Premium
“An Inner Group of Willing People”: Volunteering in a Religious Context
Author(s) -
Harris Margaret
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
social policy and administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.972
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1467-9515
pISSN - 0144-5596
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9515.1996.tb00481.x
Subject(s) - pluralism (philosophy) , welfare , religious organization , context (archaeology) , sociology , religious pluralism , civil society , social psychology , political science , public relations , psychology , law , epistemology , philosophy , politics , paleontology , biology
In the age of “welfare pluralism”, volunteers are attracting increasing attention from academics and policy‐makers. This paper focuses on volunteering in the context of religious congregations. It is found to be similar in some ways to that in secular organizations but there are also significant differences including the impact of religious values on motivation, the fact that congregational volunteers are also “members”, and the special relationship with clergy. It is concluded that congregational volunteers can be important constituents of the “mixed economy of care”and “civil society”. However, long‐term care may be provided better by institutions which are less dependent on individual enthusiams.