Religious and Secular Voluntary Participation by Immigrants in Canada: How Trust and Social Networks Affect Decision to Participate

Participation in voluntary associations is an important part of an immigrant’s integration into a host country. This study examines factors that predispose an immigrant’s voluntary involvement in religious and secular organizations compared to non-immigrants (“natives”) in Canada, and how immigrants differ from natives in their voluntary participation. The study results indicate that informal social networks, religious attendance, and level of education positively correlate with the propensity of both immigrants and natives to participate and volunteer in religious and secular organizations. Immigrants who have diverse bridging social networks, speak French and/or English at home, and either attend school or are retired are more likely to participate and volunteer for secular organizations. Further, social trust matters to native Canadians in their decision to engage in religious and secular organizations but not to immigrants. Pride and a sense of belonging, marital status, and the number of children increase the likelihood of secular voluntary participation of natives but not of immigrants. These findings extend the current understanding of immigrant integration and have important implications for volunteer recruitment.     

Social Media and Social Movements

What role does social media play in social movements and political unrest? Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Google have all been cited as important components in social revolutions, including those in Tunisia, Egypt, Iceland, Spain, and the global Occupy movement. This essay explores social science claims about the relationship between social networking and social movements. It examines research done on the relationship between social networking, the promotion of activism, and the offline participation in the streets. Can the technology of social networking help activists to achieve their goals? If so, is it just one of many tools they may use, or is the technology so powerful that the right use will actually tip the scales in favor of the social movement? This scholarship divides into optimistic, pessimistic, and ambivalent approaches, turning on an oft‐repeated question: will the revolution be tweeted?     

Warmth and Competence: How Social Stereotypes of Volunteers Versus Paid Workers Affect Client Trust

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Although the differences between volunteers and paid workers have been well studied, whether the perceived differences are...     

社会化媒体时代的政治参与不平等:强化抑或均衡

数字不平等研究需要超越互联网使用频率和技能等关注维度,聚焦分析在线政治参与不平等。对一个全国性的大学生样本的分析发现,在线政治参与可分为网络政治表达与在线资源链接行动,且它们具有不同的影响因素。其中,网络政治表达在较大程度上受制于大学生的家庭经济地位,而在线资源链接行动的积极性与大学生的培养层次、发展效能感均呈现出负向关系。这些发现表明,取决于在线政治参与的形式,社会化媒体的发展既在一定程度上映射了线下政治参与的状况,同时为弱势群体提供了新的参与渠道,扮演了均衡器的角色。此外,成长于东北和西部地区的大学生网民尚未充分利用互联网来表达政治或获取支持。     

“阿拉伯之春”中青年社交媒体参与及其启示

2011年发生的"阿拉伯之春"在世界掀起的政治风暴至今余威犹存。关于这场运动的发起原因和影响的讨论至今没有形成共识,但是不可否认的是,阿拉伯青年在这场运动中高度依赖社交媒体的联结和动员功能,改变了传统社会运动的组织形态和行动逻辑,成为这场运动的发起人、推动者和参与主力。当前,中国社会正处于急剧转型时期,矛盾错综复杂,各种由青年人参与的群体性事件频仍发生,严重地考验着党和政府的治理能力。因而,认真汲取"阿拉伯之春"的教训,积极拓展青年诉求表达的合理渠道,引导其有序参与,对于防范和消弭社交媒体时代的政治风险,实现国家善政良治无疑具有重要意义。     

Aging in Place or Relocation: Perceived Awareness of Community-Based Long-Term Care and Services

ABSTRACT

This study used data from the Community Partnership for Older Adults Program Survey (N = 4,611) to examine associations between the perceived awareness of community-based long-term care and supportive services and the anticipation for aging in place and relocation. Respondents varied substantially in their knowledge about services and anticipation for aging in place and relocation. Perceived availability and unavailability of a series of community services was associated with the likelihood of anticipating aging in place and relocation, and awareness of the lack of visiting nurses, personal assistance, or transportation was related to respondents reporting a younger age at which they anticipated needing help to age in place or anticipating a need to relocate. Findings have implications for raising the public awareness of community-based services in addressing the needs of community-dwelling elders for aging in place and relocation.     

The Portuguese Disinflation Process: Analysis of Some Costs and Benefits

This study aims to analyse the Portuguese economic policy of disinflation through a nominal stabilization policy of the Portuguese escudo. We study the pegging of the Portuguese escudo to the deutschmark knowing the reputation of the Bundesbank for its anti-inflationary record. The acceptance of German monetary policy allowed the Portuguese economy to achieve its primary goal of price stability. The nominal stability policy of the escudo may serve as an example for other small economies that may be presently involved in the European integration process such as the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia.

Costs and Benefits of Relational Contracting in China’s Transition

This paper is an attempt to account for the social foundations of China’s economic transition from central planning to a market economy which is a process of the completion and perfection of markets. In the early stage of China’s transition, relational contracts and interlinked arrangements constitute effective substitutes for missing and imperfect markets. However, relational contracting is becoming more costly as China’s economy develops. Its costs include, diseconomy of scale, undermining the development of arm-length transactions and formal institutions, among others. There are two possible future trajectories of China’s reform. One possibility is that the markets are so developed so that they are dis-embedded from sociopolitical powers. A second is that the markets are less developed and embedded in sociopolitical powers.     

Individual and Social Costs of Divorce in Utah

This preliminary report provides an overview of the economic consequences of divorce for couples experiencing divorce in Utah. The economic impact on the divorcing individuals, the surrounding communities in which they live, and the state and federal governments were assessed. The data collected in Utah reveals that the federal government absorbs the most substantial costs, including a host of expenditures related to welfare assistance and medical costs. The 9,735 divorces in Utah during 2001 cost the state and federal government nearly $300 million in direct and indirect costs. Extrapolation from these estimates reveals that divorce and its direct and indirect economic consequences cost the United States $33.3 billion annually. Implications for social policy and strengthening marriages are provided.A longer version of this paper, including a cost analysis breakdown for each state, is available from the author. This paper was originally written while the author was at Utah State University. This report is based on initial research findings by Dr. Steven L. Nock and Dr. David B. Larson. I would like to thank Dr. Brent A. Barlow, Brigham Young University, and Drs. Kathleen W. Piercy and James P. Marshall, Utah State University, for their valuable assistance in this research. A special thanks also goes to the reviewers for their invaluable comments on earlier versions of this article.David G. Schramm, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University, 203 Spidle Hall, Auburn, AL 36849; e-mail: schradg@auburn.edu.     

Information and Communication Technologies for Direct Poverty Alleviation: Costs and Benefits

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) are powerful tools for empowerment and income generation in developing countries. The cost‐effectiveness of different ICTs does vary between developed and less developed countries, however. This article reviews the potential efficacy of radio, telephony and the Internet as tools of direct poverty alleviation in the latter. While the requirements for their successful utilisation make radio and telephone far more suitable technologies for the poor, traditional ICTs can act as a sustainable intermediary for them to gain indirect access to the power of the Internet. Governments should concentrate on opening up private and community provision of broadcasting and widening access to telephone services, so that they can effectively play this intermediary role.     

Social Movements and New Media

This article explores the contention that social movements are a significant social force transforming societies through their engagement with new media, such as the Internet, Web 2.0, and digital communications, which are seen as capable of facilitating new power structures. Utilizing della Porta and Diani's framework, it considers how new media technologies may be shaping the structure, identity, opportunity, and protest dimensions of social movements. It concludes by suggesting that new media does offer important opportunities for cost‐effective networking, interpretive framing, mobilization, and repertoires of protest action. However, their adoption does not represent the creation of entirely new virtual social movements but rather a new means of providing existing social movement organisations, local activist networks, and street‐level protest with a trans‐national capacity to collaborate, share information, and communicate with a wider audience. Such new media‐enabled social action is both more congruent with a politics of identity but may also increasingly be competing within a media environment saturated by user‐generated content.     

Perceived Availability,Risks, and Benefits of Gambling among College Students

The current study was an exploration of gambling-related perceptions and their relation to gambling behavior among young adult college students. Three hundred and two ethnically diverse undergraduates at a large urban public university completed a survey to assess their perceptions of the availability, risks, and benefits of gambling, and the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) to assess gambling behavior and problems. Participants generally rated gambling as more available than alcohol or marijuana, and less risky than alcohol or cigarettes. The most common perceived benefits of gambling were social enhancement, financial gain, and positive changes in affect. Perceived benefits were a significant predictor of gambling problems. Perceived availability, perceived risk, and perceived benefits were found to be significant predictors of regular gambling. These results provide valuable information about the ways that college students perceive gambling and demonstrate that perceptions can be important predictors of gambling behavior. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Social Participation,Social Status and Extremist Political Attitudes*

Two measures of extremist political attitudes are used to test the relationship between social participation, social status, and extremist attitudes. The expected relationships are found only for a measure called “support for democratic institutions.” Another measure of political attitudes, vigilantism, was found not to relate to the independent variables. We conclude that people who may adhere to abstract democratic ideals, at the same time may not reject the use of extralegal force to further their political goals. The findings also suggest that the “mobilization function” of social participation will need to be further specified.     

Community-Based Participatory Research as a Social Work Research and Intervention Approach

Social workers are now often expected to base their practice on solid empirical findings, but research can vary in terms of its usefulness and relevance to practice. Some social workers have criticized traditional research approaches, suggesting that they are not consistent with the profession's mission to serve vulnerable and disadvantaged populations (e.g., Finn, 1994 Finn, J. L. 1994. The promise of participatory research. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 5: 25–42. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). Community-based participatory action research may be an appropriate alternative that is participatory, empowering, and committed to social justice (Minkler & Wallerstein, 2008 Minkler, M. and Wallerstein, N. 2008. “Introduction to CBPR: New issues and emphases”. In Community-based participatory research for health, 2nd, Edited by: Minkler, M. and Wallerstein, N. 5–23. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.  [Google Scholar]). This article explores the connection between social work and CBPR, illustrating how CBPR can contribute significantly to achieving the field's goals.     

A Better Method for Analyzing the Costs and Benefits of Fundraising at Universities

This article develops a new methodology for a more comprehensive and useful analysis of the costs and benefits of fundraising, as well as the total costs and net benefits associated with development efforts in general. This approach does a better job of linking the timing of return of fundraising efforts and measuring the actual return on investments in fundraising (as opposed to the reported return) than the widely used guidelines from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the National Association of College and University Business Officers (CASE/NACUBO) (1990). The implications are a better methodology for practitioners that they can use to enhance internal decision making and a better methodology for boards to use in evaluating performance and accountability. Recently, other large, public universities have begun using several of these concepts in the assessment of their development offices (Rooney, 1998).     

Generational Relationships and Social Movement Participation*

Generational relationships are examined in terms of their lineage and cohort dimensions. Each suggests a very different type of relationship between social movement participants, their parents, and members of adult age cohorts. Following a clarification of these relationships and their consequences for lineage and cohort politics, five research propositions are offered as a guide to future research.     

Information,Community, and Action on Sina-Weibo: How Chinese Philanthropic NGOs Use Social Media

This study explored Chinese NGOs’ behavior on domestic social media platforms. By observing 155 rural education NGOs on one of China’s most popular social media sites, Sina-Weibo for 6 months, we found that despite Internet censorship and the unique government-NGO relationship in China, the Chinese NGOs are active on Weibo. Like their Western counterparts, the Chinese NGOs use social media to share information, build community, and mobilize resources. Because the Chinese NGOs face some unique legitimacy problems, aside from using social media to attract followers, they also use social media’s powerful broadcasting function to improve organizational legitimacy. To fit into the Weibo community, the organizations use a large amount of slang and emoji, and publish a significant number of posts which cover popular topics, but are not related to their work.