ABSTRACT
One possible first reaction to the Tanzanian case study would be to accuse the host resignees, perhaps quietly to oneself, of being ungrateful. This accusation would be based on the reasonable (and common) assumption that any kind of well-intentioned help deserves appreciation and gratitude (Lerner, 1980). Perhaps this same basic assumption is implicit in the widespread attitude that many host communities have developed a ‘handout mentality’. In Fiji, for instance, Traynor and Watts allege that ‘Throughout the South Pacific, a “hand-out” mentality has been inadvertently created by aid agencies’ (1992, p. 73). In an Indian context, Sinha describes how recipients of aid are predisposed to ‘an attitude of dependency on some external agency’ (1990, p. 89). In both cases, the implication is that people can only be roused to help themselves through the provision of some outside benefit or incentive (Shaw and Clay, 1993). In short, they have become indolent.
