Volunteering: Interest or Altruism?

  • Delia Elena RUSU PhD Student Assistant of Sociology and Social Work, Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi, Romania
Keywords: Volunteering, interest, altruism, organization and society development

Abstract

This paper focuses on how volunteering is seen by youth with ages between 18 and 26 years, from Iasi, Romania. Is volunteering 100% how its simple definition sustains (such as a non-mandatory type of work that comes into supporting a part of society’s needs through helping organizations in their activities) or is it a mask of a most specific interest (such as gaining experience for ones field of study, making friends or developing abilities)? Either way, we may conclude that perhaps no matter the reasons why volunteering is practiced – it brings value to a society’s endeavour to motivate its youth to persevere in its activities and for them to involve as much as possible in order for its demarche to be uphold to progress. A micro-research-study (with data collected and analyzed from 5 focus-groups) has been conducted for disclosure the main reasons of volunteering for youth from the present time. This micro-study is incorporated in a larger and more complex research that is still ongoing. 

References

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Published
2017-08-18
How to Cite
RUSU, D. (2017). Volunteering: Interest or Altruism?. LUMEN Proceedings, 1, 747-754. https://doi.org/10.18662/lumproc.rsacvp2017.67