The Padua community gets active: volunteering in the first phase of the emergency for COVID-19

Journal title PSICOLOGIA DI COMUNITA’
Author/s Marta Gaboardi, Silvia Demita, Roberta Cosentino, Natale Canale, Michela Lenzi, Claudia Marino, Alessio Vieno, Massimo Santinello
Publishing Year 2021 Issue 2021/1 Language Italian
Pages 16 P. 47-62 File size 181 KB
DOI 10.3280/PSC2021-001004
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

In Padua, during the COVID-19 emergency, the volunteer management project "Per Pa-dova noi ci siamo" was activated. The present research aims at highlighting the characteristics of the volunteers and understanding which factors are related to the willingness to continue volunteering post-emergency. In April-May 2020, 299 people completed an online question-naire designed to investigate the volunteer experience and psycho-social dimensions. Results revealed a relationship between intention to continue volunteering and post- traumatic growth, sense of belonging, and participation in neighborhood meetings. In light of these findings, op-erational proposals are developed to help organizations stimulate and retain people who intend to continue volunteering.

Keywords: volunteering, citizenship, COVID-19, sense of community, post-traumatic growth, neighborhood.

  1. Istat (2020). Le relazioni sociali. -- Disponibile su: https://www4.istat.it/it/benessere-e-sostenibilità/misure-del-benessere/le-12-dimensioni-del-benessere/relazioni-sociali (ultimo accesso: 01.03.21).
  2. Kabad, J.F., Noal, D.D.S., Passos, M.F.D., Melo, B.D., Pereira, D.R., Serpeloni, F., ... & Freitas, C.M. (2020). The experience with volunteer and collaborative work in mental health and psychosocial care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cadernos de SaúdePública, 36, e00132120. DOI: 10.1590/0102-311X0013212
  3. Lenzi, M., Vieno, A., Pastore, M., & Santinello, M. (2013). Neighborhood social connectedness and adolescent civic engagement: An integrative model. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 34, 45-54.
  4. Macduff, N. (2005), Societal changes and the rise of the episodic volunteer. Emerging areas of volunteering. ARNOVA, 1(2), 49-61.
  5. Mak, H. W., & Fancourt, D. (2020). Predictors of engaging in voluntary work during the COVID-19 pandemic: analyses of data from 31,890 adults in the UK. -- Retrieved from: https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/er8xd/ [Last accessed: 30.12.20]
  6. Martini, E.R. (2019). BuonAbitare. Il lavoro psicologico nei contesti abitativi per fornire servizi alle persone e promuovere comunità di vicinato. Psicologia di Comunità, 2, 113-118. DOI: 10.3280/PSC2019-00200
  7. Meneghini, A.M., Morgano, A., Stanzani, S., Pozzi, M., Marta, E., Lenzi, M., & Santinello, M. (2016). Il volontariato episodico per grandi eventi e i volontari a Expo Milano 2015. In M. Ambrosini (a cura di), Volontariato Post-Moderno: da Expo Milano 2015 alle nuove forme di impegno sociale. Milano: FrancoAngeli (pp. 41-58).
  8. Miao, Q., Schwarz, S., & Schwarz, G. (2020). Responding to COVID-19: Community volunteerism and co-production in China. World Development, 137, 105128.
  9. Miranti, R., & Evans, M. (2019). Trust, sense of community, and civic engagement: Lessons from Australia. Journal of Community Psychology, 47(2), 254-271.
  10. Omoto, A.M., & Snyder, M. (1995). Sustained helping without obligation: Motivation, longevity of service, and perceived attitude change among AIDS volunteers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 671-686. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.68.4.67
  11. Pozzi, M., Meneghini, A.M., & Marta, E. (2019). Does volunteering at events motivate repeat engagement in voluntary service? The case of young adult volunteers at EXPO MILAN 2015, TPM 26(4), 541-560. DOI: 10.4473/TPM26.4.
  12. Prezza, M., Pacilli, M.G., Barbaranelli, C., & Zampatti, E. (2009). The MTSOCS: A multidimensional sense of community scale for local communities. Journal of Community Psychology, 37(3), 305-326.
  13. Rothstein, B., & Stolle, D. (2001, September). Social capital and street-level bureaucracy: An institutional theory of generalized trust. In Trust in Government Conference” at the Centre for the Study of Democratic Politics, Princeton University.
  14. Sikali, K. (2020). The dangers of social distancing: How COVID-19 can reshape our social experience. Journal of Community Psychology, 6, 1-4.
  15. Stanzani S. (2020). Trust and civic engagement in the Italian COVID-19 lockdown. Italian Sociological Review, 10 (3S), 917-935.
  16. Abel, T., McQueen, D. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic calls for spatial distancing and social closeness: Not for social distancing. International Journal of Public Health, 65, 231.
  17. Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179-211. DOI: 10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-
  18. Albanesi, C., Cicognani, E., & Zani, B. (2007). Sense of community, civic engagement and social wellbeing in Italian adolescents. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 17(5), 387-406.
  19. Brooks, S., Amlôt, R., Rubin, G.J., & Greenberg, N. (2020). Psychological resilience and post-traumatic growth in disaster-exposed organisations: overview of the literature. BMJ Military Health, 166(1), 52-56.
  20. Gaboardi, M., Cosentino, R., Demita, S., & Santinello, M. (2020). Terzo settore, grave marginalità e COVID-19: Indagine su come le organizzazioni che lavorano con la grave marginalità a Padova hanno vissuto l’emergenza sanitaria per COVID-19. Tratto da -- https://www.unipd.it /sites/unipd.it/files/20200702l.pdf
  21. Garcia, D., & Rimé, B. (2019). Collective emotions and social resilience in the digital traces after a terrorist attack. Psychological Science, 30(4), 617-628. DOI: 10.1177/095679761983196
  22. HatamiVarzaneh, A., Fathi, E., Khanipour, H., & Habibi, N. (2020). Predicting Helping Attitude based on Attachment styles, Empathy, and Self-compassion among Volunteer and non-Volunteer Groups of Public Participation during COVID-19 Outbreak. Journal of Research in Psychological Health, 14(1), 87-101.
  23. Trautwein, S., Liberatore, F., Lindenmeier, J., & von Schnurbein, G. (2020). Satisfaction with Informal Volunteering During the COVID-19 Crisis: An Empirical Study Considering a Swiss Online Volunteering Platform. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 0899764020964595. DOI: 10.1177/089976402096459
  24. Vieno, A., & Santinello, M. (2006). Il capitale sociale secondo un’ottica di Psicologia di comunità. Giornale Italiano di Psicologia, 33(3), 481-500. DOI: 10.1421/2275
  25. Whittaker, J., McLennan, B., & Handmer, J. (2015). A review of informal volunteerism in emergencies and disasters: Definition, opportunities and challenges. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 13, 358-368.
  26. Wilson, J. (2012). Volunteerism research: A review essay. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 41(2), 176-212. DOI: 10.1177/089976401143455

Marta Gaboardi, Silvia Demita, Roberta Cosentino, Natale Canale, Michela Lenzi, Claudia Marino, Alessio Vieno, Massimo Santinello, La comunità di Padova si attiva: il volontariato nella prima fase dell’emergenza COVID-19 in "PSICOLOGIA DI COMUNITA’" 1/2021, pp 47-62, DOI: 10.3280/PSC2021-001004