Volunteering as Social Capital

“it is what a person does rather than what they get which
makes them a citizen.” ¹

The Australian tradition of ‘mateship’, of helping others, the tremendous spirit of community participation upon which our nation was built, relationships with friends and families, partnerships and citizenship are often referred to as building ‘social capital’. Social capital is an interactive phenomenon describing the interactions between individuals which lead to the establishment of networks, trust and social norms. Social capital facilitates co-ordination and co-operation which is mutually beneficial, providing a sense of purpose for individuals and a connectedness which is recognised as being important for health and wellbeing.

The contribution of Australian citizens evidenced as social capital includes their participation in supporting schools (committees, working bees and tuckshop duty), sporting clubs (coaching and fundraising), and involvement in community organisations such as bush fire brigades, lifesaving clubs, Country Women’s Associations, Returned & Servicemen’s Leagues and service clubs such as Rotary and Lions. Many of these have been well established for many years in Australian culture, and the current generation of older Australians have been, and still are, involved in most of them. The element of ‘common interest’ has been identified as the most fundamental reason for an individual’s participation in community activities. ²

Competing demands on people’s time and decreasing numbers of people in smaller communities can impact on the ability of a community to maintain social capital. Low levels of social capital can result in social isolation, and feelings of exclusion. Social isolation may be increased when family members or friends move to another area, retire, experience reduced income or death of a partner and it can be exacerbated by language, cultural and religious barriers.

The notion of civic service, and its underlying principles of active citizenship and social participation, may present a motivating appeal to prospective volunteers as it has the potential to provide solutions to an individual’s need to belong, to feel valued and to find meaning in their life. Volunteer research conducted by Wesley Mission Sydney highlights this motive among citizens, with 30.6% of respondents stating that ‘they wanted to do something for others” as their main reason for volunteering. While the most common (80%) reason to continue to volunteer was ‘Being of service to others/benefiting the community’. ³ This research finding is supported by the ABS national survey in 1995, with the most common reason for volunteering (42%) being ‘helping other people in the community’. ⁴ “it is what a person does rather than what they get which makes them a citizen.” ¹

As early as 1831 Alexis de Toqueville (Democracy in America) discussed the phenomenon that critical decisions were made by common people coming together in small, self appointed groups to solve problems, create new approaches to production and celebrate local society. He named these groups ‘associations’. The associations were small scale, face to face groups where the members did the work. “The members were not individuals, clients or consumers. Rather they were citizens. Acting together they were powerful tools of social and economic production. Toqueville noted that they involved citizens in three processes: deciding what is a problem, deciding how to solve the problem, organising themselves and others to implement the solution.” ⁵

The associational community evokes choice, care and citizenship, empowering a local response to identified areas of need, allowing for the emergence of leadership ability, social innovation and enterprise. As individual citizens engage in associational processes, they actually build up their local communities. ‘A community is no more than a collectivity united in a common project.’ ⁶

Even the poorest neighbourhood is a place where individuals and organisations represent resources upon which communities can be voluntarily rebuilt. Civil society allows for neighbourhood regeneration, as community development occurs when available local assets are connected with one another in ways that multiply their power and effectiveness. This is ‘assets based’ community development. ⁷ Whilst such effort may well need to be organised, it can be achieved through motivated voluntary effort. For many individuals, personal identity relies on a sense of purpose and a connectedness within a group or a community. Quality of life is often considered within their sphere of relationships and the extent to which they feel valued and respected as a member of these. From this perspective, volunteer opportunities provide valid options for individuals to grow and develop, while at the same time actually contributing to community growth and development.

Many factors affecting social change will continue into the 21st century - continuous technological changes, increased population mobility, job insecurity, changes in governments, communities, individuals and the corporate sector. The challenge is to have a wider understanding of the way in which social capital operates within Australia, to encourage linkages across the generations so that the wealth of experience of older Australians can be shared with the young. A strong base of social capital will better enable Australia to make the demographic and social transition into the next century. ⁸ Volunteering may well provide the vehicle to facilitate this eventuating.