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Advancing and sustaining volunteerism: Investigating the multifaceted challenges and obstacles to volunteer engagement

Aslan, Harun, Tuncay, Tarik·2023·Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy
DOI 10.1111/asap.12369
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Abstract

Individuals across the globe engage in volunteering activities for various purposes, such as contributing to eradicating poverty, enhancing basic health and education, ensuring access to potable water and proper sanitation, addressing environmental concerns and climate change, mitigating disaster risks, and combating social exclusion and violent conflicts. The ongoing development and sustainability of volunteering are imperative to maintain progress and warrant attention. This study explores the impediments and challenges associated with the development and sustainability of volunteering, encompassing a broad spectrum of factors, from micro‐level individual aspects to macro‐level structural elements. Data were collected via in‐depth interviews with 30 managers within the volunteering sector. The narratives were subjected to thematic analysis, leading to the identification and examination of four distinct themes at various levels. The primary findings underscore the significance of personal experiences, familial backgrounds, organizational structures, and the socio‐political milieu in which they function for comprehending the challenges and barriers to volunteering. In conclusion, this study shows that there are wide‐ranging and multidimensional challenges and barriers to the development and sustainability of volunteering activities. Therefore, analyzing these problems in coordination with the stakeholders of the volunteering field, making arrangements and developing practices may ensure the development of the volunteering field.

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  • Volunteer engagement is shaped simultaneously by motives, barriers, perceived effects, social perceptions, organizational conditions, and broader societal context.

    “Recent studies by Aslan and Tuncay strengthen this point by showing that volunteer engagement is shaped simultaneously by motives, barriers, perceived effects, social perceptions, organizational conditions, and broader societal context, including in child-welfare volunteering and active-volunteer samples (13–15).”

    From Volunteerism as a multidimensional form of human prosocial engagement (2026) · cites this paper as [13]

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  67. A U T H O R B I O G R A P H I E S Harun Aslan graduated from Anadolu University, Department of Sociology in 2012. He completed his masters and PhD education at the Department of Social Work in Hacettepe University. He worked as a research assistant at Hacettepe University Department of Social Work between 2014-2021. After PhD education, he joined Kastamonu University Department of Social Work as an assistant professor. In 2023, he received his associate professor degree. He completed many book chapters, international projects, original and review articles, and research studies. He is a reviewer of many international scientific journals. His academic consultancy and research topics include child policies, volunteering, social welfare services management, social policies for vulnerable populations and migration.

Cited by

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Authors
Aslan, H., & Tuncay, T.
Affiliations
  • Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Social Work Kastamonu University Kastamonu Turkey
  • Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Social Work Hacettepe University Ankara Turkey
ORCID
Venue
Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2023-10-04
Volume
23
Issue
3
Pages
724-751
ISSN
  • 1529-7489
  • 1530-2415
DOI
10.1111/asap.12369
Cited by
10
References
2
Language
en
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)

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