Abstract
Participation in Civil Society Organizations (CSO) draws on and enriches social, cultural, and human capital. Social impacts of such participation as active citizenship are systemic and ‘ripple’ far beyond the immediate program outputs and outcomes. CSOs and the third sector as a whole must demonstrate and gage the difference they make in the social life of the broader community. This research offers a new approach to conceptualize CSO social impacts through an empirically derived model that accounts for the impacts of active citizenship for individuals, organizations, and the broader community. A conceptual model of systemic social impact is presented as it was developed through an exploratory study of a large Australian CSO using an abductive methodology combining focus groups and a survey. Considering the potential of the model that could account for impacts beyond program outputs and outcomes, we propose several propositions for future testing the conceptual model.
Résumé
La participation dans les organisations de la société civile (OSC) puise dans le capital social, culturel et humain et l’enrichit. L’impact social de cette participation de citoyenneté active est systémique et dépasse de loin le cadre des résultats et des conséquences immédiats des programmes. Les OSC et le troisième secteur dans leur ensemble doivent démontrer et évaluer ce qu’ils apportent à la vie sociale de la communauté au sens large. Cette étude propose une nouvelle approche pour conceptualiser l’impact social des OSC, grâce à un modèle déduit de l’expérience qui prend en compte l’impact de la citoyenneté active au niveau des individus, des organisations et de la communauté élargie. Nous présentons un modèle conceptuel d'impact social systémique établi à l’occasion de l’étude exploratoire d’une importante OSC australienne, et faisant appel à une méthode abductive combinant une enquête et des groupes de réflexion. Sachant le potentiel d’un modèle qui tiendrait compte des effets des programmes au-delà de leurs résultats et de leurs conséquences directs, nous faisons plusieurs propositions en vue d’une mise à l’épreuve ultérieure du modèle conceptuel.
Zusammenfassung
Die Mitwirkung in Bürgergesellschaftsorganisationen stützt sich auf das soziale, kulturelle und Humankapital und bereichert dieses. Die gesellschaftlichen Auswirkungen einer derartigen Partizipation als Teil einer aktiven Bürgerschaft sind systemisch und reichen weit über die unmittelbaren Programmleistungen -und ergebnisse hinaus. Die Bürgergesellschaftsorganisationen und der Dritte Sektor insgesamt müssen ihre Bedeutung für das gesellschaftliche Leben der breiteren Gemeinschaft demonstrieren und messen. Diese Studie bietet einen neuen Ansatz zur Konzeptualisierung der sozialen Auswirkungen von Bürgergesellschaftsorganisationen mittels eines empirisch abgeleiteten Modells, das die Auswirkungen einer aktiven Bürgerschaft für einzelne Personen, Organisationen und die breitere Gemeinschaft erfasst. Es wird ein konzeptionelles Modell der systemischen sozialen Auswirkungen präsentiert, wie es im Rahmen einer explorativen Studie einer großen australischen Bürgergesellschaftsorganisation entwickelt wurde, das sich auf eine abduktive Methodik stützte, bei der Fokusgruppen und eine Umfrage kombiniert wurden. Unter Berücksichtigung des Potenzials des Modells, anhand dessen die Auswirkungen erfasst werden könnten, die über die Programmleistungen und -ergebnisse hinausgehen, unterbreiten wir mehrere Vorschläge für zukünftige Tests des konzeptionellen Modells.
Resumen
La participación en las Organizaciones de la Sociedad Civil (OSC/CSO) recurre al capital social, cultural y humano y lo enriquece. Los impactos sociales de dicha participación como ciudadanía activa son sistémicos y se “propagan” mucho más allá de los resultados inmediatos del programa. Las OSC/CSO y el sector terciario como un todo deben demostrar y medir la diferencia que marcan en la vida social de la comunidad en general. La presente investigación ofrece un nuevo enfoque para conceptualizar los impactos sociales de las OSC/CSO mediante un modelo derivado empíricamente que explica los impactos de la ciudadanía activa para los individuos, las organizaciones y la comunidad en general. Se presenta un modelo conceptual del impacto social sistémico tal como fue desarrollado mediante un estudio exploratorio de una gran Organización de la Sociedad Civil australiana utilizando una metodología abductiva que combina grupos de referencia y una encuesta. Considerando el potencial del modelo que podría explicar los impactos más allá de los resultados del programa, realizamos varias propuestas para poner a prueba en el futuro el modelo conceptual.
摘要
参与公民社会组织(CSO)可利用并充实社会、文化与人力资本。作为积极公民权(active citizenship),此种参与对社会具有系统性影响,且其社会影响远不止于项目直接产出与结果,而是具有“涟漪”扩散型的深远影响。作为一个整体,CSO与第三部门必须论证和检测他们给较大范围内社区的生活所造成的影响。本研究提出一种新方法,以对CSO的社会影响进行定义:即利用以实证方法建立的模型,解释积极公民权对于个人、组织和较大范围内的社区所造成的影响。我们使用假设一种推论方法(abductive methodology),并结合小组讨论(focus groups)和调查等方法, 对一家大型的澳大利亚公民社会组织(CSO)做探究性研究,进而建立并展示系统性社会影响的概念模型。考虑到可用于解释项目产出与结果之外影响的模型的可能性,我们还提出了可用于未来测试该概念模型的若干命题。
ملخص
المشاركة في منظمات المجتمع المدني (CSO) تعتمد على و تثري رأس المال الإجتماعي والثقافي والإنساني . الآثار الإجتماعية لهذه المشاركة مثل المواطنة النشطة هي منهجية و “ ذبذبة “ ما هو أبعد من إنتاج البرنامج فورا˝ والنتائج. منظمات المجتمع المدني (CSO) والقطاع الثالث ككل يجب أن تثبت و تقيس الفرق الذي يحدثوه في الحياة الإجتماعية للمجتمع الأوسع. يقدم هذا البحث منهج جديد لوضع تصور الآثار الإجتماعية لمنظمات المجتمع المدني (CSO) من خلال نموذج مستمد تجريبيا˝الذي يأخذ في الإعتبار تأثيرات المواطنة النشطة للأفراد ٬المنظمات و المجتمع الأوسع . يتم عرض النموذج النظري من الأثر الإجتماعي النظامي كما تم تطويره من خلال دراسة إستكشافية لمنظمة المجتمع المدني (CSO)الأسترالي الكبير بإستخدام منهجية وسيلة لتشكيل التنبؤ العام الذي يجمع بين مجموعات التركيز و إستطلاع الرأي. النظر في الإمكانيات للنموذج الذي يمكن إعتباره للتأثيرات التي تتجاوز إنتاج البرنامج والنتائج، فإننا نقترح عدة مقترحات للإختبار المستقبلي للنموذج التصوري .
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the funding that supported this research received on a competitive basis through the University of Technology, Sydney Partnership Grants Scheme. We acknowledge the source of these funds provided by Surf Life Saving Australia, the University of Technology, Sydney and the Australian Federal Government.
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Edwards, M., Onyx, J., Maxwell, H. et al. A Conceptual Model of Social Impact as Active Citizenship. Voluntas 26, 1529–1549 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-014-9480-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-014-9480-z