Thesis (B.A. (Hons.))--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Psychology, 1979.

Thesis (B.A. Hons. 1977) from the Department of Psycology, University of Adelaide.

<p>Forskning har visat att människor hjälper varandra av såväl egoistiska som altruistiska skäl. Hur ter det sig hos volontärer? Ställer volontärer upp för de hjälpbehövandes eller för sin egen skull? Den här uppsatsen syftar till att undersöka volontärers motiv till att hjälpa. Skiljer motiven sig åt beroende på om engagemanget sker i Sverige, inom Europa eller i en annan världsdel? 40 volontärer berättade skriftligt om sina volontärupplevelser. Berättelserna analyserades för att se vilken typ av motiv som angavs mest. Resultatet visade att fler egoistiska än altruistiska motiv angavs totalt sett bland volontärerna, däremot angav Europavolontärer flest altruistiska motiv. Överlag engagerade sig yngre volontärer längre hemifrån. Resultaten kan ge framförallt frivilligorganisationer men också samhället i stort insikt i motiv bakom hjälpinsatser.</p>

Forskning har visat att människor hjälper varandra av såväl egoistiska som altruistiska skäl. Hur ter det sig hos volontärer? Ställer volontärer upp för de hjälpbehövandes eller för sin egen skull? Den här uppsatsen syftar till att undersöka volontärers motiv till att hjälpa. Skiljer motiven sig åt beroende på om engagemanget sker i Sverige, inom Europa eller i en annan världsdel? 40 volontärer berättade skriftligt om sina volontärupplevelser. Berättelserna analyserades för att se vilken typ av motiv som angavs mest. Resultatet visade att fler egoistiska än altruistiska motiv angavs totalt sett bland volontärerna, däremot angav Europavolontärer flest altruistiska motiv. Överlag engagerade sig yngre volontärer längre hemifrån. Resultaten kan ge framförallt frivilligorganisationer men också samhället i stort insikt i motiv bakom hjälpinsatser.

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This study was undertaken as an explorative, qualitative study to explore the motives for foreign volunteers to volunteer at an NGO in South Africa. Increasing numbers of young adults and adolescent school leavers from developed countries are choosing to take a sabbatical year to engage in volunteer work in foreign, often developing countries. In South Africa, much of this work takes place in the Non-governmental sector, around environmental and humanitarian issues including HIV and AIDS. The incentives underlying this behaviour are of interest to try to understand what motivates altruistic, pro-social behaviour. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

The rapidly increasing number of AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in sub-Saharan Africa has raised much concern. The combination of HIV/AIDS, poverty and associated risk factors place children at risk for developing emotional, social, cognitive and behavioural difficulties. Resilience literature has emphasised the role of psychosocial support in buffering risk and boosting resilience in children. A holistic intervention programme, designed to empower and mobilise communities at grass-roots level, aims to address the psychosocial needs of vulnerable children. Such community interventions rely heavily on the support of volunteers. Previous initiatives conducted in South Africa have experienced difficulties in recruiting and retaining volunteers. The literature points out that understanding what motivates individuals to offer their services to others is crucial for the survival and effectiveness of any community-based programme that relies on volunteer support. Guided by the qualitative methodology of grounded theory, this research explored the motivations of volunteers offering their services to vulnerable children in peri-urban communities in KwaZulu-Natal. This inductive method enabled the researcher to identify motivating factors and interpret the underlying processes within and among these. The perspective of systems theory further explained the categories of motivations in relation to the social context. It was anticipated that the findings of this research would enhance existing training programmes designed for volunteer workers. Recommendations for both research and practice were put forward. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

This qualitative study is an exploratory investigation aimed at understanding the expectations and experiences of volunteers offering psychosocial support to vulnerable children. It serves as an evaluation of one aspect of the Structured Group Therapy Programme (SGTP) implemented within peri-urban and rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal. Volunteers from within these communities are involved in facilitating this community-based programme, and in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of this project, it is important to understand what (i) motivates an individual to volunteer in the programme, and (ii) what keeps them involved. Two groups of research participants were selected to participate in this study. The first group comprised of five volunteers who were more experienced in their work with vulnerable children than the second group of participants. The first group of participants had been involved in the Vulnerable Children's Programme (VCP) for a longer duration, across all the communities in which the programme operates, and were involved in training new facilitators. The second group of participants consisted of eight community facilitators, who were involved in implementing the programme within their local community alone, and were less experienced than the first group. The nature of this study required careful consideration of ethical principles before, during, and even after the study was complete. A focus group was run with each of the groups with the aim of exploring the volunteers' expectations before entering the programme and their experiences within the programme. The focus groups were transcribed and analysed within an interpretive, phenomenological framework. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

In South Africa faith plays an important role in community-based volunteering related to HIV and AIDS work. Many community-based volunteers make use of their faith to provide healthcare and social services related to HIV and AIDS. This research examines this faith or religious vibrancy and critic two things: (1) to what extent such volunteers can be understood as a Religious Health Asset, and (2) what criteria can be used to consider community-based volunteers as a new form of the church emerging in a time of HIV and AIDS. The research first examines the concept of voluntary work in South Africa, particularly in times of HIV and AIDS. Field research relies on community based volunteers linked to Sinomlando, a research centre at the University of KwaZulu- Natal through participant observation and open ended interview method. I examine faith or religious aspects in volunteers serving the communities. The research notes that in community-based volunteering, the use of prayers, religious choruses and/or quoting of the Bible is a visible faith practice. I learnt that prayers and choruses are spontaneous, and they are volunteers’ expression and release of emotions caused by socio-economic stressors. The use of the Bible is not a common practice among groups of volunteers as it is with praying and singing. Given this, the thesis argues that faith practices in community-based volunteering can be understood as a religious health asset. Using the ecclesiogenesis theory of Leonardo Boff, the thesis then analyses whether these groups signify a new form of the church is emerging. However, the finding is that they do not constitute a new form of the church, but rather a new form of missionary spirituality as the laity is taking on the responsibility of living out their faith in a new context and in the face of new challenges. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

This social constructionist study originated from the researcher’s exposure to the counselling volunteers environment. The study aimed to document the voices of three people, constructed as counselling volunteers. The three semi-structured interviews are with individuals who constructed themselves, or accepted the constructions of their role, as volunteers. The “case study approach” was chosen as the most suitable method to gather the information. “Thematic content analysis” was the method of analysis. The case studies of participants were reconstructed in terms of themes. Recurring themes in these case studies were expounded and linked within the literature. This study allowed valuable and rich information about the volunteerism to emerge. Amongst the themes that emerged, the need to help, being a good counsellor and resilience were identified as particularly important areas for future research. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)