This study aims at empirically analyzing the effects of volunteer activities of the local community on the social capital formation of the individual participants of 207 volunteers registered at the ‘Mapo-gu Volunteer
Center’. The research method ...
This study aims at empirically analyzing the effects of volunteer activities of the local community on the social capital formation of the individual participants of 207 volunteers registered at the ‘Mapo-gu Volunteer
Center’. The research method was conducted through questionnaires composed of self-reporting type with the three sections of the respondent’s general features,
volunteer activity features, and social capital measure-
ment. In order to analyze the completed questionn-
aires, SPSS 12.0 was used to perform factor analysis, reliability analysis, descriptive analysis, cross tabulation analysis, t-test, one way ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis.
In summary, the research results of the effects of the personal features and volunteer activity features of volunteers on formation of social capital are as follows. First, the results of the descriptive statistics analysis on the correlation between each variable showed a correlation between social capital formation and individual characteristics such as gender, age, educational level, and employment. Regarding the characteristics of volunteer activities, it was confirmed that there is a high correlation between the number of times and duration of volunteer work and the extent of education and knowledge regarding volunteering as well as the interest and overall motivation in volunteering.
Second, the results of the analysis on the effect of the personal characteristics and the characteristics of volunteer activities on trust formation showed that there is a higher formation of trust in people with higher awareness of class. Also, when there is a higher interest and motivation in volunteering, there is a higher formation of trust.
Third, the results of the analysis on the effect of the individual characteristics and the characteristics of volunteer activities on social network formation showed that among the individual characteristics, there is a correlation between the employment factor, ie. whether the individual is employed, and social network formation. In particular, being employed had a positive effect on network formation. Also, having a higher motivation in volunteering had a positive influence on social network formation. Fourth, the results of the analysis on the effect of the individual characteristics and the volunteer activities characteristics on the formation of social norms showed that higher interest and motivation in volunteering had a positive influence on the formation of a social norms.
These results demonstrate that depending on the volunteers' individual characteristics and the nature of volunteer activities, they may contribute positively in the social capital formation. Therefore, we believe that the following measures for social capital formation are necessary.
First, there is a need to develop various policies to continuously maintain volunteer activities. Thus, in order to strengthen motivation of volunteers to continue volunteer services for a long period of time, there is a need to develop various and systematic policies on volunteer services such as ‘plans’ so that volunteers can learn, inspect and manage matters for their selves, ‘develop programs’ for the diversification ofparticipatinggroups,andoffering ‘acknowledgements’
forvolunteers who participated diligently in volunteer
activities.
Second, there needs to be an establishment of an attractive policy to increase interest and participation of individuals with a higher education background to volunteer. There must be development in a wide range of volunteer activities that allow these highly educated individuals to take part in local community activities. Also, there needs to be a 'volunteer matching system' with expertise to be set in place.
Third, there needs to be a professional training program for unemployed volunteers. There should be support measures such as free education and training programs that use 'volunteer mileage' in order to induce unemployed volunteers to continue volunteering in their community.
Fourth, there must be development in the economic activities support area that connects long-term volunteers to the available job opportunities in the local area. Regarding job opportunities, there should be a system that connects volunteers to social enterprises, community businesses or employment opportunities provided by the local government.
Lastly, there must be an attempt to professionalize the groups of volunteers. In particular, the results of this research show that seniors over 60 and women are highly active in volunteer activities. Especially since we are moving towards an aging society, there is an increase in the need for social capital formation by the group of people who are preparing for life after retirement by using the know-how, capabilities, and techniques they have gained thus far. Participation and networking in the local community through volunteer activities greatly aid people in finding jobs or adjusting to the organizational culture in the place of employment. Therefore, there is a need for development in volunteer fields specialized for women to aid women who are trying to restart their career as a step prior to their re-entry in the workforce. That is, there should be studies to consider specific measures to connect volunteers to potential job opportunities through volunteer work by specializing volunteer areas for women and seniors depending on their individual characteristics.