Abstract:In the last two decades knowledge on volunteering has significantly expanded, but a thorough understanding of the organizational socialization of volunteers is still lacking: the process through which one learns the job, internalizes organizational values and goals, and becomes an effective and involved volunteer. By performing an ethnographic study with Israeli volunteers working for at-risk youth, the organizational process was portrayed. The Volunteering Stages and Transitions Model (VSTM) presented in this… Show more
“…In response to these findings, future research will need to explore how Cultural, Individual, and Assigned values are transferred. The rich bodies of literature underpinning socialization (Baland and Platteau 2000) and internalization (Haski-Leventhal and Bargal 2008) highlighted in the conceptual model can be engaged to ensure the bidirectional effects of values on behavior are more clearly understood and assessed. Given that complexities of cognition and effect are increasingly recognized as crucial pieces of the SES puzzle (Manfredo et al 2014, Scheffer et al 2015, the interplay between group interactions and social norms will not only initiate learning processes but also result in shifting values that can influence collective action over time.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…That is, cultural standards and norms exist at a mesolevel that forms through emergent properties from individuals. Individual values transfer to Cultural values through internalization that occurs over extended periods (Marks 1997, Haski-Leventhal andBargal 2008). In other words, cognition and effect emerge in a social structure and are referenced to guide interpretation of interpersonal dynamics.…”
Section: Interactions Among Multiple Levels Of Values and Collective mentioning
ABSTRACT. The social-ecological systems framework has guided investigations of complex interactions among ecosystems, society, and economies. In recent years, academics and practitioners have taken steps to strengthen this framework by calling for more systematic engagement with the cognitive and affective bases of human behavior. We suggest research that engages with multilevel values (i.e., individual, cultural, assigned) will be better positioned to understand how and why people cooperate in natural resource comanagement situations, and in turn, develop more effective strategies for mitigating and adapting to a changing world. We review three conceptualizations of the value concept operating within environmental governance regimes to offer a deeper understanding of how multilevel values fit within the social-ecological systems framework. Drawing on a conceptual model of these relationships, we share results from three example studies that demonstrate how values and governance can be more explicitly integrated in future research. We aim to stimulate a dialogue about the mutual benefits that can emerge from a fuller characterization of the relationship between values and environmental governance to manage for complexities of social-ecological systems.
“…In response to these findings, future research will need to explore how Cultural, Individual, and Assigned values are transferred. The rich bodies of literature underpinning socialization (Baland and Platteau 2000) and internalization (Haski-Leventhal and Bargal 2008) highlighted in the conceptual model can be engaged to ensure the bidirectional effects of values on behavior are more clearly understood and assessed. Given that complexities of cognition and effect are increasingly recognized as crucial pieces of the SES puzzle (Manfredo et al 2014, Scheffer et al 2015, the interplay between group interactions and social norms will not only initiate learning processes but also result in shifting values that can influence collective action over time.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…That is, cultural standards and norms exist at a mesolevel that forms through emergent properties from individuals. Individual values transfer to Cultural values through internalization that occurs over extended periods (Marks 1997, Haski-Leventhal andBargal 2008). In other words, cognition and effect emerge in a social structure and are referenced to guide interpretation of interpersonal dynamics.…”
Section: Interactions Among Multiple Levels Of Values and Collective mentioning
ABSTRACT. The social-ecological systems framework has guided investigations of complex interactions among ecosystems, society, and economies. In recent years, academics and practitioners have taken steps to strengthen this framework by calling for more systematic engagement with the cognitive and affective bases of human behavior. We suggest research that engages with multilevel values (i.e., individual, cultural, assigned) will be better positioned to understand how and why people cooperate in natural resource comanagement situations, and in turn, develop more effective strategies for mitigating and adapting to a changing world. We review three conceptualizations of the value concept operating within environmental governance regimes to offer a deeper understanding of how multilevel values fit within the social-ecological systems framework. Drawing on a conceptual model of these relationships, we share results from three example studies that demonstrate how values and governance can be more explicitly integrated in future research. We aim to stimulate a dialogue about the mutual benefits that can emerge from a fuller characterization of the relationship between values and environmental governance to manage for complexities of social-ecological systems.
“…For example, one might characterise voluntary work in mental health (Randall & Munro, 2010) or at risk street children (Haski-Leventhal & Bargal, 2008) in this way.…”
This article problematizes the dominant assumption in the literature on volunteer work that it is undertaken primarily as a matter of individual choice. Using findings from a qualitative study of volunteers at the not-for-profit organization, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, it is shown that volunteering exists within a dense web of social relations, especially familial and communal relations, so that volunteering is recursively constituted by structure and agency. The concept of ‘thick volunteering’ is developed to denote how in some cases these social relations, especially when the work involved is dangerous, may make volunteering especially significant.
“…The author outlines that personal relationships are instrumental to improving the well-being of the workers and the delivery of aid [9]. In the same line, findings from previous studies on organisational socialisation emphasise the importance of relationship-building to employees’ adjustment and commitment to a new organisation [32,33]. …”
Background: Low retention of humanitarian workers poses constraints on humanitarian organisations’ capacity to respond effectively to disasters. Research has focused on reasons for humanitarian workers leaving the sector, but little is known about the factors that can elucidate long-term commitment.
Objective: To understand what motivates and supports experienced humanitarian health workers to remain in the sector.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 experienced nurses who had been on at least three field missions with Médecins Sans Frontières Sweden. Interviews explored factors influencing the decision to go on missions, how nurses were supported and how they looked back on those experiences. Transcripts were analysed through content analysis informed by van Gennep’s concept of ‘Rite of Passage’, combined with elements of the self-determination theory.
Results: The findings indicate that their motivations and how nurses thought of themselves, as individuals and professionals, changed over time. For initiation and continued engagement in humanitarian work, participants were motivated by several personal and professional ambitions, as well as altruistic principles of helping others. When starting their first humanitarian missions, nurses felt vulnerable and had low self-esteem. However, through experiencing feelings of autonomy, competence and relatedness during missions, they underwent a process of change and gradually adjusted to new roles as humanitarian health workers. Reintegration in their home community, while maintaining the new roles and skills from the missions, proved very challenging. They individually found their own ways of overcoming the lack of social support they experienced after missions in order to sustain their continuation in the sector.
Conclusions: The findings highlight the importance of social environments that facilitate and support the adjustment of individuals during and after field missions. Learning from positive examples, such as nurses with several years of experience, can strengthen strategies of retention, which can ultimately improve the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
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