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Wilson
John & Musick
Mark: "The Effects of Volunteering on the Volunteer"
in Law & Contemp. Problems vol 62 pp141-168 (Autumn 1999)
The authors set themselves to examine the contribution
that volunteering makes to a society's 'social capital'
its 'supply of
generalised trust' and 'norms of reciprocity'. While this may seem at first
sight to be a Christian agenda
they follow a political one and relate their
insights to the pursuit of democracy.
Richard's note 1: Musick appears to be a leader in the field of voluteerism
and worth following.
Richard's note 2: Volunteerism is much concerned with Voluntary Agencies and their paid employees.
A different focus from ours.
Richard's note 3: There seems to be a shortage of literature about managing volunteers. 'Voluntary Management' seems to concentrate on the needs of Voluntary Agencies to manage their paid professionals.
(File downloaded and this summary prepared by Richard 17 June 2003)
Wilson & Musick investigated the effects of volunteering under five
heads: Citizenship;
Anti-social behaviour;
Physical health;
Mental health;
Occupational achievement. Concluded:
"...there are individual benefits to be derived from doing volunteer work
... much work remains to be done in the five areas covered
and there are
undoubtedly other categories of benefits that could be identified. ... it is worthwhile to stand back and reconsider the very notion of the
benefits of volunteering to the volunteer...
these benefits are usually unintended consequences of behavior that is
motivated not by extrinsic but intrinsic rewards" [Quote p.167]
"The language of 'benefits' is more value-laden than is the language of consequences." [Quote p.168]
"Self-discovery is not the effect of volunteering; it is volunteering itself." [Quote p.168]
"It is ... appropriate to investigate the probability that volunteers do
indeed have more occupational skills than do non-volunteers."
Related papers at http://www.law.duke.edu/journals/lcp/jarchive.htm