Musick, Marc A., and John Wilson. Volunteers: A Social Profile.
Author | Friedman, Barry D. |
Position | Book review |
Musick, Marc A., and John Wilson. Volunteers: A Social Profile. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2008. 663 pages. Cloth, $39.95.
Sociologists Marc A. Musick and John Wilson explore a curiosity of life in many countries: the practice of many members of society to donate their labor, usually to charitable nonprofit organizations, without expectation of remuneration or other tangible benefits. Theories of market economics would assume such behavior to be indicative of feeblemindedness or irrationality, but the ubiquitousness of volunteerism requires inquiry into the philosophical, sociological, and psychological bases for decisions to undertake demanding work for free. The authors resourcefully delve into data from numerous surveys of volunteers and non-volunteers in a sophisticated, productive effort to identify characteristics that make people likely to volunteer and, once they have done so, to persist in such activity. Identification of the independent, causal variables has value beyond the satisfaction of intellectual curiosity: If volunteer recruiters know what characteristics make people more likely to be available for persistent voluntary activity, then they can concentrate their recruitment efforts on individuals who have these characteristics, thus enhancing the recruiters' productivity and success. For example, a professionally employed college graduate is more likely to volunteer than an unemployed dropout for at least three compelling reasons: First, the professional is far more apt to feel confident in his/her ability that would make him/her successful in the volunteer job. Second, the professional is more likely to have the resources (notably money, time, and a car) that would facilitate accomplishment of the volunteer role. Lastly, the professional is more likely to be asked to volunteer, insofar as he/she has a greater chance of being present at a meeting or other gathering at which a volunteer recruiter sizes up attendees as potentially useful participants.
Whether a person is attracted to volunteerism by his/her motivations that he/she seeks to satisfy or whether the motivations develop or evolve as a consequence of the voluntary activity is a puzzle. For example, the characteristic of empathy may motivate an individual to offer his/her unpaid labor for a charitable purpose. On the other hand, Musick and Wilson quote sociologist James A. Vela-McConnell, who volunteered to help at a battered-women's shelter because...
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