Materials for Teaching, Research and Policy Making

Principal Investigator: David W. Livingstone
Team Members: M. Raykov, K. Pollock, F. Antonelli

CHAPTER 2: Work [PDF]

SECTION

2.5. Changes in Community Volunteer Work [PDF]
 

1. Becker, P. E., & Dhingra, P. H. (2001). Religious involvement and volunteering: Implications for civil society. Sociology of Religion, 62(3), 315-335.

            This paper examines the role of congregations in civil society by examining the relationship between religious involvement and volunteering. We draw on a survey and interviews with respondents from upstate New York to analyze a set of inter-related questions: how does congregational involvement lead people into volunteering and influence the meaning of volunteer activity? How do church members choose a volunteer site? What role do congregations play in generating civic engagement and social capital? We find no liberal/conservative differences either in the likelihood of volunteering or in choosing between secular and religious volunteer opportunities. Rather, we find that social networks and impressions of organizational identity draw people into volunteering and into particular organizations, and that there is a competition between congregations and other civic groups for members' time. We conclude that congregations foster both "loose" and strong connections to civic life for members at different stages of the life course.

            KEY WORDS: Volunteers; Church Attendance; Social Networks; USA; New York; Volunteer Work.

2. Blackstone, A. (2004). "It's just about being fair": Activism and the politics of volunteering in the breast cancer movement. Gender & Society, 18(3), 350-368.

            Constructions of women's activism as social service, volunteer, or charity work contribute to the relative invisibility of these forms of activism. The author did field research at an affiliate office of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The author analyzed how these women volunteers resist the label "activist" in conjunction with their engagement in activities that resemble activism. She also examines the reasons for their resistance to the term. Her analysis shows implicit connections between constructions of activism and gender shape the extent to which volunteers think of their work either as political or as activism. In light of Komen's heteronormative gender ideology, she concludes by raising questions about the relationships among gender, activism, and civic participation.

            KEY WORDS: Activism; Breast Cancer; Human Females; Prosocial Behavior; Volunteer Work.

3. Burden, J. (2000). Community building, volunteering and action research. Loisir et Societe/ Society and Leisure, 23(2), 353-370.

            This paper describes an action research project that took place in a small community theater setting run by older volunteer women in Brisbane, Australia. To assist with the study, a series of planning workshops were facilitated by the researchers to assist the women in organizing and managing the processes of their group. The overall findings pointed to the significance of a development perspective in theorizing volunteering. While personal change and growth is important in sustaining volunteering as a leisure activity, of equal significance is the maintenance of the self-directing community. The author argues that it is the element of personal and community self-direction that aligns volunteering with leisure rather than work. The article concludes that to maintain the social connections that build healthy communities and social capital, governments must support both economic and social infrastructures that enable volunteers to experience their volunteer work as freely chosen.

            KEY WORDS: Volunteers; Social Networks; Leisure; Brisbane, Australia; Elderly Women; Community Organizations; Cultural Capital; Organizational Development; Volunteer Work.

4. Camino, L., & Zeldin, S. (2002). From periphery to center: Pathways for youth civic engagement in the day-to-day life of communities. Applied Developmental Science, 6(4), 213-220.

            This article presents 5 modern pathways for youth civic engagement. These pathways are described as: public policy/consultation, community coalition involvement, youth in organizational decision making, youth organizing and activism, and school-based service learning. Three overarching qualities found with all pathways are also discussed: youth ownership, youth-adult partnership, and facilitative policies and structures.

            KEY WORDS: Citizenship; Political Participation; Prosocial Behavior; Age Differences; Civic Engagement.

5. Chau-wai Yan, E., & So-kum Tang, C. (2003). The role of individual, interpersonal, and organizational factors in mitigating burnout among elderly Chinese volunteers. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 18(9), 795-802.

            First, exploratory factor analysis was performed to find out the underlying dimensions of burnout. Correlation analyses were then conducted to explore links among the major variables. Lastly, hierarchical regression analyses were executed to uncover the relative contribution of various factors in predicting burnout among elderly volunteers. The results indicated that a 2-factor structure of burnout, namely lack of personal accomplishment and emotional depletion, was found.

            KEY WORDS: Demographic Characteristics; Emotional Content; Gerontology; Self Efficacy; Volunteers; Volunteer Work.

6. Choi, L. H. (2003). Factors affecting volunteerism among older adults. The Journal of Applied Gerontology, 22(2), 179-196.

            This study explores whether employment status has an effect on a person's decision to volunteer and the number of hours volunteered. The data are from the 1993 Asset & Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) study. As fewer people remain in the workforce among the older population, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics are used to determine the rate of volunteering in relation to employment status. A logistic regression analysis was carried out to examine the relationship between respondents who did or did not volunteer within the past 12 months. Results from a regression analysis suggested that part-time work, age, education, importance of religion, and health status are significantly related to volunteer hours. Although only a small number of respondents are currently working, the number of volunteer hours contributed is higher in comparison to past studies.

            KEY WORDS: Elderly; Volunteers; Employment; Volunteer Work; Employment Status.

7. Chou, K.-L., Chow, N. W. S., & Chi, I. (2003). Volunteering aspirations of Hong Kong Chinese soon-to-be-old adults. Activities, Adaptation & Aging, 27(3-4), 79-96.

            Using a representative randomized sample of 1,866 adults aged between 45 and 59, this paper attempts to assess the volunteering aspiration of these adults after their retirement or when they become 60 years old. Also this study explored reasons why they planned or did not plan to be volunteers and attempted to identify socio-economic characteristics of these adults who planned to be volunteers. Approximately 38% of these respondents planned to be volunteers after retirement. In addition, lack of knowledge as well as relevant skills were cited as barriers to volunteerism. Results showed that soon-to-be-old adults who intended to do volunteer work were more likely to have higher levels of education, have higher income level, and be protected by a retirement plan, and less likely to be financially supported by their adult children and receive welfare than those who did not.

            KEY WORDS: Aspirations; Retirement; Volunteers; Aging; Socioeconomic Status; Volunteer Work; China; Hong Kong.

8. Cockram, J. (2003). The impact of compulsory community participation on the not for profit sector in Western Australia. Australian Journal on Volunteering, 8(1), 5-14.

            Australia's Voluntary Work Initiative is designed to assist welfare recipients who were required to perform volunteer work. 32 volunteer program administrators were interviewed. Findings from the interview analysis indicated that although volunteering helped overcome isolation and develop job skills, low levels of commitment and short stays (especially among younger participants) and potential exploitation were concerns.

            KEY WORDS: Adults; Attitudes; Foreign Countries; Nonprofit Organizations; Unemployment; Volunteers; Welfare Recipients; Volunteer Work; Australia.

9. Colby, A., Sippola, L., & Phelps, E. (2001). Social responsibility and paid work in contemporary American life. In A. S. Rossi (Ed.), Caring and doing for others (pp. 463-505). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

            This chapter presents the attempts to map out various patterns of social responsibility exhibited in a representative group of middle-aged American women and men. A mid US sub-sample of 94 people (aged 34-65 yrs) were interviewed. These participants were asked to talk about their life histories and what they do for their families, friends, and communities; about their paid work and volunteer work; and their financial contributions to charities and directly to other people. Results indicated that numerous people's paid employment interfered with their social responsibility and it is suggested that jobs should provide employees with some means of forming a moral engagement with their work.

            KEY WORDS: Charitable Behavior; Job Characteristics; Money; Responsibility; Social Behavior; Volunteer Work.

10. Curtis, J. E., Baer, D. E., & Grabb, E. G. (2001). Nations of joiners: Explaining voluntary association membership in democratic societies. American Sociological Review, 66(6), 783-805.

            Using data from surveys of nationally representative samples of adults from the 1990s in the US, this article compares the levels of voluntary association membership for 33 democratic countries. Four explanations of national differences in association involvement are identified and tested: economic development, religious composition, type of polity, and years of continuous democracy. The analysis includes total working association memberships, both including and excluding unions and religious associations. Americans volunteer at rates above the average for all nations on each measure, but they are often matched and exceeded by those of several other countries, notably the Netherlands, Canada, and a number of Nordic nations, including Iceland, Sweden, and Norway. Hierarchical linear models indicate that voluntarism tends to be particularly high in nations that have: (1) multidimensional Christian or predominantly Protestant religious organizations, (2) prolonged and continuous experience with democratic institutions, (3) social democratic or liberal democratic political systems, and (4) high levels of economic development. With some exceptions for working memberships, these factors, both separately and in combination, are clearly important predictors of cross-national variation in voluntary association membership.

            KEY WORDS: Political Systems; Membership; Associations; Economic Development; Democracy; Crosscultural Differences; Religions; Volunteer Work.

11. Erbaugh, E. B. (2002). Women's community organizing and identity transformation. Race, Gender & Class, 9(1), 8-32.

            This paper documents how women's community organizing alters participants' relationships to dominant social and political institutions. Utilizing participant observation and interviews, the study was conducted in a multiethnic, working-class organization that combines two community organizing models. Findings indicated that members of the organization critiqued dominant ideologies and public policies about welfare and engaged in dialogue with political authorities about economic issues. Members' political motivation and sense of empowerment was increased through their experiences of collective identity formation and personal identity transformation. The article contends that identity formation and transformation are important in evaluating the success of community organizing efforts.

            KEY WORDS: Females; Mobilization; Working Class; Group Identity; Ideological Struggle; Dominant Ideologies; Community Organizations; Class Identity; New Mexico; Community Work.

12. Erlinghagen, M. (2000). Unemployment and volunteer work in longitudinal perspective. An analysis of the West German subsample from the German Socioeconomic Panels [SOEP] for the Years 1992 and 1996. Kolner Zeitschrift fur Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, 52(2), 291-310.

            This study utilizes longitudinal data on the West German subsample of the German Socioeconomic Panel for 1992 & 1996 to investigate the effects of unemployment on the probability to volunteer. Logistic regression analyses offer no evidence for the likelihood of taking up or maintaining volunteer work among the unemployed. On the other hand, the prospect of volunteering increases with a higher educational degree or secure family circumstances. Educational qualifications are in demand, and they also enable successful participation in the regular labor market. Among the homeless, particularly those who have little education, volunteering is not considered an adequate activity.

            KEY WORDS: Federal Republic of Germany; Unemployment; Volunteers; Educational Attainment; Labor Force Participation; Homelessness; Work Orientations; Economic Crises; Volunteer Work.

13. Erlinghagen, M. (2003). The individual returns of volunteer work. A contribution to a theory of unpaid and nondomestic private production. Kolner Zeitschrift fur Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, 55(4), 737-757.

            In the debate on the future of voluntary work & honorary appointments, the question of the individual benefits assumes a special interest. It is obvious that an unpaid voluntary activity has to be regarded as work because of the expectation to yield a personal gain. Combining a sociological & a microeconomic perspective, this article shows that volunteering is part of the production process within the private household. Volunteers acquire benefits by reducing transaction costs in economies of scale & economies of scope.

            KEY WORDS: Volunteers; Benefits; Social Participation; Private Sphere; Labor Process; Volunteer Work.

14. Frank-Alston, M. M. (2001). The influence of community service/volunteer work on perceptions of job satisfaction, job motivation, and organizational commitment on employees in a manufacturing plant. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities & Social Sciences, 61(12-A), 4642.

            This study explores the relationship between community service/volunteer work and perceptions of job satisfaction, motivation, and organizational commitment. The research focused on employees in a manufacturing firm in central Pennsylvania that sponsors a corporate volunteer program. Results support previous research which points to the effect these programs have on worker productivity issues of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and motivation. Findings also extend previous findings associated with the attraction and retention of workers and building work force skills and attitudes that foster organizational commitment, company loyalty and job satisfaction. Also, it was found that volunteer activities provide employees with personal and professional growth.

            KEY WORDS: Community Services; Job Satisfaction; Motivation; Organizational Commitment; Volunteers; Business and Industrial Personnel; Volunteer Work.

15. Fuertes, F. C., & Jimenez, M. V. (2000). Motivation and burnout in volunteerism. Psychology in Spain, 4(1), 75-81.

            This study explores motivation in Spanish voluntary workers in the fields of AIDS and cancer. Results indicate the importance of other-oriented motivations for the permanence of volunteers in organizations. Data also show that the degree of burnout in volunteers in work is low.

            KEY WORDS: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome; Motivation; Cancer; Occupational Stress; Volunteers; Volunteer Work.

16. Gagnon, E., & Sevigny, A. (2000). Permanence and changes in voluntarism. Recherches Sociographiques, 41(3), 529-544.

            Voluntarism can take many forms. Public policy influences the nature & mode of its organization. However, a definition of voluntarism must also take into account the meaning that volunteers ascribe to their work and how their aspirations may be fulfilled through their activity. From this perspective, such elements as freedom to undertake the commitment, meaningful experience, and proximity between volunteers and those whom they assist are central in today's volunteer movement. This view give rise to a definition of volunteer work as a privileged moment for recognition of oneself and of others, and through the valuing of a situation or a form of conduct.

            KEY WORDS: Work Attitudes; Work Orientations; Volunteers; Volunteer Work.

17. Gottlieb, B. (2002). Older volunteers: A precious resource under pressure. Canadian Journal on Aging, 21(1), 5-9.

            From the literature on the extensive investment older adults make in volunteering, and on the findings of a study of 19 not-for-profit agencies that rely heavily on older adults to provide a variety of community services, This paper identifies several significant changes in the character of the clients who are served by elder volunteers in not-for-profit agencies and in government health policies affecting the delivery of community services. It offers suggestions for research and policy development that look to optimize the contribution that older volunteers make to society and the contribution that volunteering makes to the health and well-being of older adults.

            KEY WORDS: Aging; Behavior Change; Clients; Community Services; Volunteers; Policy Making; Volunteer Work.

18. Grossman, J. B., & Rhodes, J. E. (2002). The test of time: Predictors and effects of duration in youth mentoring relationships. American Journal of Community Psychology, 30(2), 199-219.

            This study examines the effects and predictors of duration in youth mentor relations. Participants include 1,138 young, urban adolescents (10-16 yrs old), who have all applied to Big Brothers Big Sisters programs. They were randomly assigned to the treatment or control group, and given questions at baseline and 18 months later. Findings indicate that hose in relationships that lasted one year or longer reported the largest number of improvements. Those with progressively fewer effects emerged among youth who were in relationships that ended earlier. Those adolescents who were in short term relationships reported decrements in several indicators of functioning. Older adolescents, those who had been referred for services, and those who had sustained emotional, sexual or physical abuse were most likely to be in early terminating relationships. So were married volunteers between the ages of 26 and 30 and those with lower incomes. Others factors including race, gender and relationship quality were also found to be related to earlier terminations.

            KEY WORDS: Interpersonal Interaction; Mentor; Prediction; Program Evaluation; Volunteer Work.

19. Hall, M., McKeown, L. E., & Roberts, K. (2001). Caring Canadians, involved Canadians: Highlights from the 2000 National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.

The National Survey on Giving, Volunteering and Participating (NSGVP) provides a ‘snapshot’ of the state of voluntary and civic action in Canada and offers a means of tracking changes in giving, volunteering and participating over time. Every three years, the NSGVP lets us assess the extent to which individual Canadians are moved to support their fellow citizens, their communities and their environment with voluntary contributions of time and money. The 2000 NSGVP shows that the support Canadians provide is dynamic and has been changing since the first benchmark NSGVP survey in 1997.

            KEY WORDS: Voluntarism; Canada; Statistics; Charities; Social Participation; Volunteer Work.

20. Hopkins, S. (2000). VET and the voluntary sector: Dealing with ambiguities. Working Paper. Australia; Victoria: Australian National Training Authority, Melbourne.

            Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 1994-95 survey indicate that about one-fifth of the adult population volunteers and an estimated value of their work is 3% of the gross national product, $12.5 billion. Because volunteer training is neglected in the National Strategy for Vocational Education and Training (VET), a seminar was conducted to identify volunteer training issues. Participants presented a number of insights such as, ideally, organizations should have a mix of volunteers and paid personnel and that volunteer experience is a valuable indicator of employability. It was also indicated that better delivery of training would improve satisfaction. Constraints around volunteer training include cost, loss of investment when volunteers leave, tensions between paid and unpaid workers, and lack of capacity. Lastly, there was strong anecdotal support found for volunteer work as a significant path to paid work. Participants demonstrated a support for national Training Packages, if used selectively and sensitively. The choice of undergoing formal assessments involved in the Training Packages should be left to the volunteer.

            KEY WORDS: Access to Education; Employment Potential; Foreign Countries; Government Role; Job Training; Personnel Management; Policy Formation; Public Service; Service Learning; Student Evaluation; Vocational Education; Volunteer Training; Volunteers; Work Experience; Volunteer Work.

21. Huang, Y.-Y. (2001). Women's contradictory roles in the community: A case study of the Community Development Project in Taiwan. International Social Work, 44(3), 361-373.

            This article explores women's positioning in the Taiwanese Community Development Project. It examines the qualitative changes in styles of women's community involvement from the 1960s to present-day. In particular, it analyses how the state uses community work as a means of social control. For example, community involvement can be used to reinforce patriarchal family relations, and to manipulate women as a reserve army of labor intended to meet the need for cheap labor in the export-oriented industrialization process of the 1970s.

            KEY WORDS: Community Development; Human Females; Sex Roles; Social Control; Trends; Volunteer Work.

22. Hustinx, L., & Lammertyn, F. (2003). Collective and reflexive styles of volunteering: A sociological modernization perspective. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 14(2), 167-187.

            This paper examines the changing nature of volunteering through the lens of sociological modernization theories. It is argued that volunteer involvement should be recognized as a biographically embedded reality, and a new analytical framework of collective and reflexive styles of volunteering can be constructed along the lines of the ideal-typical biographical models that are outlined by modernization theorists. Approaches of volunteering can be understood as basically multidimensional, multiform, and multilevel in nature. Both structural-behavioral and motivational-attitudinal volunteering characteristics are explored with regard to six different dimensions: the biographical frame of reference, the motivational structure, the course and intensity of commitment, the organizational environment, the choice of (field of) activity, and the relation to paid work.

            KEY WORDS: Changing Nature of Volunteering; Voluntarism; Styles of Volunteering; Volunteer Work.

23. Itzhaky, H., & York, A. S. (2002). Showing results in community organization. Social Work, 47(2), 125-131.

            This article begins by describing a community organization program that lasted for 6 years in a stigmatized neighborhood in the center of Israel. The program focused on increasing the autonomy of the community, empowering its residents, and collaborating among the human services workers and between them and the resident leaders. Results indicated a large increase in community activists; strong and statistically significant increases in self-esteem and mastery of surroundings; increase in family, service delivery, and community empowerment among the activists, and the participation of residents and outsiders to build their own homes.

            KEY WORDS: Communities; Community Services; Cooperation; Empowerment; Program Evaluation; Community Work.

24. Kim, S., & Feldman, D. C. (2000). Working in retirement: The antecedents of bridge employment and its consequences for quality of life in retirement. Academy of Management Journal, 43(6), 1195-1210.

            Using a continuity theory of aging, this article utilizes survey responses from 371 (mean age 59 yrs) retiring professors to examine bridge employment. The acceptance of bridge employment was positively associated with excellent health, organizational tenure, and having working spouses and dependent children. Findings indicated that age and salary were inversely related to accepting bridge employment. Bridge employment was strongly linked to retirement satisfaction and overall life satisfaction. Volunteer work and leisure activity complemented bridge employment in assisting with the transition to retirement.

            KEY WORDS: Occupations; Quality of Life; Retirement; Volunteer Work.

25. Lam, P.-Y. (2002). As the flocks gather: How religion affects voluntary association participation. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 41(3), 405-422.

            Using data from Queen's U's (1996) "God & Society in North America" survey, this study investigates the relationship between different dimensions of religiosity & voluntary association participation. It explores the participatory, devotional, affiliative, & theological dimensions of religiosity & examines the affects on voluntary association participation at three different levels: membership, volunteering, & serving on a committee. The findings demonstrate that all four religious dimensions have distinctive influences on secular voluntary association participation.

            KEY WORDS: Religiosity; Volunteers; Associations; Social Participation; Membership; Committees; Volunteer Work.

26. Lamoureux, H. (2002). The danger of a diversion of meaning. The scope and the limits of volunteer work. Nouvelles Pratiques Sociales, 15(2), 77-86.

            In this article, the author attempts to evaluate the meaning that we give to voluntary help when this practice is subjected to a double tension. On the one hand, in a context of market globalization and investments, the liberal state restructures its spheres of intervention: it is "less providential." On the other hand, in mass consumption societies, the family tends not to be the first source of aid in times of difficulties. In such a context, is it possible to think of voluntary commitment as the object of a diversion of meaning?

            KEY WORDS: Volunteers; Meaning; State Society Relationship; Welfare State; Volunteer Work.

27. Lichter, D. T., Shanahan, M. J., & Gardner, E. L. (2002). Helping others? The effects of childhood poverty and family instability of prosocial behavior. Youth and Society, 34(1), 89-119.

            This article explores the relationship between poverty and family instability during childhood on prosocial behavior - volunteerism - during late adolescence. Because the 1996 Young Adult supplements of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) are linked to mother and family records from the 1979-1996 the main NLSY sample was used. Specifically, life history records spanning childhood and adolescence were utilized. Findings indicate that adolescent males from single-parent households are less likely than those growing up in married-couple households to be involved in volunteer work. Volunteerism is more strongly linked to time spent in poverty among females than males. The results support a mediational model, where negative effects of childhood social and economic disadvantages on later prosocial behavior occur indirectly through effects on socioemotional development and life experiences during adolescence. These findings inform current concerns about putative declines in a civil society and the elevation of individualism over communalism among today's young people.

            KEY WORDS: Poverty; Volunteers; Adolescents; Childhood Factors; Family Stability; Social Background; Adolescent Development; Disadvantaged; United States of America; Volunteer Work.

28. Luoh, M.-C., & Herzog, A. R. (2002). Individual consequences of volunteer and paid work in old age: Health and mortality. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 43(4), 490-509.

            This paper employs data from Waves 3 & 4 of the Asset & Health Dynamics among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) Study to (1) investigate the impact on health measured as self-reported health & activities of daily living (ADL) functioning limitations & to (2) explore possible causes. Using multinomial logistic regression analysis, volunteer & paid work over at Wave 3 were related to poor health & death, controlling for health measured at Wave 2 & for other predictors of poor health & death. Findings indicate that performing more than 100 annual hours of volunteer and paid work have significant protective effects against subsequent poor health & death. Subsequent analyses also suggest that volunteer and paid work over 100 annual hours is not related to health outcomes. Moreover, physical exercise and mental health measured explain not entirely overlapping parts of the relationship between productive activities & health.

            KEY WORDS: Elderly; Volunteers; Employment; Health; Activities of Daily Living; Volunteer Work.

29. MacLeod, M. W. (2000). Quiet power: Women volunteer leaders. Dissertation Abstracts International, A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 61(5), 2064-A.

            This study explores power and gender in the lives of women leaders of elite nonprofits in Boston during the mid 1980's. This was a period characterized by great transition, changing definitions of acceptable female behavior, and financial pressure on those nonprofit organizations dependent on fundraising from traditional upper class sources. Alternate definitions of power were derived from the attitudes and practices of the older generation of volunteers. An effective leadership style referred to as "quiet power" emerges because it encourages high levels of participation and consensus building. Employing this leadership style, upper class and upper middle class leaders were able to both reinforce and make flexible the boundaries of class. At the same time, their private family lives reveal the power inherent in the caring activities of the dependent and deferential in these settings. Serious volunteer work provides these women with the means and opportunity to play out a kind of integrative form of power which is foundational to both familial and community life. Extensive interview and observation data illustrate the range of apparently contradictory perspectives that are ultimately resolved by making visible the quiet forms of power.

            KEY WORDS: Volunteers; Females; Leadership; Social Power; Nonprofit Organizations; Boston, Massachusetts; Volunteer Work.

30. Martin, F. (2003). The changing configurations of inequality in post-industrial society: Volunteering as a case study. Alternate Routes, 19, 79-108.

            This paper explores the relationship between volunteer work and postindustrial society focusing on a homeless assistance program in Melbourne, Australia. The influence of structural adjustment on welfare policy is evaluated, bringing attention to the emergence of nongovernmental organizations. Reasons for volunteering and perspectives on the assistance program are surveyed. The transition of the welfare state from one of state responsibility to one that emphasizes individualism is examined with examples of Australia's policy reforms.

            KEY WORDS: Welfare Reform; Volunteers; Nongovernmental Organizations; Social Programs; Homelessness; Postindustrial Societies; Australia; Volunteer Work.

31. Mattis, J. S., Jagers, R. J., Hatcher, C. A., Lawhon, G. D., Murphy, E. J., & Murray, Y. F. (2000). Religiosity, volunteerism, and community involvement among African American men: An exploratory analysis. Journal of Community Psychology, 28(4), 391-406.

            Social activists contend that African American males must play a prominent role as volunteers in social programs that affect the African American community. One hundred and seventy-one African American men aged 17-79 yrs participated in this study. This paper examined the relative effectiveness of social capital, communalism, and religiosity variables as predictors of volunteerism, membership in community-based as well as political and social justice organizations, and the number of hours males were dedicated to volunteer work each year. Church involvement was linked to a greater likelihood of volunteering and a greater likelihood to be a member of a community-based organization. Men scoring higher on communalism, and men who were more involved in church life dedicated more time to volunteering in each year. A multifaceted relationship emerged between age, education, and the various participation outcomes.

            KEY WORDS: Blacks; Communities; Human Males; Religiosity; Volunteers; Activism; Involvement; Prosocial Behavior; Volunteer Work.

32. Mattis, J. S., Beckham, W. P., Saunders, B. A., Williams, J. E., McAllister, D. Y., Myers, V., et al. (2004). Who will volunteer? Religiosity, everyday racism, and social participation among African American Men. Journal of Adult Development, 11(4), 261-272.

            This article investigated the relative importance of everyday racism, empathic concern, communalism, and religiosity as predictors of pro-social involvement of a sample of African American men (N=151). Findings indicated that Involvement in church was a positive predictor that African American men were involved in volunteer work as well as the number of hours that they devoted to volunteer work. Communalism positively predicted the amount of time (in hours per year) that men were engaged in volunteer work. Subjective religiosity and the stress of everyday racism were associated with a greater probability of being a member of a political-social justice organization.

            KEY WORDS: Blacks; Human Males; Political Participation; Racism; Religiosity; Community Involvement; Empathy; Volunteers; Volunteer Work.

33. Merkes, M., & Wells, Y. (2003). Women of the Baby Boom generation and unpaid work: What are the indications for the future? Australasian Journal on Ageing, 22(4), 186-190.

            This article explores the indications for changes in the provision of unpaid work in the future, in particular, the potential future contribution of unpaid work carried out by women of the baby boom generation. Data from the Healthy Retirement Project were used to assess the views of 1,359 women from the baby boom generation concerning voluntary work in retirement. Focus groups explored in more depth the views of female baby boomers regarding paid and unpaid work after the age of 65. A large proportion of female baby boomers plan to provide unpaid caring and community work after their retirement. Women in the baby boom generation were just as likely as their predecessors to be volunteers and to be looking forward to having more time for voluntary work in retirement. Women were more likely to anticipate having more time for voluntary work in retirement if they were previously involved in voluntary work and in good health. The provision of unpaid work in Australia is expected to increase, as the proportion of older people in the population increases.

            KEY WORDS: Females; Caregivers; Australia; Retirement; Volunteers; Middle Aged Adults; Volunteer Work.

34. Miller, K. D., Schleien, S. J., Rider, C., Hall, C., Roche, M., & Worsley, J. (2002). Inclusive volunteering: Benefits to participants and community. Therapeutic Recreation Journal, 36(3), 247-259.

            This article examines the benefits of volunteerism for people with disabilities as well as their non-disabled peers and the organization in which they served. Participants in this study were college students who were matched with adolescents from a local school for students with disabilities. After two semesters of volunteer work for a local museum, participants reported the benefits which were then evaluated. The article concludes by highlighting the benefits for all participants.

            KEY WORDS: College Students; Developmental Disabilities; Higher Education; Program Effectiveness; Program Evaluation; School Community Relationship; Special Education; Student Volunteers; Volunteer Work.

35. Moen, P., Fields, V., Meador, R., & Rosenblatt, H. (2000). Fostering integration: A case study of the Cornell Retirees Volunteering in Service (CRVIS) program. In K. Pillemer (Ed.), Social integration in the second half or life (pp. 247-265). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

            This chapter discusses the issues relating to the growing numbers of American retirees who are spending more years in retirement and the need to design more effective social opportunities and roles for this population. The authors propose that, since retirees are now younger, healthier, and more capable than ever in history, they are creating a new life stage. This population represents an important untapped reserve of human capital that can support community service. The authors recommend that fostering integration in retirees in relation to volunteering is not only advantageous to society, but also promotes the social integration of this growing segment of the population. Challenges arise when considering how to give volunteer work the same sense of purposive activity, collegiality, and salience it accords to paid work. The chapter concludes by suggesting corporate retiree volunteer programs, which offer strategies to move from paid work for their company to volunteer services as they retire, may be one solution to the problem.

            KEY WORDS: Employee Assistance Programs; Retirement; Social Integration; Volunteers; Volunteer Work.

36. Morrow-Howell, N., Hinterlong, J., Rozario, P. A., & Tang, F. (2003). Effects of volunteering on the well-being of older adults. Journals of Gerontology: Series B: Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences, 58B(3), S137-S145.

            This article explores the effects of volunteering on the well-being of older adults. Older adults who volunteer and who engage in more hours of volunteering describe higher levels of well-being. This positive effect of higher levels of well-being was not moderated by social integration, race, or gender. Also, there was no effect on the number of organizations for which the older adult volunteered, the type of organization, or the perceived benefit of the work to others. The author's work contributes to a knowledge base that supports the development of social programs and policies that maximize the engagement of older adults in volunteer roles. Results suggest that targeting efforts may not be needed, in that there are not differential benefits according to personal characteristics of the volunteer.

            KEY WORDS: Adult Development; Psychosocial Factors; Volunteers; Well-Being; Goals; Mental Health; Personality Traits; Volunteer Work.

37. Musick, M. A., Wilson, J., & Bynum, W. B., Jr. (2000). Race and formal volunteering: The differential effects of class and religion. Social Forces, 78(4), 1539-1570.

            Panel survey data (initial N = 3,617 respondents, ages 25+) collected in 1986 and 1989 indicate that whites volunteer more than blacks. This article explores whether this tendency is due to the way human capital is distributed in the population. The authors develop a resource theory which acknowledges that, besides human capital, social and cultural resources play a role in making volunteer work possible. Findings suggest that Black Americans tend to be better endowed with these kinds of resources than whites, which partially compensates for their shortage of human capital. However, blacks are less likely than whites to be asked to volunteer and less likely to accept the invitation if offered. In considering racial differences in pathways to volunteering, it is found that, for all kinds of volunteering except the entirely secular, black volunteering is more influenced by church attendance than is white volunteering. This can be a reflection of the more prominent role of the black church in its community, while socioeconomic differences have a smaller impact on black volunteering. Among volunteers for secular activities, church attendance has a negative effect on volunteering, but only for whites.

            KEY WORDS: Black White Differences; Volunteers; Class Differences; Human Capital; Sociocultural Factors; Human Resources; Black Americans; Whites; Church Attendance; Black Community; United States of America; Volunteer Work.

38. Musick, M. A., & Wilson, J. (2003). Volunteering and depression: The role of psychological and social resources in different age groups. Social Science and Medicine, 56(2), 259-269.

            There are a number of reasons why volunteering might yield mental health benefits, especially in the elderly. For instance, volunteer work increases access to social and psychological resources, which are known to counter negative moods such as depression and anxiety. This article reports on analysis of three waves of data from the Americans' Changing Lives data set (1986, 1989, and 1994). It reveals that volunteering can lower depression levels for those over 65, while prolonged exposure to volunteering benefits both populations. Some of the effect of volunteering on depression among the elderly is attributable to the increased social integration, but the intervening effect of psychological resources is very small. Volunteering for religious reasons is more beneficial for mental health than volunteering for secular causes but, again, the effect is confined to the elderly.

            KEY WORDS: Volunteers; Depression (Psychology); Elderly; Mental Health; United States of America; Volunteer Work.

39. Mustillo, S., Wilson, J., & Lynch, S. M. (2004). Legacy volunteering: A test of two theories of intergenerational transmission. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66(2), 530-541.

            Sociological theory suggests two reasons why volunteering runs in families. First, parents act as role models. Second, parents who volunteer pass on the socioeconomic resources needed to do volunteer work. In this study, panel data from two generations of women (N = 1,848) were analyzed to determine the influence of family socioeconomic status & mother's volunteering on daughter's volunteer careers. Findings indicate that more highly educated women & women whose mothers volunteered more hours initially, but only family socioeconomic status increases volunteering over the life course.

            KEY WORDS: Volunteers; Role Models; Parental Influence; Socioeconomic Status; Mothers; Daughters; Volunteer Work.

40. Mutchler, J. E., Burr, J. A., & Caro, F. G. (2003). From paid worker to volunteer: Leaving the paid workforce and volunteering in later life. Social Forces, 81(4), 1267-1293.

            Numerous role shifts occur between the ages of 55 & 74 as individuals typically relinquish paid work & some family roles & make choices about how to use their expanding discretionary time. Using data from the first two waves of the Americans' Changing Lives survey, this study examines the association between paid work status & formal & informal volunteer activity. It employs data from the first two waves of the Americans' Changing Lives survey. Findings indicate that there is no relationship between paid work status & informal volunteering. This suggests that helping friends, neighbors, & relatives occurs independent of paid work. There is a relationship with formal volunteering, however. Individuals who were not volunteering for formal organizations at the time of the first interview, part time workers, those who did not work in either wave, and those who stopped work between interviews were significantly more involved in volunteering than were full time workers.

            KEY WORDS: Volunteers; Retirement; Middle Aged Adults; Elderly; Labor Force Participation; Working Hours; Time Utilization; Volunteer Work.

41. Naples, N. A. (2002). Activist mothering and community work: Fighting oppression in low-income neighborhoods. In D. Kurz, F. Cancian, A. London, R. Reviere & M. Tuominen (Eds.), Child care and inequity: Re-thinking carework for children and youth (pp. 207-221). New York: Routledge.

            This chapter explores how community workers challenge conventional definitions of mothering in the sense that community care work becomes "activist mothering" to secure economic and social justice for community members. While it focuses on the experiences of resident community workers many of the nonresident community workers, especially the women of color and White women from working-class backgrounds, also described many of these patterns. The chapter goes on to outline key dimensions of the community workers' activist mothering and explore how racism and class oppression contributed to their community work and the strategies they developed to fight against discrimination. The author also discusses the tensions between family-based labor and community work, concluding that community workers defied dominant definitions of mothering and politics through their activist community care taking.

            KEY WORDS: Caregivers; Communities; Justice; Social Issues; Activism; Community Work.

42. Nunn, M. (2002). Volunteering as a tool for building social capital. Journal of Volunteer Administration, 20(4), 14-20.

            The article outlines strategies for volunteer administrators to strengthen their commitment while building social capital. They include expanding networking opportunities, increasing understanding of issues, incorporating concepts of service learning, and bridging to civic and political participation.

            KEY WORDS: Voluntarism; Volunteer Administrators; Networking; Volunteer Work.

43. Okun, M. A., & Schultz, A. (2003). Age and motives for volunteering: Testing hypotheses derived from socioemotional selectivity theory. Psychology & Aging, 18(2), 231-239.

            Following a meta-analysis of the relations between age and volunteer motives (career, understanding, enhancement, protective, making friends, social, and values), this study tested hypotheses regarding the effects of age on these volunteer motives. 523 volunteers from 2 affiliates of the International Habitat for Humanity completed the Volunteer Functions Inventory. Multiple regression analyses showed that as age increases, career and understanding volunteer motivation decreases while social volunteer motivation increases. Contrary to expectations, age was shown not to predict enhancement, protective, and values volunteer motivations. Also the relation between age and making friends volunteer motivation was nonlinear.

            KEY WORDS: Aging; Hypothesis Testing; Motivation; Theories; Volunteers; Volunteer Work.

44. Oliker, S. J. (2000). Grassroots warriors: Activist mothering, community work, and the war on poverty. Contemporary Sociology, 29(1), 254-255.

            Accounts of programs and activism during the War on Poverty have predominantly highlighted grassroots male activism and leadership. The author extends the historical record, emphasizing the roles of over two million female volunteers and paid workers who led and staffed the efforts of community-based organizations. Using in-depth interviews with 64 women who had been longtime paid employees of organizations supported by the federal Office of Economic Opportunity during the War on Poverty, Naples explores experiences of community work and civic leadership, and the identities and careers of the women workers. She pays particular attention to the ways gender, class, and race-as well as policy-shaped those experiences.

            KEY WORDS: Grass Roots Movement; Activism; Poverty; Community Service; Volunteer Work.

45. Payne, S. (2002). Dilemmas in the use of volunteers to provide hospice bereavement support: Evidence from New Zealand. Mortality, 7(2), 139-154.

            This study explored the tension between professionalization and volunteerism in health care. It focused on the role of volunteers who provide bereavement support and palliative care services within hospices. Data about the role of bereavement support workers were generated from interviews with 34 female and 3 male co-ordinators, and questionnaires completed by 113 female and 8 male volunteers, from 26 hospices. Tensions revolved around the differences in the perspectives of co-coordinators and volunteers and professionalizing ethos and lay understandings of bereavement. Broader social factors influence how bereavement support services are planned and implemented. This paper recommends that a better conceptual understanding of the role of volunteers in helping others deal with loss and grief is needed.

            KEY WORDS: Grief; Hospice; Palliative Care; Professional Personnel; Volunteers; Social Support; Volunteer Work.

46. Perez Perez, G. (2000). Volunteers between liberty and social need. Cuadernos de Relationes Laborales, 17, 123-137.

            The growth of volunteering as a component of non-remunerated work is part of an underlying debate focusing on the crisis in remunerated work as an essential means of distributing income and status. Some estimates of the volume of non-remunerated volunteer work are put forward as well as the conditions of freedom for those receiving salaries. The need for this type of work is also analyzed.

            KEY WORDS: Volunteers; Work; Income Distribution; Volunteer Work.

47. Postigo, H. (2003). Emerging sources of labor on the internet: The case of America online volunteers. International Review of Social History, 48(supplement 11), 205-223.

            Postigo draws on sociological literature addressing the post-industrial shift and emerging kinds of work in the technologies of post-industrialism to consider the result of Internet service provider AOL's response to increased membership and a lawsuit filed by an ex-volunteer for back wages. Postigo demonstrates how AOL manages to control the volunteer work process helping to define volunteers as workers producing a valued commodity. The revealing of non-remunerated work that is hidden behind the rhetoric of hobby or leisure is viewed as a positive step in occupational formation. It is concluded that AOL volunteers, in grasping the ephemeral nature of cultural production, will reveal new sources of value in post-industrial media through position and situation.

            KEY WORDS: Internet; Volunteers; Labor Process; Labor Relations; Value (Economics); Occupational Classifications; Postindustrial Societies; Volunteer Work.

48. Ramirez-Valles, J. (2001). "I was not invited to be a [CHW]...I asked to be one": Motives for community mobilization among women community health workers in Mexico. Health Education & Behavior, 28(2), 150-165.

            Despite health educators' renewed interest in community mobilization for health, their motives have received minimal attention. Ramirez-Valles analyzes the motivating of female health workers (CHWs) who are members of a community-based organization in Mexico. Guided by critical feminist and social-constructivist theories, the authors identify categories of motives used by CHWs to realize how these motives are created. Analysis suggests that mobilization for health may be improved by addressing both the personal satisfaction of individuals and the accomplishments of public goods. Understanding motive may be useful for the recruiting of participants in community mobilization efforts.

            KEY WORDS: Community Development; Health Education; Human Females; Motivation; Participation; Community Work.

49. Reitsma-Street, M., Maczewski, M., & Neysmith, S. (2000). Promoting engagement: An organizational study of volunteers in community resource centres for children. Children & Youth Services Review, 22(8), 651-678.

            The authors discuss how people living in poor communities speak of their volunteer experiences in multicultural-community-resource centers for children and, how they understand the organizational conditions that promote or discourage meaningful volunteer work. Experiences in community resource centers geared to the development of children and neighborhoods are explored in focus groups. Volunteer hours accumulated over 3 yrs compliment the qualitative data along with participant observation and documents. It is noted that volunteering is fostered through conscientious finance, good building maintenance, and the maintaining of community governance.

            KEY WORDS: Attitudes; Child Welfare; Community Services; Volunteers; Community Development; Poverty Areas; Multiculturalism; Volunteer Work.

50. Rossi, A. S. (Ed.) (2001). Caring and doing for other: Social responsibility in the domains of family, work, and community. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

            Rossi explores the extent to which adults give their time to care-giving and social support, the extent of their financial assistance to family members, the time given to volunteer work, and financial contributions to a variety of causes, charities, and organizations. Time and effort affect these contributions. Based on a national survey of more than 3,000 Americans aged 25 to 74 yrs, this book is supplemented by interviews with Blacks, Puerto Ricans, and Dominicans in New York City. Also Included is an eight-day time budget study devoted to daily contact and in-depth interviews on what social responsibility means in respondents' lives.

            KEY WORDS: Adult Attitudes; Charitable Behavior; Responsibility; Social Behavior; Caregivers; Communities; Family; Money; Occupations; Social Support; Volunteer Work.

51. Shaw, M., & Martin, I. (2000). Community work, citizenship and democracy: Re-making the connections. Community Development Journal, 35(4), 401-413.

            This paper attempts to do four things: first, to review key phases in the post-war development of community work and to identify the discourses of citizenship implicit within them (i.e. social democracy: the problem of the inactive citizen; the structuralist critique: the problem of citizen action; marketization: the problem of the citizen as customer; democratic renewal: the challenge of active citizenship); second, to argue that the contemporary context requires new ways of thinking about the relationship between community work, citizenship, and democracy; third, to assess the significance of the recent history of community work for this task; finally, to consider the extent to which the current interest in democratic renewal presents opportunities for reconstructing this relationship. At a time when community work seems to be increasingly incorporated within state policy, it is all the more important to reflect upon and evaluate the efficacy of community work. The main elements of the argument are brought together in a summary table at the end of the text.

            KEY WORDS: Community Development; Citizen Participation; Democracy; Community Work.

52. St John, C., & Fuchs, J. (2002). The heartland responds to terror: Volunteering after the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building. Social Science Quarterly, 83(2), 397-415.

            Volunteering is examined in the relief effort brought about by the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building. Two issues are key: (1) the extent of the volunteering and its forms; (2) whether or not Wilson & Musick's (1997a) "integrated theory of volunteer work" helps to explain variation in volunteering in this disaster situation. Data is used from the 1996 Oklahoma City Survey based on a random sample of the adult population of Oklahoma City and was administered 10 months after the bombing. Nearly 75% of the sample respondents volunteered to support the relief effort in giving money and donating non-professional goods or services. Socio-economic status, knowing someone killed or injured in the bombing, belonging to voluntary organizations before the bombing, and being affiliated with a religious denomination were predictors of volunteering, depending on the type of volunteer activity considered. The magnitude of volunteering after the Murrah Building bombing was in line with volunteer efforts after other disasters. The integrated theory of volunteer work is a useful framework for studying volunteering after disasters.

            KEY WORDS: Volunteers; Terrorism; Oklahoma; Disaster Relief; Volunteer Work.

53. Stefan, S. (2002). The work experience of people with psychiatric disabilities. In S. Stefan (Ed.), Hollow promises: Employment discrimination against people with mental disabilities. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

            This document describes the centrality of work to almost every American and the significance of employment in dividing the two worlds of Americans with psychiatric disabilities. The authors describe the discrimination faced by Americans with severe emotional difficulties, psychiatric diagnoses, or histories of treatment. Individuals who are successfully employed are often compelled to keep their diagnoses secret and face discounting or disbelief if they reveal their struggles. People who are publicly labeled as mentally ill cannot get competitive jobs and are consigned to volunteer work, part-time work, or work that makes little use of their skills and strengths. Also summarized and critiqued is the existing research on the relationship between work and psychiatric disabilities.

            KEY WORDS: Employment Discrimination; Mental Disorders; Disability Discrimination; Disabilities; Volunteer Work.

54. Tastsoglou, E., & Miedema, B. (2003). Immigrant women and community development in the Canadian Maritimes: Outsiders within? Canadian Journal of Sociology/Cahiers Canadiens de Sociologie, 28(2), 203-234.

            This paper argues that immigrant women make important contributions to community development, thereby improving their own individual lives and those of others in Canadian society. Forty semistructured interviews were conducted in two major Maritime cities. Drawing from these interviews, the authors define what community means for immigrant women from the organizations in which they participate and the issues that they embrace. Using a broad definition of community development to encompass not only community-development-motivated actions but also other-motivated, nonpaid organizational participation, our findings reveal that even if the immigrant women's motives for organizing are individualistic, driven by narrow, practical needs, their involvement with others in groups and organizations has broader social consequences. Further, some Maritime immigrant women's stories demonstrate that individualistic motives may, over time, evolve into addressing gender, ethnic/race, class, and immigrant status inequalities and collective organizing for social change.

            KEY WORDS: Immigrants; Females; Community Development; Mobilization; Political Participation; Canada; Community Work.

55. Taylor, R. F. (2003). Rethinking voluntary work: Configurations of class, gender and career. The Sociological Review, 53(s2), 219.

            Sociological interpretations of voluntary work are based on definitions of work that emphasizes a dichotomy between public employment and private domestic labour. As a result, unpaid labour in the public sphere is seldom examined within the sociology of work, and little research has analyzed social class and gender differences in volunteering. This thesis challenges these prevailing attitudes, and argues that voluntary work is socially and historically constructed. Voluntary work by individuals must be understood in the context of class and gender identities on the one hand; and structures of the marketplace, families and welfare systems on the other. Twelve case studies selected from qualitative interviews (n = 29) with paid workers and volunteers in two voluntary organisations are explored. Findings indicate that individual's work practices are circumscribed by the institutional hierarchies of power and authority which structure the organisation of labour in the fields of healthcare and community work. Through exploring both the individual's understanding of their labour and the structural boundaries that define it, the research develops a broader perspective on participation in voluntary work. Lastly, attention is drawn to the different meanings voluntary work holds for diverse social groups revealing its role both in reproducing social inequalities, and effecting social change.

            KEY WORDS: Volunteers; Public Sector Private Sector Relations; Work Orientations; Nonprofit Organizations; Class Differences; Sex Differences; Community Organizations; London, England; Volunteer Work.

56. Theolis, M., & Thomas, D. (2002). On the true worth of voluntary work. Nouvelles Pratiques Sociales, 15(2), 17-24.

            This article summarizes the contributions to this journal issue that together constitute a report of voluntary work in the world today. Interviews with volunteers who support the necessity of volunteer work consistently express the need to maintain quality connections between themselves and those whom they help. Research demonstrates that volunteers do not engage in their charitable efforts for profit or glory. The volunteer gives without guarantee of results in order to maintain and, sometimes, renew the social connection. The voluntary sector has existed in a fairly autonomous arena with its own set of characteristics. Assessing the worth of volunteering is not reduced to a single element; rather, volunteer work shares common characteristics with the business, state, and domestic sectors of society.

            KEY WORDS: Volunteers; Charities; Volunteer Work.

57. Thoits, P. A., & Hewitt, L. N. (2001). Volunteer work and well-being. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 42(2), 115-131.

            Using two waves of panel data (N = 2,681) from Americans' Changing Lives (House 1995), this article examines the relationships between volunteer work in the community and six aspects of personal well-being: happiness, life satisfaction, self-esteem, sense of control over life, physical health, and depression. Prior research has predominantly explored the effects of voluntary memberships rather than volunteer work, has used cross-sectional rather than longitudinal data, and, when longitudinal, has emphasized social causation over selection effects. The antecedents of human agency are overlooked when the focus is only on the consequences of volunteer work. People with more personality resources and better physical and mental health should be more likely to seek (or to be sought for) community service. The authors examined both selection and social causation effects. Results indicated that volunteer work indeed enhances all six aspects of well-being and, conversely, people who have greater well-being invest more hours in volunteer service. Explaining how positive consequences flow from volunteering may offer a useful counterpoint to stress theory, which has focused mainly on negative life experiences.

            KEY WORDS: Volunteers; Well-Being; Happiness; Life Satisfaction; Self Esteem; Locus of Control; Health; Depression (Psychology); United States of America; Volunteer Work.

58. Uslaner, E. M. (2002). Religion and civic engagement in Canada and the United States. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 41(2), 239-254.

            This study examines the influence of different religious traditions on volunteering - is examined. It draws on comparative 1996 survey data from the US, Francophone Canada (Quebec), & Anglophone Canada (N = 3,023, 700, & 2,700 respondents, respectively). Results indicate that fundamentalists in both countries are most likely to volunteer for both religious & secular causes. Catholics volunteer at the same rates as other denominations, except in Anglophone Canada. Although church structures differ in the two countries, conservative religious values have similar effects on volunteering. Also assessed is the impact of generalized vs. particularized trust on voluntarism. Results indicate only moderate effects, which are compounded by religious conservatism. Generally, there are more similarities than differences between Anglophone Canada & the US. Even though Quebec appears to have a unique culture of voluntarism, this cannot be definitely linked to the hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church there.

            KEY WORDS: Volunteers; Citizen Participation; Religious Beliefs; Religious Cultural Groups; United States of America; Canada; Church Membership; Crosscultural Analysis; Volunteer Work.

59. van de Vliert, E., Huang, X., & Levine, R. V. (2004). National wealth and thermal climate as predictors of motives for volunteer work. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 35(1), 62-73.

            Multilevel analyses of World Values Survey data from 13,584 inhabitants of 33 countries reveals a pattern of cross-cultural differences in balancing self- and other-directed helping motivations. Voluntary workers' self-serving and altruistic motivations are positively linked in higher income countries with uncomfortably cold or hot climates. They are also unrelated in higher and lower income countries with comfortable climates and in lower income countries with uncomfortably hot climates. Finally, they are negatively linked in lower income countries with uncomfortably cold climates.

            KEY WORDS: Cross Cultural Differences; Income (Economic); Motivation; Temperature Effects; Volunteers; Prediction; Volunteer Work.

60. Van Emmerik, I. J. H., & Stone, T. H. (2002). Engagement in high- and low-status volunteering. The Netherlands' Journal of Social Sciences, 38(3), 239-251.

            This study examined the hypotheses that the engagement in high- & low-status volunteering can be explained by the different goals of volunteers and time and energy constraints. Data were generated from a Dutch sample of 455 volunteers. Correlations & regression analyses revealed that men spent more hours in both high-status & low-status volunteering than women. The results of this study showed that the different goals of the volunteers are related to different kinds of behavior. This followed naturally from the idea that it is important that an individual's ultimate goals are matched with a particular volunteering situation.

            KEY WORDS: Volunteers; Social Status; Netherlands; Goals; Constraints; Sex Differences; Volunteer Work.

61. Van Willigen, M. (2000). Differential benefits of volunteering across the life course. Journals of Gerontology: Series B: Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences, 55B(5), S308-S318.

            Using nationally representative panel data, this study explored the long-term impacts of volunteering on the life satisfaction and perceived health of persons aged 60 yrs and over. It then compared ordinary least squares regression results for seniors with those for younger adults (aged 25-59 yrs). Findings indicated that older volunteers experienced more life satisfaction over time as a consequence of their volunteer hours than did younger volunteers, especially at high rates of volunteering. Older adults also experienced greater positive changes in their perceived health than did younger adult volunteers. Part of the reason for this different may be the type of volunteer work in which both older and younger adults engage. The context in which older and younger adults volunteer and the meaning of their voluntarism constitute more likely explanations. The author encourages researchers to take into account volunteer commitment when studying volunteering's effect on well-being.

            KEY WORDS: Age Differences; Health; Life Satisfaction; Volunteers; Well-Being; Volunteer Work.

62. Vromen, A. (2003). Community-based activism and change: The cases of Sydney and Toronto. City & Community, 2(1), 47-69.

            This article presents findings from case studies in two community development organizations based in Sydney, Australia, & Toronto, Canada. 40 in-depth interviews were conducted with activists in the late 1990s. The activists describe the present realities for community development activism and what they conceptualize as the future for political action. The author argues that appreciating how activists substantiate the relevance of community development activism in periods of economic, political, & social change, we are able to build an inclusive notion of participation that is supportive rather than critical of, everyday activist experiences.

            KEY WORDS: Community Development; Activism; State Society Relationship; Political Action; Community Organizations; Sydney, Australia; Toronto; Ontario; Community Work.

63. Wilson, J., & Musick, M. (2003). Doing well by doing good: Volunteering and occupational achievement among American women. The Sociological Quarterly, 44(3), 433-450.

            This study tests the popular assumption that volunteer work helps people get good jobs. In doing so, it uses panel data from the Young Women's Module of the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience. Results indicate that volunteering while a young adult has no effect on whether women will be working for pay 18 years later. However, it has a positive effect on the occupational status of those who do eventually work. The length of time spent in the labor force between early adulthood & middle age suppresses the positive effect of volunteering on occupational status. The same positive effect of volunteer work on occupational status is evident in a separate analysis of women who display more commitment to working for pay by being in the labor force in both 1973 & 1991.

            KEY WORDS: Volunteers; Labor Force Participation; Work Experience; Working Women; Occupational Status; Employment Opportunities; Career Patterns; Occupational Achievement; Volunteer Work.