This thesis investigates the present condition of volunteering works in foreign countries in order to activate the works in Korea and figure out responsibilities that the government, groups and individuals must carry out.
The modern society continues...
This thesis investigates the present condition of volunteering works in foreign countries in order to activate the works in Korea and figure out responsibilities that the government, groups and individuals must carry out.
The modern society continues to become a selfish one as it goes through social changes such as industrialization, urbanization and the trend of favoring nuclear families. This has incurred increased gaps between regions, corporations and classes. Furthermore, there have been several social problems such as city-concentration by rural population, increase number of areas with poverties, loss of humanity due to mechanization, materialization, problem of alienation and the destruction of the environment. These kinds of social problems are too broad and various for the nation or the government to solve by themselves and thus they face many obstacles and limits. Therefore, it is necessary for the citizens with various experience and ability to actively and voluntarily participate in solving social problems. And one of the ways to achieve this is through carrying out volunteering works.
Consequently, this thesis analyzes the present condition and problems with regard to volunteering activities for improved welfare of the humankind and devises solutions to activate volunteering activities.
To summarize, in case with the US, there is a unitary system for supporting all volunteering activities. In case with Japan, the process of amending the law is on its way and its central government, regional governments, corporations, educational institutions, joint charities and social welfare organizations continue financial support, technological support and even human resources through cooperation among themselves. On the other hand, in case with Korea, with the absence of any existing law to support volunteering activities, there is no systematic basis to support volunteering activities. Consequently, many volunteering centers have been built in a short period of time without enough financial support and therefore it has been difficult for them to carry out their responsibilities and functions. This also caused selfishness, waste of budget and insufficient amount of education or compensation to bring about an effective management for an active volunteering work.
The volunteering participation rate in Korea is 14% and it is gradually increasing even though it is lower than that of the US and the UK which have the rate of 48%. Also, men consist of 38.2% of the total volunteers while women consist of 61.8% and therefore this indicates women participate in volunteering work more than men.
The problems regarding the present condition of volunteering works are the low rate of participation, short duration of time, concentration on social welfare field, weak structure of public education on volunteers and lack of expertise on the education of volunteering centers. Moreover, there has been a huge waste of money by establishing volunteering centers in all types of departments and lack of supporting system to provide insurance in case of an accident while volunteering. The suggested ways to activate and improve volunteering works are as follow.
First, the present pluralized system of the government's departments must be reformed in order to reduce competition among volunteering centers, avoid waste of budget and improve responsibilities and functions of volunteering centers.
Second, motivation of individual volunteer must be strengthened and continued. By precisely understanding the reason and expectation of the participation, volunteering programs that fit these people must be developed in order for them to continue the work.
Third, compensation system for volunteering activities must be established through the implementation of insurance system, income reduction on the volunteering cost, and vacation system for volunteers in order to boost the motivation of volunteers and secure their safety from various damages. Even though it already is a "volunteering" work, compensation plays a huge role in generating motivation to continue the work and therefore it is suggested that various compensation programs such as supporting food & transportation expenses, exchange of works, rewarding system for men of merit, career acknowledging system and taxation program for the ones who have donated their assets or money must be implemented.
Fourth, for an active volunteering works, education and early education of volunteering works must be strengthened and professional education programs must be developed in order to increase the awareness and expertise on volunteering activities.
Fifth, to strengthen the closeness of volunteers, efficiency of the ways to recruit volunteers must be systematic and various and a high quality education and various activity details must be guaranteed by the central government for continuous activities through advertising. Furthermore, education on volunteering must be institutionalized and a large scale of advertisement must be continued in order to bring about interest and participation regarding volunteering works among citizens. For this, an active advertising strategy must be formed and established for potential volunteers.
Considering the fact that volunteering activities are an social movement based on voluntary participation, volunteering works in the near future will require not only a pure social welfare but increased demands, application and expertise in the fields of service of public organizations, social movements and all other fields.