A New Deal for NPO Governance and Management: Implications for Volunteers Using Psychological Contract Theory

Two major evolutions have been reported to occur in the nonprofit sector during the past decades. Both the nature of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) and of volunteering style are changing. While this creates challenges for NPO governance and management, little is known about the process or the outcomes of these two developments. We propose a two-dimensional conceptual model to explain how the aforementioned evolutions influence the attitudes and behavior of volunteers, based on psychological contract theory. More specifically, we posit that both evolutions create tensions in volunteers’ psychological contracts that could lead to contract breach. We formulate twelve propositions on the nature of this psychological contract breach and the resulting attitudes and behavior of volunteers. Finally, we offer some possible solutions that NPO boards and managers can apply to cope with these challenges.     

The Psychological Contract of Volunteers: A New Research Agenda

This paper considers the ways in which research into the psychological contract of volunteers have been constrained by the direct transfer of measures from the study of employees, and more generally by the assumptions in the dominant psychological contract discourse. After examining these assumptions the paper proposes a revised research agenda, open to the possibility that the psychological contract of volunteers is affected by expectations arising from socio-cultural influences beyond the volunteer/manager relationships, and in particular, from the expectations of relative freedom in volunteering and from subjective perceptions of volunteering as (variously) serious leisure, unpaid work, or activism. Understanding the contract as socially constructed reveals the need to juxtapose the expectations of managers and volunteers in order to understand the contract as a social relationship.     

Basic Psychological Need Profiles and Correlates in Volunteers for a National Sports Event

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - According to the basic psychological need theory, satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological needs are related to...     

用中国语言打造创意饰品

出身于艺术之家的张沙娃,从小就接触各类艺术,这样的经历陶冶了她的性情,也赋予她对艺术的敏锐审美嗅觉。2005年她和好友方海燕共同开办了一家原创首饰小店并创立“SU素”品牌,如今她们已在全国设立多家代理店并拓展到海外市场。     

Understanding Violence in the School: Moral and Psychological Factors

Since violence was declared a health issue in the 1980s, the literature on violence has identified psychological and psychosocial factors which place youth at risk for violent behaviors. This paper reviews the psychological literature on violent youth, the impact of violence on youth predisposing them to violent behavior, including an exploration into parenting styles and the social climate of some schools in which violence is occurring. Preventative strategies involving primary, secondary and tertiary interventions to combat school violence and youth violence, in general, are considered.     

Understanding Violence in the School: Moral and Psychological Factors

Since violence was declared a health issue in the 1980s, the literature on violence has identified psychological and psychosocial factors which place youth at risk for violent behaviors. This paper reviews the psychological literature on violent youth, the impact of violence on youth predisposing them to violent behavior, including an exploration into parenting styles and the social climate of some schools in which violence is occurring. Preventative strategies involving primary, secondary and tertiary interventions to combat school violence and youth violence, in general, are considered.     

Understanding the Psychodynamics of Chronic Homelessness from a Self Psychological Perspective

Self psychology can help explain multiple meanings and experiences of being chronically homeless. While it is clear that homelessness is primarily caused by structural deficits and not individual characteristics, for people who are chronically homeless, this way of existence may have developed to serve a variety of coping, cohesive, and self-preserving functions as they have learned to survive and adapt to hostile environments. Through the use of self psychologically informed clinical practice, this paper explores the subject’s multiple meanings and experiences as well as the nuanced processes that led her to successfully attain permanent housing. The paper begins by discussing macro etiologies of homelessness, constructs in self psychology and strives to link the two in theory and practice by exploring one person’s life of chronic homelessness. The paper also explores ethical challenges as coercive elements factor into the case.     

高校体育与大学生心理健康的影响

近年来,我国高校一系列大学生杀人、自杀和伤害事件的频繁发生,已在教育界引起巨大的震动,大学生的心理健康问题已成为学生、家长、高校乃至整个社会普遍关心的问题。如何提高大学生的心理健康水平,已经成为当前高校急待解决的一个热点问题。经过多年的实践探索,目前国外许多国家已经广泛地将体育锻炼作为治疗心理疾病的一种方法,近年来,我国在相关方面也做了大量的研究。本文比较深入地分析了大学生心理健康的现状和原因,同时针对体育运动对大学生心理健康的促进作用展开了论述;最后,作者提出了一些用体育促进心理健康的方法和建议,希望高校体育工作者适应新时期高校体育改革的步伐,不断深入地研究体育锻炼对大学生心理健康的影响,采取有效的手段,有的放矢地对大学生进行心理健康教育,从而真正对我国大学生心理的健康水平的提升做出应有的贡献。     

Repeat and Non-returning Volunteers: The Promise of Episodic Events for Volunteer Recruitment and Retention

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - In this article, we are concerned with the recruitment potential of one-off episodic events for attracting and retaining...     

塑造体育改变城市的经典范例

在广州海心沙岛上的亚运会圣火虽然已经熄灭,但在市民心中的亚运之火却是生生不息的,这是因为亚运改变了广州,城市的现代化步伐加快了10年,人们明显感受到了城市环境的巨变。也就是说,广州并不是单纯为了办亚运而办亚运,而是紧紧抓住办亚运的机遇,弥补了城市建设中的历史欠账,使城市发展快速跃上了一个新台阶。     

Understanding Service Experiences of LGBTQ Young People Through an Intersectional Lens

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer-identified (LGBTQ) young people face forms of stigma and marginalization that position them as needing support and service provision, yet little is known about their service seeking and receiving experiences. This study qualitatively explored the service experiences of a racially and ethnically diverse group of fifteen LGBTQ-identified young people ages 18 to 24. Through their stories, themes were identified that enhance our understanding of the factors that impact effectiveness of services intended to meet their needs. An intersectional analysis of these stories offers insight into the ways that service providers can effectively support LGBTQ young people as they develop into adults.     

Understanding Attachment Transitions Through the Lived Experiences of Young Black Gay and Bisexual Men

We conducted a mixed-methods study to identify factors that influence transitions in attachment style between childhood and adulthood among 28 young Black gay and bisexual men (YBGBM) in the United States. We used a phenomenological approach to data integration, with the major component to the results being garnered from the qualitative interviews. We organized our results by four attachment transition groups: stable secure (secure attachment in childhood and young adulthood), stable insecure (insecure attachment in childhood and young adulthood), secure to insecure (secure in childhood and insecure in adulthood) and insecure to secure (insecure in childhood and secure in adulthood). Within each of the typologies, two major themes emerged: social support and religion. Generally, transitions from secure to insecure attachment were related to experiences of perceived rejection by a parental figure during adolescence that corresponded with sexual orientation disclosure. Transitions from insecure to secure attachment appeared to be related to the absence of an attachment figure early in life, but with the acquisition of an attachment figure during early to late adolescence. The findings from our study suggest a need for attachment-based approaches to social support interventions, as well as for an increased understanding of social and cultural factors that impact attachment changes among practitioners who use attachment-based therapy models for YBGBM.     

Viewing Telephone Therapy Through the Lens of Attachment Theory and Infant Research

This article discusses the use of the telephone for psychotherapy and applies basic tenets of attachment theory and research on infant development to understand the therapy process. Clinical case examples of four models of attachment (secure, insecure ambivalent, insecure avoidant, disorganized) illustrate diverse patient capacities to use the telephone during a planned 10-week break from ongoing, in-person treatment. It is suggested that telephone therapy may be variously effective based on the attachment system that becomes activated due to the separation, and patients with insecure avoidant or disorganized attachment patterns may have more difficulty managing the alternative treatment modality.     

The Contribution of Social Movement Theory to Understanding Terrorism

The study of terrorism and political violence has been characterized by a lack of generalizable theory and methodology. This essay proposes that social movement theory can contribute a necessary conceptual framework for understanding terrorism and thus reviews the relevant literature and discusses possible applications. Terrorism is a form of contentious politics, analyzable with the basic social movement approach of mobilizing resources, political opportunity structure, and framing. Cultural perspectives call attention to issues of collective identity that allow for sustained militancy, and movement research recommends alternative conceptions of terrorist networks. Previous research on movement radicalization, repression, and cycles of contention has direct bearing on militancy. Emerging perspectives on transnational collective action and the diffusion of tactics and issues informs an understanding of contemporary international terrorism. Research on movement outcomes suggests broader ways of considering the efficacy of political violence. Finally, methodological debates within the study of social movements are relevant for research on terrorism. In sum, a social movement approach to terrorism has much to contribute, and research on terrorism could have important extensions and implications for social movement theory.