Article Review: The Need For Volunteering To Formal Organizations. (Essay Sample)

Discussion #5 Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Discussion #5: Main Concepts from the Article The major concept discussed in the article revolves around the understanding of perceived barriers that affect the need for volunteering to formal organizations. However, these barriers discussed only affect non-volunteers. With the examination of various types of barriers, the article proceeds to the explanation of their frequencies as well as the attached relationships with non-volunteers’ levels of socio-demographic characteristics. Additionally, the article examines this concept through the understanding of data collected 2001 to 2002. This data emanated from a survey sponsored and carried out by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Kingston, 2001). By using various statistical methods such as regression techniques, the article’s findings show that the general expectations of volunteering do not have a background from research. Instead, the article confirms that poor time management, reduced levels of individual interest and poor health status are among the most prevalent barriers to volunteering. However, various groups of social classes would relate with different barriers of volunteering. At the same time, the article provides a clear examination of these barriers through the perspectives of the volunteer’s level of income and social status. The authors also come up with the understanding of the perceptions that non-volunteers have about formal organizations. In fact, negative perception or reputation would be a barrier that would result in a negative influence on people’s willingness to offer their volunteering services. As such, although the article examines the findings of a national survey that took place between 2001 and 2002, the knowledge of the perceived barriers is so outstanding in the sense of informing the direction that further research in the future would be undertaken in order to bring better understanding of these barriers to volunteering. Effectively, this information would help formal organizations to come with the best strategies for attracting non-volunteers. Another important point discussed in the article is that of barriers to involvement. According to the Sundeen, Raskoff, and Garcia (2007, p.280), when formal organizations “ask people to volunteer, the implication is that such individuals have the ability to make such decisions.” On the other hand, individuals that do not receive such requests indicate their lack of potential to contribute toward volunteering discourses. From this perspective, the article shows that there is barrier of involvement among individuals that would be potential volunteers to formal organizations. However, although this barrier may have a closer relationship with lack of time and poor development of interest, the idea is that without motivation, individuals would not effectively become volunteers. By considering these barriers, the article is effective is examining the fact that involvement in voluntary services is also dependent on indiv...