The content of the book Volunteer Tourism is current and relevant in today’s tourism discussion about, citizenship, development and cosmopolitanism. The authors provide a vocabulary not only for tourism scholars but also for people interested in mobility and morality. The book frames volunteer tourism as an expression of a diminished political subjectivity while at the same time recognizing the importance of volunteering, celebrating travel and affirming humanitarianism. The authors have delivered a work which contributes greatly to a comprehensive critical understanding of the volunteer tourism phenomenon. The book evokes a discussion among my colleagues and made me reflect about volunteer tourism and tourism in general. Through themes they portray volunteer tourism as a search for meaning in a globalized world with a global citizenship.
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This small exploratory study aims to reveal the perceptions of female participants in mandatory volunteering programmes and to formulate directions for further research. We analyse how in Rotterdam the transition from labour market re-integration policies to a mandatory reciprocity approach is viewed by long-term unemployed women who were already volunteering. Modern welfare policies are increasingly based on notions of reciprocity. Citizens on welfare benefits have to do something in return, e.g. volunteer work. Notwithstanding general public support, social philosophers have been critical on ‘mandatory’ activities in community programmes. So far, the participants themselves have scarcely been asked about the (un)fairness of ‘mandatory volunteering’. Surprisingly, the participants in this study claim that the new approach better recognises their contribution to ‘society’. They also view the policy as necessary and fair to other benefit claimants who are perceived to lack any motivation to give something back to society. An agenda for further research is presented.
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Interventions for older people are often not evaluated and, if evaluated, are not proven successful. Based on a systematic literature review and two qualitative studies about the social needs of older people, an intervention has been developed, implemented, and evaluated. Important social needs that emerged from these studies are connectedness, meaningfulness, and independence.
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Social work is a profession that is very much part of and contributes to an ever changing and evolving society. It is therefore essential that social work is able to respond to the diverse and dynamic demands that it may encounter in that society and in the future. The critique of social work is, however, present and growing. The profession can no longer deny or ignore the need to legitimize its value and effectiveness. In this article, a research project – entitled Procivi – aimed at developing a method of legitimizing social work is presented. The method developed in Procivi proposes a way of legitimizing social work through the development of reflective professionals. The method teaches professionals to take a research frame of mind towards their own practice and helps them develop a vocabulary to describe their work to different audiences. The paper discusses whether and how this method forms a viable way of legitimizing social work and as such could be an alternative for the growing demand for social work based on scientific evidence (evidencebased practice, EBP).
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There is an increasing attention for youth social work professionals to collaborate with volunteers, parents, and other professionals. Collaboration can contribute to positive outcomes for youth. The present study contributes to understanding differences in the extent to which youth social work professionals collaborate with volunteers, parents, and other professionals. The survey was conducted with Dutch professionals working in youth care (n = 112), education (n = 67), and youth work (n = 89). Index for Interdisciplinary Collaboration was used to assess interdependence in and reflection on the collaboration process. Significant differences were found in the extent to which professionals working in different fields experience interdependence and reflection on the collaboration process with different partners. Future researchers should be aware that the degree to which professionals collaborate with others might depend on the context, work field, and the collaboration partner. Youth social work professionals and local governments can use this study to identify strong and weak collaborative partnerships in order to better organize collaboration between different partners with the final aim of improving support of young people.
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The central aim of this thesis was to increase understanding of designing vocational learning environments at the school–work boundary. Four studies were conducted, focusing on learning environment designs at the school–work boundary and on design considerations of the actors involved in their construction, both from the world of school and the world of work.
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Hoofdstuk in The history of youth work in Europe and its relevance for youth policy today. Youth work in the Netherlands goes back a long way and since the 1970s has taken on a rather strong professional image. During the last decades, it went through some hard times, but recently it has undergone a revival and revaluation. (Griensven & Smeets, 2003). The first section of this paper is about how the characteristics of the Dutch affect social work and youth work concepts. The second part discusses the Dutch framework for youth work: definition, fields of activities, core tasks and the ambiguous relationship between youth work and social work. The third section deals with the history of youth work. The paper concludes with a reflection on the future directions that youth work could take. The article is based on Dutch historical research, some by the author, and the author’s involvement in youth work, both as a youth worker and editor- in- chief of the semi-scientific journal Jeugd en samenleving.
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"In recent years, the former Dutch welfare state has been transformed into a participation society [1]. As support from the government decreases, citizens are increasingly expected to be self-managing. Since not everyone is able to be self-managing, there is an increasing demand for help offered by volunteers. Although the number of volunteers in the Netherlands is relatively stable, the amount of time per volunteer has decreased over the past couple of years [2]. Most volunteers traditionally come from the wealthier, more educated segment of society and are likely to be female, married with children, 50+, and active in religion [3, 4]. In order to meet the increasing demand for volunteers, either the amount of time spent per volunteer should be increased, or new groups of volunteers should be attracted. The Dutch foundation “Possible Today” started an initiative aimed at motivating (potential) volunteers: Social Credits for Volunteers. This is digital platform, based on block chain technology, connects volunteers with projects. The platform uses a digital currency -Social Credits- to appreciate and reward the efforts of volunteers. The currency can be exchanged for discounts or other value, offered by organizations and stores that feel involved with the community. An important feature of this system is the opportunity for volunteers to draft a social curriculum vitae. The aim of this study is to generate recommendations for Possible Foundation about how the Social Credits Platform should be designed and deployed in order to persuade (potential) volunteers to spend (more) hours on volunteering. Therefore, the following research question is answered: ‘What motives, desires and barriers traditional and less traditional volunteers have in regard to appreciation and reward for volunteering?’"
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“Municipal Youth Work taken over by Christians”. (Binnenlands Bestuur, 2009) This heading refers to the work of Youth for Christ in an Amsterdam neighbourhood. This organisation, successful in Youth Work nationwide, last year came out first in an open competition of the Amsterdam district De Baarsjes. Because of this they were commissioned to undertake all the youth work in this multicultural neighbourhood. The conditions were not to evangelise and not to limit recruitment of personnel inside their own circle but to recruit from outside the organisation as well. When they later appeared to have put a job advertisement only on their own website, this led to heated debates. Finally Youth for Christ acknowledged and rectified this mistake. This example is a concrete illustration of the actual and sometimes delicate relationships between philosophy of life and social work
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Met de transities in het sociale domein wordt van professionals gevraagd in de uitvoering van de maatschappelijke dienstverlening meer samen te werken met sociale netwerken en vrijwilligers. Internationaal is er veel bekend over het werken met vrijwilligers, maar de literatuur die hierover verschenen is wordt in Nederland nauwelijks gebruikt. Dit boek biedt een overzicht van de belangrijkste internationale publicaties over dit onderwerp en past het toe op ontwikkelingen in de jeugd- en sociale sector in Nederland.
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