill norms of reciprocity and hinders social capital for those who violate them. Reciprocity provides an avenue for involved members to build social capital crucial to survival, while it becomes a burden too great for some members to bear.