Who tends to volunteer and why? What causes attract certain types of volunteers? What motivates people to volunteer? How can volunteers be persuaded to continue their service? Making use of a broad range of survey information to offer a detailed portrait of the volunteer in America, Volunteers provides an important resource for everyone who works with volunteers or is interested in their role in contemporary society. Mark A. Musick and John Wilson address issues of volunteer motivation by focusing on individuals' subjective states, their available resources, and the influence of gender and race. In a section on social context, they reveal how volunteer work is influenced by family relationships and obligations through the impact of schools, churches, and communities. They consider cross-national differences in volunteering and historical trends, and close with consideration of the research on the organization of volunteer work and the consequences of volunteering for the volunteer.
1111984346
Volunteers: A Social Profile
Who tends to volunteer and why? What causes attract certain types of volunteers? What motivates people to volunteer? How can volunteers be persuaded to continue their service? Making use of a broad range of survey information to offer a detailed portrait of the volunteer in America, Volunteers provides an important resource for everyone who works with volunteers or is interested in their role in contemporary society. Mark A. Musick and John Wilson address issues of volunteer motivation by focusing on individuals' subjective states, their available resources, and the influence of gender and race. In a section on social context, they reveal how volunteer work is influenced by family relationships and obligations through the impact of schools, churches, and communities. They consider cross-national differences in volunteering and historical trends, and close with consideration of the research on the organization of volunteer work and the consequences of volunteering for the volunteer.
Who tends to volunteer and why? What causes attract certain types of volunteers? What motivates people to volunteer? How can volunteers be persuaded to continue their service? Making use of a broad range of survey information to offer a detailed portrait of the volunteer in America, Volunteers provides an important resource for everyone who works with volunteers or is interested in their role in contemporary society. Mark A. Musick and John Wilson address issues of volunteer motivation by focusing on individuals' subjective states, their available resources, and the influence of gender and race. In a section on social context, they reveal how volunteer work is influenced by family relationships and obligations through the impact of schools, churches, and communities. They consider cross-national differences in volunteering and historical trends, and close with consideration of the research on the organization of volunteer work and the consequences of volunteering for the volunteer.
Marc A. Musick is Associate Professor of Sociology at The University of Texas at Austin. He specializes in the sociology of health and social psychology.John Wilson is Professor of Sociology at Duke University. He has published more than 50 articles on volunteerism and the impact of race, gender, religion, and leisure on volunteering in publications such as Contemporary Sociology, Social Forces, Social Science Quarterly, and American Sociological Review.
Table of Contents
PrefaceAcknowledgmentsPart 1. An Introduction to Volunteering1. The Importance of Studying Volunteering2. What Is Volunteering?Part 2. Subjective Dispositions3. Personality4. Motives5. Values, Norms, and AttitudesPart 3. Individual Resources6. Socio-Economic Resources7. Time and Health8. Gender9. RacePart 4. The Social Context of Volunteering10. The Life Course: The Early Stages11. The Life Course: The Later Stages12. Social Resources13. Volunteer Recruitment14. Schools and Congregations15. Community, Neighborhood, City, and Region16. Cross-National Differences17. Trends in VolunteeringPart 5. The Organization of Volunteer Work18. Volunteer Tasks19. The Volunteer RolePart 6. The Consequences of Volunteering20. Citizenship and Prosocial Behavior21. Occupation, Income, and Health22. ConclusionAppendixNotesReferencesIndex
Sociologists Musick (Univ. of Texas) and Wilson (Duke Univ.) offer a fairly comprehensive review of the current state of the art in the use of volunteers in the US, with one chapter addressing international issues. Twenty-two chapters arranged into six sections focus on definition, theories that address volunteer motivation, theories that address noninvolvement in voluntary behavior, the social context of volunteering, who volunteers for what types of service, and outcomes and consequences for the volunteer. The authors, who are well qualified in this area, pay little attention to the fairly substantial body of practical program evaluations common from the 1960s to the 1990s. Their writing style, which is clear but complex and academic in tone, will be beyond the average reader in some sections. Well referenced and indexed. Summing Up: Recommended. Libraries serving departments of counseling, sociology, or social work, upper-division undergraduates and above. —Choice
R. T. Sigler]]>
Sociologists Musick (Univ. of Texas) and Wilson (Duke Univ.) offer a fairly comprehensive review of the current state of the art in the use of volunteers in the US, with one chapter addressing international issues. Twenty-two chapters arranged into six sections focus on definition, theories that address volunteer motivation, theories that address noninvolvement in voluntary behavior, the social context of volunteering, who volunteers for what types of service, and outcomes and consequences for the volunteer. The authors, who are well qualified in this area, pay little attention to the fairly substantial body of practical program evaluations common from the 1960s to the 1990s. Their writing style, which is clear but complex and academic in tone, will be beyond the average reader in some sections. Well referenced and indexed. Summing Up: Recommended. Libraries serving departments of counseling, sociology, or social work, upper-division undergraduates and above. Choice
Center for Voluntary Organizations and Service - Virginia Hodgkinson
A much needed book for both scholars and practitioners. It covers a wide range of topics dealing with volunteering. . . . A major contribution.