Toward a Communication Model of Volunteer Socialization

• In Event: Alternative Models and Understandings of Organizational Socialization

Abstract

Most socialization/assimilation research which has focused on employment as the primary membership role in groups and organizations. This manuscript develops a model of socialization that emphasizes the unique characteristics of volunteer socialization. Using the bona fide group perspective, the multi-level model includes how membership in various groups, such as work and family, influence and interact with individuals’ socialization as volunteers. With a focus on communication, the model emphasizes the fluid process of volunteer associations.

Author

• Michael Kramer, University of Missouri, Columbia