FB96 THE SOCIAL WELFARE RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Boston College Fact Book, 1995-1996
Contact:  factbook@bc.edu 
Date Posted: Jun 28 1995   Updated:  Jul 24 1995
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THE SOCIAL WELFARE RESEARCH INSTITUTE

The Social Welfare Research Institute (SWRI) is a multidisci-
plinary research center founded at Boston College in 1970.
Its staff specializes in research on the spiritual dimensions
of everyday life, especially in regard to economic relations.
The research agenda of the Institute currently includes:

 <>  Empirical analysis of surveys on philanthropy and wealth,
     with a focus on (1) describing the patterns of giving by
     income and wealth; (2) developing and testing a multi-
     variate theory of the factors that induce charitable
     giving; (3) carrying out the evaluation of the current
     Independent Sector/Gallup national survey;  and (4)
     analyzing the diary data on giving and receiving help
     that the SWRI has collected weekly for a year from 50
     individuals in the Boston Area Diary Study.  This
     research is currently supported by the W. K. Kellogg
     Foundation and the T. B. Murphy Foundation.

 <>  Analysis of 130 intensive interviews with millionaires
     conducted in conjunction with "The Study on Wealth and
     Philanthropy," funded by the T. B. Murphy Foundation.
     Research examines (1) the strategies of philanthropy
     carried out by the wealthy; (2) the intergenerational
     transmission of financial care by the wealthy; (3) the
     moral biographies of wealthy heirs and entrepreneurs; and
     (4) the social-psychological dynamics by which estate,
     income, and capital gains taxes affect the charitable
     giving by wealth holders.

 <>  Analysis of 60 intensive interviews with individuals from
     the Boston metropolitan area conducted in conjunction
     with the study "The Contradictions of Christmas: Troubles
     and Traditions in Culture, Home, and Heart," also funded
     by the T. B. Murphy Foundation.  Based on the notion that
     Christmas experiences are a lens on the moral sentiments
     of everyday life, this research examines (1) people's
     everyday experience of the sacred; (2) the vigilance
     required to ward off debilitating aspects of life and
     advance ennobling ones; and (3) the strategies individuals 
     employ for deepening the spiritual content of their lives.

Source: The Social Welfare Research Institute