Social support and AIDS volunteers.
Item
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Title
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Social support and AIDS volunteers.
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Identifier
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AAI9325130
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identifier
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9325130
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Creator
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Maslanka, Halina.
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Contributor
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Advisers: Suzanne C. Ouellette Kobasa | Charles G. Kadushin
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Date
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1993
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Social
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Abstract
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Individuals who volunteer their time and skills to help Persons with AIDS (PWAs) are the subject of this research. Volunteers at the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) in New York City provide the majority of services offered by the agency. These services cover a variety of needs ranging from picking up shopping to legal advice. 'Buddies' are GMHC volunteers who, after a 4-day training, work directly with PWAs. Office support volunteers are assigned to provide clerical support to agency staff members. Crisis intervention workers offer expert help for PWAs in psychological, medical, or legal crises; lawyers advocate for insurance and social security payments, and drawing up wills; Hotline volunteers deal with any and all questions concerning AIDS. All groups of volunteer workers were covered in this research.;The role that social support plays in enhancing volunteer work for the individuals who become volunteers was studied. Social support (conceptualized as perceived emotional support offered by staff members or other volunteers at the agency) was examined in relation to stressful life events, the rewards of volunteering and burnout. This panel study measured stress experienced by volunteers prior to volunteering at GMHC, perceived social support, perceived rewards of volunteering and burnout symptoms approximately 6 months after volunteers had begun their volunteer work.;In regression analyses social support was found to operate in a direct fashion diminishing the relationship between prior stress and later symptoms of burnout. Staff support was found, in keeping with prior research (House, 1981) to play a stronger role in diminishing negative outcomes. No results for the buffering role of social support were found.;In path analyses social support was found to operate both directly and indirectly. Social support directly diminished the levels of burnout experienced by volunteers. It operated indirectly by also increasing the level of perceived rewards volunteers experienced from their volunteer work. Unexpectedly, rewards were found to play a fairly consistent role in increasing the degree of burnout experienced by volunteers leading one to revise the role that intrinsic rewards can play in volunteer work.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
