The Relationship Between Citizen Participation and Organizational Processes and Outcomes and the Benefits of Citizen Participation in Neighborhood Organizations
- 14 August 2008
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Social Service Research
- Vol. 34 (4), 41-60
- https://doi.org/10.1080/01488370802162426
Abstract
A major resource of neighborhood organizations is the voluntary participation of residents who give their time and energy to improve their communities. In recent years, there has been a revitalization of strategies to engage residents to volunteer for neighborhood-based organizations. Guided by organizational empowerment theory and the ecological perspective, the current study examined the relationship between citizen participation and organizational characteristics and effectiveness and the benefits received by residents participating in neighborhood organizations in poor communities. The data were gathered through a survey of resident volunteers in four neighborhood organizations in Pennsylvania and were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression analyses. The results showed that volunteers' level of involvement in their neighborhood organization influenced their self-efficacy. However, volunteers' perceptions of their neighborhood organizations' characteristics and effectiveness were the most strongly related to the benefits of citizen participation, contributing to residents' self efficacy, collective efficacy, and sense of community. Implications for social work research and practice are discussed.Keywords
This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit:
- An exploration of sense of community, Part 3: Dimensions and predictors of psychological sense of community in geographical communitiesJournal of Community Psychology, 2001
- Empowerment and community participation: Does gender make a difference?Social Work Research, 2000
- Systematic Social Observation of Public Spaces: A New Look at Disorder in Urban NeighborhoodsAmerican Journal of Sociology, 1999
- The Benefits and Costs of Volunteering in Community Organizations: Review and Practical ImplicationsNonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 1999
- The Revitalization of Community Practice: Characteristics, Competencies, and Curricula for Community-Based ServicesJournal of Community Practice, 1998
- The Ecology of Empowerment: Predicting Participation in Community OrganizationsJournal of Social Issues, 1996
- Perceptions of Self and Collective Efficacy in Community Organization Theory and PracticeJournal of Community Practice, 1994
- Refinements of sphere-specific measures of perceived control: Development of a sociopolitical control scaleJournal of Community Psychology, 1991
- Social support, organizational characteristics, psychological well‐being, and group appraisal in three self‐help group populationsAmerican Journal of Community Psychology, 1988
- Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency.American Psychologist, 1982