Recent orders from the executive branch of the United States’ government have encouraged participation from faith-based organizations in providing human services because they are more effective in aiding impoverished citizens. This study examined the effectiveness of faith-based and non faith-based anti-poverty nonprofit organizations to find if one organization type is more effective in providing social services. the data for this study were collected through a survey-questionnaire which was administered to a convenience sample of 82 participants seeking assistance from four different nonprofit organizations (two faith-based and two non faith-based) in Dallas County and Tarrant County. the results from this study indicated that when controlling for demographic and socio-economic variables, recipients from faith-based organizations were less likely to report that they at least received services desired as compared to those who visited a non faith-based organization. Therefore, non faith-based organizations were better at meeting the needs of respondents than faith-based organizations.

Sustainability, the work of building a world that is ecologically, socially and economically just, is essentially a learning process. To move more effectively toward this goal, a deeper understanding of learning is necessary. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have come to play a significant role within the sustainability project, and thus form the context for much learning toward sustainability. Faith-based organizations (FBOs) are a significant but understudied segment of the NGO family. This research investigates learning among individuals within FBOs doing environmental and development work in Kenya, using the framework of Mezirow’s transformative learning theory. The identity and function of these FBOs is profiled, highlighting the key role churches and faith-based agencies can play in effecting sustainable and holistic change in Global South countries, due to their rootedness in the community, the social capital they help produce, and the respect they receive from local people. Learning for sustainability is examined through interviews with participants from two case FBOs: A Rocha Kenya and Rural Service Programme of the East Africa Yearly Meeting of Friends. Attention to the context these organizations provide for learning highlighted the influence of supportive community, mentor relationships, teamwork, and training and evaluation structures. Learning outcomes covered a broad range of areas, with the highest proportion fitting within environment/conservation (e.g., linking faith and environmental concerns, and agriculture and birding skills) and community work (e.g., relating to people, managing groups, teaching and facilitation) umbrellas. Some transformative learning was experienced, mostly through learning in the instrumental domain. Key learning processes included observation and experience, training, practical application and learning from each other, highlighting the importance of embodied learning processes. Applying learning through action, both at work and in the home and community, was an important expression of learning for participants, though this expression was sometimes blocked by personal and social barriers that prevented the completion of the learning-action cycle.

Sustainability, the work of building a world that is ecologically, socially and economically just, is essentially a learning process. To move more effectively toward this goal, a deeper understanding of learning is necessary. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have come to play a significant role within the sustainability project, and thus form the context for much learning toward sustainability. Faith-based organizations (FBOs) are a significant but understudied segment of the NGO family. This research investigates learning among individuals within FBOs doing environmental and development work in Kenya, using the framework of Mezirow’s transformative learning theory. The identity and function of these FBOs is profiled, highlighting the key role churches and faith-based agencies can play in effecting sustainable and holistic change in Global South countries, due to their rootedness in the community, the social capital they help produce, and the respect they receive from local people. Learning for sustainability is examined through interviews with participants from two case FBOs: A Rocha Kenya and Rural Service Programme of the East Africa Yearly Meeting of Friends. Attention to the context these organizations provide for learning highlighted the influence of supportive community, mentor relationships, teamwork, and training and evaluation structures. Learning outcomes covered a broad range of areas, with the highest proportion fitting within environment/conservation (e.g., linking faith and environmental concerns, and agriculture and birding skills) and community work (e.g., relating to people, managing groups, teaching and facilitation) umbrellas. Some transformative learning was experienced, mostly through learning in the instrumental domain. Key learning processes included observation and experience, training, practical application and learning from each other, highlighting the importance of embodied learning processes. Applying learning through action, both at work and in the home and community, was an important expression of learning for participants, though this expression was sometimes blocked by personal and social barriers that prevented the completion of the learning-action cycle.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2006. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Delaware, 2008. / Principal faculty advisor: Karen A. Curtis, School of Urban Affairs & Public Policy. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

No description available.

The Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) witnessed the prominence of the voluntary sector through the active involvement of existing non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the emergence of new ones as service providers in response to the social, educational and other community needs left unattended to by the public sector. This thesis takes a comparative look at the objectives and practices of faith-based NGOs, or FBOs, currently active in Lebanon, both local and international. It considers the role of the sectarian context, and the influence – if any - of religious identity and values on the founding and mission of an FBO, and the identity of the communities where it chose to operate. It also seeks to explore the relationship between an FBO’s religious identity, the community(ies) it serves, and the expression of its faith in that particular community. The research involved qualitative interviews of a cross-section of FBOs in Lebanon representing different faiths, together with a textual analysis of the communication used by these organizations in addressing their stakeholders. The research shed light on the motivations and the historical events that led to the founding of the sample population. Also, the variance between the mandates of the different faith-based organizations, each according to its religious values, and how that is reflected in determining their programme direction, and hence, the mode of operation in the community. In the process, the interviews highlighted other factors that can equally impact the image of an organization in any particular community; as well as the position of the same-faith communities vis-à-vis the mandate of their same-faith FBO. The textual analysis of the sample population’s communication tools was equally insightful as it drew attention to factors that affect the discourse used in presenting who they are, as well as their vision and mission. Other insights gleaned from this research include the organizations’ view point and/or position with respect to the sectarian context that empowers them as religiously based organizations; an aspect that gives some thought as to the potential role for FBOs as agents of change in such a complex context. The source of the knowledge arrived at through this research is based on input received from the organizations themselves, either through the interviews with their leaders, or through their communication tools. It would be equally insightful, in another research, to consider the view point of the community, also that of secular and other faith-based organizations, of the role of religiously-based development organizations in the community as they compare with their desired role.

More than 30 years after the first case of HIV/AIDS was reported, the disease continues to pose challenges for governments and communities across the world, but particularly in Southern Africa. Response to the disease is hindered by contextual influences, which vary between countries and cultural groups. With HIV/AIDS, one size does not fit all. The complexity of this disease is still not fully understood and information regarding its spread and prevalence is often fluid and unreliable. Communities’ emotional reaction to HIV/AIDS, including stigmatising, plays a role in this scenario. FBOs (including churches) are uniquely positioned to provide HIV/AIDS education and prevention messages through their extensive networks that reach even the most remote villages. However, during the era of HIV/AIDS, FBOs or their members have been the target of criticism. They have been accused of promoting stigmatising and discriminatory attitudes based on fear and prejudice, of pronouncing harsh moral judgements on those infected and of reducing the issues of AIDS to mere moral issues. The primary research question in this research focused on determining the nature and extent of HIV/AIDS-related stigma reported by aspiring faith-based leaders. The study questionnaires were completed by aspiring faith-based leaders who participated in Choose Life training programmes. These aspiring faith-based leaders were used as an indirect measure of stigma in their respective FBOs. The assumption is made that the attitude of faith-based leaders may affect the communities they serve. A KAP survey was used to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices within these organisations. A group of 133 aspiring faith-based leaders who attended a HospiVision training programme, Choose Life, participated in the study. Non-parametric tests were used in the analysis of the data. Test include Spearman Rho correlations, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney. It was found that respondents are knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS. Despite their high level of knowledge, there is still fear and worry about sharing eating or drinking utensils with those infected. Unrealistic fear of HIV transmission is one of the building blocks of HIV-related stigma. Respondents were generally unaware of people living with the virus in their congregation. This demonstrates that disclosure of HIV status is relatively low. It may be a fear of stigma that represents a barrier to disclosure. A high percentage of respondents (44%) indicated that they would feel ashamed should the virus infect them or someone in their family (28%). They were, however, more accepting of other people who are infected (only 12% indicated PLWHA should be ashamed). These contradictions make it difficult to understand the level of stigmatising and the reasons behind the responses. In spite of prevention campaigns run by various organisations, stigma and discrimination still exist and this may hamper our response to the illness. The study was relatively small, but its results are similar to those of earlier studies conducted nationally among faith-based leaders. Stigma and discrimination remain factors that have to be considered in all programmes developed to address the current HIV crisis. Even when knowledge about the disease is significant and respondents are well educated, some stigma still prevails. FBOs are amongst the institutions in society that shape the values and attitudes that guide responses to illness and vulnerability and that support appropriate and compassionate responses. This research shows that FBOs have an important role to play in promoting religious beliefs that confront stigma and in encouraging positive dialogue to counter damaging thought patterns in communities. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / am2014 / Psychology / unrestricted

This ethnographic research examines the social service encounter between private providers and child recipients involved in a faith-based afterschool program located in a southern US city. I specifically focus on the tensions and divisions that developed between staff members and participating families in daily programmatic interactions and rhetoric. I highlight how race, class, and gender intersected with age to shape children’s different experiences of the afterschool program and their lives beyond the agency. I also show how these social categories converged in local stories of religious poverty relief, which build upon cultural narratives about American welfare, to blind staff to the realities of children’s lives. These issues resulted in a program where staff members sought to transform children away from imagined social ills they associated with guardians to ideologically and programmatically isolate children from their families. I explore these conditions to draw attention to some of the ways structural inequalities can be reproduced and maintained in private service provision. It is in this context that I examine the increasing prominence of faith-based organizations within domestic poverty policy and relief services.