dr vanessa beck's presentation at val's economic inclusion forum launch
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VCS Economic Forum Launch
Dr Vanessa Beck Dr Daniela Rudloff University of Leicester 23 October 2013
Coping strategies � How do people respond to stress? ◦ Problem focused coping
� Active coping � Planning � Suppression of competing activities � Restraint coping � Seeking of instrumental social support ◦ Emotion focused coping
� Seeking of emotional social support � Positive reinterpretation � Acceptance � Denial � Turning to religion ◦ Less constructive ways of coping
� Venting of emotions � Behavioural disengagement � Mental disengagement
(Carver et al., 1989)
Individualism vs. collectivism � Increased individualism in society and requirement for
individual responsibility (e.g. welfare, employability, etc.) ◦ Risk Society (Beck, 1992) and second or reflexive
modernity (Beck et al.,1994) ◦ Individualisation constitutes “unspoken ideological
foundations” (Dean, 2004, p. 12) � “[T]he individualistic nature of contemporary culture
serve[s] to discourage a sense of responsibility for others” (Ellis and Rogers, 2004, p. 93).
� Examples from project on unemployed women’s coping strategies: ◦ Self help / support group (phone lists, activities from
everyday to cultural) ◦ Conversations (interviews) act as ‘therapy’
Volunteering and volunteer wellbeing
� Increased wellbeing observed and self-reported by volunteers ◦ Lower mortality rates ◦ More likely to be happier, less likely to
suffer from depression ◦ Report higher levels of life satisfaction ◦ Lower risk factors for stress-related
illness, e.g. heart disease
Volunteering and happiness � Strong correlation between mental and
physical wellbeing and volunteering – but is there a causal link?
� How does volunteering improve volunteer happiness? ◦ Trains empathy ◦ Provides social comparison, lowers concern for
status ◦ Socially integrated ◦ Better (perceived) coping skills ◦ More active lifestyle
� All these factors can be linked to improved mood -> less stress -> better health
‘Reasonable altruism’ � However, this is true only where
volunteering does not ‘overwhelm’ the volunteer, causing compassion fatigue
� Burn-out due to intense emotions, often combined with lack of training
� Most likely to occur after significant time of experience when idealism and enthusiasm likely to be replaced with realism and cynicism
� Volunteering requires „self-renewal“: new roles, self-reflection, time off
Emotional labour � This refers to the effort, planning and
control that is required to express desired emotions (Karabanow 1999).
� The establishment of a personal and trusting relationship is in itself an emotional and intense process
� Examples of different relationships from project of learning providers working with NEETs
� Homology (I am like you: empathy, acceptance, role model)
They see that, that’s explained, that’s what you can do. She’s come from where you are. � Mother (not father?) figure: nurture, support, caring … we make them toast in the morning and you know clear up after them. [T]he problem for me as a male, is that they’re trying to compute in their head who’s “Ben”, who is he, what is this role model, is he my dad, is he my granddad, most of them have a step dad who they don’t seem to like very much, they haven't had a male role model and that’s vital.
� The police / keeping it real I think the providers that deal with the problems a bit more successfully are (…) just real with them and say look this is reality, this is what’s going to happen and then that’s it. � Sales strategies: create demand, responsive, listen [O]ne of the most valuable things I ever learnt in sales, which I employ religiously with working with young people, is get to know your end user and don’t make a product that you yourself wouldn’t want to buy.
� The soldier: challenge I just don’t believe in pampering people too much. I believe, alright you’ve had a bad background, you’ve had a bad start, what you going to do, sit there crying or are you going to stand up and fight?
References � Beck, U., 1990. Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. London: Sage. � Beck, U., Giddens, A. and Lash, S. (1994) Reflexive Modernization. Politics, Tradition and
Aesthetics in the Modern Social Order. Cambridge: Polity Press. � Borgonovi, F. (2008). Doing well by doing good. The relationship between formal
volunteering and self-reported health and happiness. Social Science and Medicine, 66, 2321-2334.
� Carver, C., Scheier, M. and Weintraub, J. (1989) Assessing Coping Strategies: A Theoretically Based Approach, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56(2): 267-283.
� Dean, H. (2004) Human Rights and welfare rights: contextualising dependency and responsibility. In: H. Dean (ed.) The Ethics of Welfare, Human rights, dependency and responsibility. Bristol: Policy Press, 7-28.
� Ellis, K. and Rogers, R. (2004) Fostering a human rights discourse in the provision of social care for adults. In: H. Dean (ed.) The Ethics of Welfare, Human rights, dependency and responsibility. Bristol: Policy Press, 89-109.
� Haski-Leventhal, D., and Bargal, D. (2008). The volunteer stages and transitions model: Organisational socialisation of volunteers. Human Relations, 61: 67.
� Karabanow, J., 1999. When Caring Is Not Enough: Emotional Labor and Youth Shelter Workers. Social Service Review, 73 (3), 340-357.
� Post, S. (2005). Altruism, Happiness and Health: It’s Good to Be Good. International Journal of Behavioural Medicine, 12(2), 66-77.
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