Volunteering as social assistance:pathways to well-being

Jody Akedj.aked@ids.ac.uk

SOCIAL ASSISTANCE

volunteerinteractions

wellbeing

Presented to Post-Graduate Research ConferenceUniversity of Bradford 31st October 2014

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Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being

Study site

Carood watershed:6 municipalities, NGOs, Eskaya Tribe, national gov, private sector

Volunteer profile:VSO ICS youth volunteersFilipino and British 18-25 years old

3 month cycles8 cycles

Intervention:Volunteering

Outcome: Environmental management

VSO: “volunteering provides the means through which the essential pre-conditions for systemic and sustainable change – ownership, participation, empowerment and inclusion – can be realised”

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Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being

Conceptual lens

Good feelings

Good functioning

Personal resources

External conditions

Source: nef, 2008; Ryan and Deci, 2000

feeling able to make choices important to you

feeling a connectedness to others

feeling able to master challenges

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Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being

Intervention:Volunteering

Outcome: Environmental management

Focus

Interest: Interpersonal wellbeing

Well-beingSocial networks

AutonomyCompetencyRelatedness

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Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being

Questions• What kind of feedbacks does the

experience of autonomy, competency and relatedness create in the change process?

• Are there any particular contexts or patterns of behaviour associated with volunteering that support them?

• Can an understanding of well-being processes provide actionable insights that improve social protection efforts?

Reflect

Plan

Action

Observe

Reflect

Plan

Action

Observe

Reflect

Plan

Action

ObserveSystemic action research (SAR)

Cycles of learning

Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being

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Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being

Methods

net-map.wordpress.comhttps://www.globalgiving.co.uk/stories/

1 2

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Autonomy

Relatedness

Competency

Self-direction

Trust

Contribution3

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Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being

Group analysis

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23

4

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Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being

Avoiding one-way relationships

The importance of distributing ‘doing’ roles to enable competence

power holders share

responsibilitiesmore self-directed

reciprocate trust

young people feel trusted

increased confidence and

trust in own work more

initiation & persistence“As they see I trust them, they feel appreciated.

And they use this appreciation as a tool, as an inspiration, to show their effort”

[Local youth volunteer]

"The doing role feels more of a contribution … it feels like the success is down to you”

[British ICS youth volunteer]

competence

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Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being

Well-being interplays in two-way relationships

Competence

mutuality

CompetenceBut …

Autonomy

Experienced self-direction

Experienced self-direction

COM

VOL

Mode of contribution more important than substance

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ISTR 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being

The momentum of relatedness Trust

Trust

Trust

If the experience is positive, “the legacy can be used both by volunteers and people in the community to form new relationships”

If the experience is negative, “you have to build relationships from scratch”

HopeFalse expectations

Direct experienceShared goalsA personal touch

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Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being

Relatedness enables autonomy & competence

Low competence

interacting with others

“laziness”

Feeling comfortable in

interactionsg

“We don’t feel close to them”[Local youth volunteer]

One strategy: ICS volunteers instil pride among local young people

Improved confidence

g

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Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being

ThanksThis research was generously funded by VSO International as part of the Valuing Volunteering project carried out in partnership with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS).

With special thanks to all the volunteers, community members, local officials and locally based VSO ICS programme staff who devoted their experiences and time to processing and interpreting research findings.

j.aked@ids.ac.uk