Ethics

Why do volunteers break the rules? This Research to Practice reviews an ethnographic study of an animal shelter where disruptive behavior by volunteers was a regular occurrence. This disruptive behavior was defined as “any behavior that either explicitly violated a rule or was identified by more than one staff member as disruptive” (Jacobs, 2017, 31). Researcher Molly Jacobs volunteered four days a week for a year at the shelter, keeping extensive notes of her observations and interactions. She also interviewed paid and unpaid workers. In her analysis, Jacobs was able to identify different ‘rule breaking’ categories and analyze why this occurred.

This Research to Practice review of this study provides an opportunity to think about these types of disruptions in your own volunteer context, and perhaps determine different ways to handle them.

Some years ago, Debbie Mason Talbot, a hospital-based manager of volunteer resources, and Ann M. Heesters, director of bioethics at the same institution, came together to discuss a series of cases that generated moral distress for their volunteers and for those who supported them. Though these cases arose in a hospital setting, it quickly became evident that Talbot and Heesters had uncovered themes that would be familiar whenever volunteers interacted with clients, patients, staff, or managers. Talbot and Heesters realized that what they soon called “boundary dilemmas” were not new or local issues, but perennial problems that could be addressed more easily once a common vocabulary was established to discuss the cases and the factors that made them ethically troubling.

In this e-Volunteerism feature, Talbot and Heesters use case studies to explore boundary-crossing situations and organizational responses to them, case studies that can be applied to volunteer situations in a myriad of settings. They also review a tool called FaCE-IT to help analyze boundary dilemmas in organizations and methods to deal with them. As the authors write, “Volunteers who are made aware of the language of boundaries are better equipped to identify potential dangers and to make informed decisions about ethically troubling dilemmas. They will be better prepared to distinguish helpful behaviors from those that have the potential to cause harm.”

 

"There is an essential integrity in a relationship with a volunteer that I find worth examining."

Sarah Elliston proceeds to analyze the fundamental differences between relationships with employees and relationships with volunteers:

"As I examine integrity as this simplicity and deliberation in buildings and people, I recognize that some of my relationships haven't matched the characteristics. The ones where I have felt the most integrity is with volunteers. But with some employers and colleagues, I have been met with distrust and fear when I have been honest and acted from my value system. Why? I believe the major reason for the difference is the assumptions we make with volunteers and those we make with paid staff."

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The wall between church and state in the United States often extends to a wall of separation, ignorance or avoidance between secular and faith-based volunteering. In this deeply personal article for e-Volunteerism, author Karen Kogler encourages the dismantling of that wall. She describes the world of faith-based volunteerism, and gives practical help to secular volunteer managers on how to build partnerships with faith-based organizations.  She notes the challenges in pursing this goal, and describes the benefits to both sides in working together.  Writes Kogler, “As I see it, both the faith-based and secular worlds of volunteerism would benefit from the demolition of the wall that often separates us.”