‘By Helping Others, We Helped Ourselves:’ Volunteering and Social Integration of Ex-Soviet Immigrants in Israel

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• 作者：Natalia Khvorostianov ; Larissa Remennick
• 关键词：FSU immigrants ; Volunteering ; Social capital ; Integration
• 刊名：VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：February 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：28
• 期：1
• 页码：335-357
• 全文大小：
• 刊物类别：Humanities, Social Sciences and Law
• 刊物主题：Social Sciences, general; Political Science; Social Policy;
• 出版者：Springer US
• ISSN：1573-7888
• 卷排序：28

文摘

Recent immigrants seldom join the ranks of volunteers for various social causes. Immigrants from former socialist countries have been shown to be particularly averse to organized forms of volunteering for reasons rooted in their past, including forced forms of collectivism imposed by the state. In this qualitative study, we explored the perceptions and practices of volunteering among ex-Soviet immigrants (mostly educated middle-aged women) who ran a project for the benefit of elderly. Our findings show that most volunteers chose causes targeting fellow immigrants, their resettlement and well-being, and were motivated by the wish to build co-ethnic support network and overcome marginalization in the Israeli society. Other volunteers were driven by the need for self-actualization in the context of underemployment and occupational downgrading. Personal empowerment and higher identification with the receiving society were the most salient outcomes of volunteering for our informants. We conclude that for some immigrants, volunteering can serve as a strategy of social integration.