H.F. te Grotenhuis

Three Types of Voluntary Associations in Comparative Perspective: The Importance of Studying Associational Involvement through a Typology of Associations in 21 European Countries

Although very different types of voluntary associations are often lumped together in (cross-national) analyses, we argue that scholars should distinguish between types of associations. In the first part of the paper, we develop a typology of voluntary associations based on theoretical considerations and previous empirical analyses of the primary concerns of these voluntary associations: leisure organizations fulfil recreational purposes, interest organizations aim to represent the interests of their members, and activist organizations advocate broad societal interests. We present a measure that is cross-nationally equivalent. The second part of the paper illustrates the validity and relevance of the typology for studies of associational involvement. First, the Mokken scale analysis shows that the repertoire of activities (membership, participation, volunteering, and donating money) that citizens employ differs across the three types. Second, cross-national analysis shows that the ratio between involvement rate and the share of volunteers in voluntary associations differs across the three types. Finally, the three types of associations are differently related to the (supposed) causes and consequences of associational involvement. We illustrate that many of these differences cancel each other out when we do not distinguish between leisure, interest and activist organizations. All in all, this article proves that the distinction between leisure, interest, and activist organizations has significant, substantial, and theoretically relevant outcomes.

Upward trends in the use of community mental health and social work services in the Netherlands between 1979 and 1995: are particular sociodemographic groups responsible?

Objective:  We investigate 1) trends in use of community mental health care (CMHC) and community social work (CSW) by Dutch households in 1979–1995; 2) whether such trends can be explained by long‐term relative changes in service use or in sizes of particular household categories.

De invloed van inkomensongelijkheid en rationalisering op kerkverlating in Nederland tussen 1975 en 1995

The effects of economic inequality and modernization on religious disaffiliation. A test for the Netherlands in 1975-1995 In a recent study, using data from 60 nations, Ruiter and Van Tubergen (2009) found individuals from countries with highest economic inequalities to run the lowest risk of religious disaffiliation. Interestingly, modernization was found to have no effect on religious disaffiliation. A more stringent test is to investigate how economic inequality and modernization are related to religious disaffiliation within countries over time. In this study we use data from the Netherlands gathered between 1975-1995, a period in which religious disaffiliation was prominent. Our main findings run counter to those of Ruiter and Van Tubergen. In the Netherlands, higher levels of economic inequality and higher levels of modernization seem to increase religious disaffiliation.