Frans Lammertyn

Collective and reflexive styles of volunteering: a sociological modernization perspective

This paper presents a theory-guided examination of the (changing) nature of volunteering through the lens of sociological modernization theories. Existing accounts of qualitative changes in motivational bases and patterns of volunteering are interpreted against the background of broader, modernization-driven social-structural transformations. It is argued that volunteer involvement should be qualified as a biographically embedded reality, and a new analytical framework of collective and reflexive styles of volunteering is constructed along the lines of the ideal-typical biographical models that are delineated by modernization theorists. Styles of volunteering are understood as essentially multidimensional, multiform, and multilevel in nature. Both structural-behavioral and motivational-attitudinal volunteering features are explored along the lines of six different dimensions: the biographical frame of reference, the motivational structure, the course and intensity of commitment, the organizational environment, the choice of (field of) activity, and the relation to paid work.

The quality of the caregiving relationship in informal care for older adults with dementia and chronic psychiatric patients.

The present study focuses on the dyadic relationship between a family carer and a patient. Besides clarifying the quality of the caregiving relationship in two populations of chronically ill patients, this investigation examines whether patient characteristics, carer characteristics and network characteristics are predictive of relationship quality in dementia caregiving. Partners, children or children-in-law caring for a relative suffering from dementia (N = 144) and partners or parents of persons suffering from chronic mental illness (N = 77) were interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire. The measurement of relationship quality is based on the literature of Expressed Emotion and covers two dimensions: the level of criticism and the level of warmth. In general, the relationship between a carer and his or her chronically ill relative was marked by a low level of conflict or criticism and a high degree of warmth. The main predictors of a poorer relationship quality were disturbances in the patients behaviour and the carers perception of these disturbances. Our results suggest that, rather than limiting investigations to the burden experienced by the family carer, future research and interventions on chronically ill patients should focus on the quality of the carer-patient relationship and its determinants.

The Cultural Bases of Volunteering: Understanding and Predicting Attitudinal Differences Between Flemish Red Cross Volunteers

This article presents an empirical evaluation of the current debate on the changing nature of volunteering in the light of sociological modernization theories. Focusing on the cultural bases of volunteerism, a representative sample of 652 Flemish Red Cross volunteers is grouped according to a multidimensional set of attitudinal measures. The Unconditional, Critical, Reliable, and Distant dispositional clusters that emerge from the analysis cohere with distinct patterns of volunteering, ranging from core to peripheral volunteer positions. Furthermore, both cultural modernization indicators and organizational features account for the dispositional variations observed. Although the analysis conducted clearly reveals the surplus value of a multidimensional sight on volunteering, the research outcomes warn against a too-strong focus on “grand modernization narratives.” The cultural bases of Flemish Red Cross volunteering may best be understood in terms of a threefold dynamic: Differences in cultural frames of reference intervene with life cycle effects and processes of organizational socialization.

Bifurcated Commitment, Priorities, and Social Contagion: The Dynamics and Correlates of Volunteering within a University Student Population.

In spite of a progressive institutionalisation of community‐based learning into higher education, relatively little is known about the actual dynamics and correlates of volunteering by students. The study presented seeks a more in‐depth understanding of the spontaneous, extracurricular involvement within a university student population. Data are drawn from a postal survey of a representative sample of third‐year university students enrolled at a Flemish university (n = 744). In a first step, an exploration of the course and nature of students’ volunteer involvement is provided. In a second step, an explanatory model is constructed to predict the likelihood of belonging to the categories of volunteers, former volunteers or non‐volunteers. Firstly, it appears that a large group of students drop out of volunteering in transition to university, and that volunteering is rarely given priority in students’ agenda. Furthermore, a bifurcated pattern of involvement with a different pace inside and outside university is identified. Finally, extensive embedding in a volunteer environment as well as the discipline of study are major predictors of volunteering by students. Gender, church practice, being encouraged to volunteer and subjective study pressure produce subsidiary effects.