Welfare Clients' Volunteering as a Means of Empowerment

Cohen, Ayala

doi:10.1177/0899764008320196

Cited by 39 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Eleven papers reported RCTs (n = 7) [30,33,35,37,54,58,62] and non-RCTs (n = 4) [27,29,34,57]. As three RCT papers reported different outcomes collected at the same follow-up from the Experience Corps trial [30,35,58]; a total of five independent RCTs [33,37,54,62] were identified.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As three RCT papers reported different outcomes collected at the same follow-up from the Experience Corps trial [30,35,58]; a total of five independent RCTs [33,37,54,62] were identified. Of the non-RCTs [27,29,34,57], one paper was drawn from a small sample (n = 18) of Experience Corps trial participants [29] completing a comprehensive battery of cognitive tests that were not routinely administered in the wider cohort.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Is volunteering a public health intervention? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the health and survival of volunteers

et al. 2013

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BackgroundVolunteering has been advocated by the United Nations, and American and European governments as a way to engage people in their local communities and improve social capital, with the potential for public health benefits such as improving wellbeing and decreasing health inequalities. Furthermore, the US Corporation for National and Community Service Strategic Plan for 2011–2015 focused on increasing the impact of national service on community needs, supporting volunteers’ wellbeing, and prioritising recruitment and engagement of underrepresented populations. The aims of this review were to examine the effect of formal volunteering on volunteers’ physical and mental health and survival, and to explore the influence of volunteering type and intensity on health outcomes.MethodsExperimental and cohort studies comparing the physical and mental health outcomes and mortality of a volunteering group to a non-volunteering group were identified from twelve electronic databases (Cochrane Library, Medline, Embase, PsychINFO, CINAHL, ERIC, HMIC, SSCI, ASSIA, Social Care Online, Social Policy and Practice) and citation tracking in January 2013. No language, country or date restrictions were applied. Data synthesis was based on vote counting and random effects meta-analysis of mortality risk ratios.ResultsForty papers were selected: five randomised controlled trials (RCTs, seven papers); four non-RCTs; and 17 cohort studies (29 papers). Cohort studies showed volunteering had favourable effects on depression, life satisfaction, wellbeing but not on physical health. These findings were not confirmed by experimental studies. Meta-analysis of five cohort studies found volunteers to be at lower risk of mortality (risk ratio: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.66, 0.90). There was insufficient evidence to demonstrate a consistent influence of volunteering type or intensity on outcomes.ConclusionObservational evidence suggested that volunteering may benefit mental health and survival although the causal mechanisms remain unclear. Consequently, there was limited robustly designed research to guide the development of volunteering as a public health promotion intervention. Future studies should explicitly map intervention design to clear health outcomes as well as use pragmatic RCT methodology to test effects.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is volunteering a public health intervention? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the health and survival of volunteers

et al. 2013

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“…Dolan, Peasgood, and White (2008) reviewed a wide range of economics literature and reached similar conclusions. Recent studies have continued to report the same link across different settings and research designs: longitudinal (Pillemer, Fuller-Rowell, Reid, & Wells, 2010;Siegrist & Wahrendorf, 2010;Tang, Choi, & MorrowHowell, 2010); mixed methods (O'Brien, Townsend, & Ebden, 2010); cross-national comparative (Haski-Leventhal, 2009); crosssectional (Borgonovi, 2008;Theurer & Wister, 2010); and experimental design (Cohen, 2009).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 92%

Self-Esteem, Self-Efficacy, and Social Connectedness as Mediators of the Relationship Between Volunteering and Well-Being

Brown

Hoye

Nicholson

2012

Journal of Social Service Research

197

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This study examines the potentially mediated relationship between volunteering and well-being. Using survey data from a random sample (N = 2,990) of the population of the state of Victoria, Australia, three hypotheses were tested: Volunteers will report higher well-being than nonvolunteers; volunteers will report higher self-esteem, self-efficacy, and social connectedness than nonvolunteers; self-esteem, self-efficacy, and social connectedness will mediate the relationship between volunteer status and well-being. Results supported the hypotheses and showed that self-esteem, self-efficacy, and social connectedness were all significant mediators of the volunteering-well-being relationship. Increased social connectedness associated with volunteering was found to be the strongest first step in these pathways. This points to the importance of social connection for well-being, but future research using longitudinal designs is required to further test these relationships and provide the capacity for evidence of causality.

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“…In contrast, other researchers have found that volunteering makes welfare clients perceive themselves as active citizens, which bolsters their confidence and sense of control over their life (Cohen 2009;Koen 2013), with recognition from outside the labor market alleviating social marginality (Fuller et al 2008). …”

Section: Outcomes Of Workfare Volunteeringmentioning

confidence: 98%

‘Is My Volunteer Job Not Real Work?’ The Experiences of Migrant Women with Finding Employment Through Volunteer Work

Slootjes

Kampen

2017

Voluntas

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We examine whether, and under which conditions, volunteering contributes to migrant integration. We identify two main goals of workfare volunteering-empowerment and employability-which build on two distinct images of the ideal citizen: the empowered citizen and the worker-citizen. Life story interviews were held with 46 first-and second-generation migrant women from Turkey, Morocco and Suriname living in the Netherlands. We found that volunteering contributes to employability and empowerment. However, for two mutually reinforcing reasons it eventually disempowers. Firstly, volunteering hardly ever results in paid employment because employers do not recognize volunteering as real work experience. Secondly, the focus on paid employment as ultimate form of integration misrecognizes migrant women as active citizens, which often results in disempowerment. Our findings show that the double policy goals of workfare volunteering require different conditions, and as such striving for both simultaneously often results in failing to achieve the set goals.Résumé Nous avons examiné si, et dans quelles conditions, le bénévolat contribue à l'intégration des migrants. Nous identifions deux principaux objectifs du bénévolat Resumen Examinamos si el voluntariado contribuye a la integración de inmigrantes, y bajo qué condiciones. Identificamos dos metas principales del voluntariado de ''workfare'' (obligación de trabajar para recibir subsidios) -empoderamiento y empleabilidad -que se basan en dos imágenes diferentes del ciudadano ideal: el ciudadano empoderado y el ciudadano trabajador. Se realizaron entrevistas biográficas a 46 mujeres inmigrantes de primera y segunda generación de Turquía, Marruecos y Surinam que viven en los Países Bajos. Encontramos que el voluntariado contribuye a la empleabilidad y al empoderamiento. Sin embargo, por dos motivos que se refuerzan mutuamente les desempodera eventualmente. En primer lugar, el voluntariado raras veces resulta en empleo pagado porque los Voluntas (2017Voluntas ( ) 28:1900Voluntas ( -1921Voluntas ( 1901 123 empleadores no reconocen el voluntariado como una experiencia de trabajo real. En segundo lugar, el foco de atención en el empleo pagado como forma última de integración reconoce erróneamente a las mujeres inmigrantes como ciudadanas activas, lo que da lugar a menudo al desempoderamiento. Nuestros hallazgos muestran que las dos metas de la política de voluntariado de ''workfare'' requieren diferentes condiciones, y como tales, esforzarse por ambas simultáneamente a menudo resulta en no lograr las metas establecidas.

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Welfare Clients' Volunteering as a Means of Empowerment

Cited by 39 publications

References 24 publications

Is volunteering a public health intervention? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the health and survival of volunteers

Is volunteering a public health intervention? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the health and survival of volunteers

Self-Esteem, Self-Efficacy, and Social Connectedness as Mediators of the Relationship Between Volunteering and Well-Being

‘Is My Volunteer Job Not Real Work?’ The Experiences of Migrant Women with Finding Employment Through Volunteer Work

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