Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-zzh7m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T11:26:59.215Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Perceived neighbourhood safety and volunteerism among older adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 June 2020

Erin G. Grinshteyn Open the ORCID record for Erin G. Grinshteyn [Opens in a new window]  and
Judith A. Sugar
Erin G. Grinshteyn*
Affiliation:
Health Professions Department, School of Nursing and Health Professions, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
Judith A. Sugar
Affiliation:
School of Community Health Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: egrinshteyn@usfca.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Previous research shows the benefits of volunteerism to individuals and communities. The purpose of this study was to determine whether lower perceived neighbourhood safety is associated with reduced volunteerism and whether this association differs by sex. Data from the 2008 Health and Retirement Study in the United States of America were used (N = 13,009 adults 60 years and older). Multivariate logistic regression models were estimated to assess the association between perceived neighbourhood safety and volunteerism while controlling for potential confounders. Perceived neighbourhood safety was associated with volunteering. The odds of volunteering were higher for those rating their perceived neighbourhood safety as excellent compared with those rating their perceived neighbourhood safety as fair/poor. Those rating their perceived neighbourhood safety as very good also had greater odds of volunteering than those rating their perceived neighbourhood safety as fair/poor. Results differed somewhat by gender. Men who perceived their neighbourhood safety as excellent had increased odds of volunteering. The association of neighbourhood safety with volunteerism was significant for women rating their perceived neighbourhood safety as excellent or very good. Among men, being married was associated with increased odds of volunteering; being completely or partly retired was associated with increased odds of volunteering among women. Initiatives aimed at improving older adults’ perceptions of safety would help improve volunteerism, which is beneficial to both older adults and communities.

Keywords

volunteer activityperceived safetyneighbourhoodwomenfear of crime
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 41 , Issue 12 , December 2021 , pp. 2914 - 2932
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, ND, Damianakis, T, Kroger, E, Wagner, LM, Dawson, DR, Binns, MA, Bernstein, S, Caspi, E and Cook, SL (2014) The benefits associated with volunteering among seniors: a critical review and recommendations for future research. Psychological Bulletin 140, 1505–1533.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Britto, S and Stoddart, D (2019) Fear, gender, and victimization. In Bernat, FP, Frailing, K, Gelsthorpes, L, Kethineni, S and Pasko, L (eds), The Encyclopedia of Women and Crime, Hoboken, NJ, pp. 1–2.Google Scholar
Britto, S, Van Slyke, DM and Francis, TI (2011) The role of fear of crime in donating and volunteering: a gendered analysis. Criminal Justice Review 36, 414–434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Choi, LH (2003) Factors affecting volunteerism among older adults. Journal of Applied Gerontology 22, 179–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Choi, YJ and Matz-Costa, C (2017) Perceived neighborhood safety, social cohesion, and psychological health of older adults. The Gerontologist 58, 196–206.Google Scholar
Clemente, F and Kleiman, MB (1976) Fear of crime among the aged. The Gerontologist 16, 207–210.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Donder, L, De Witte, N, Buffel, T, Dury, S and Verte, D (2012) Social capital and feelings of unsafety in later life: a study on the influence of social networks, place attachment, and civic participation on perceived safety in Belgium. Research on Aging 34, 425–428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dury, S, Willems, J, De Witte, N, De Donder, L, Buffel, T and Verte, D (2014) Municipality and neighborhood influences on volunteering in later life. Journal of Applied Gerontology 35, 601–626.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dury, S, De Donder, L, De Witte, N, Buffel, T, Jacquet, W and Verté, D (2015) To volunteer or not: the influence of individual characteristics, resources, and social factors on the likelihood of volunteering by older adults. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 44, 1107–1128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Einolf, CJ (2010) Gender differences in the correlates of volunteering and charitable giving. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 40, 1092–1112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferraro, KF (1995) Fear of Crime: Interpreting Victimization Risk. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Ferraro, KF (1996) Women's fear of victimization: shadow of sexual assault? Social Forces 75, 667–690.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferraro, KF and LaGrange, RL (1988) Are older people afraid of crime? Journal of Aging Studies 2, 277–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferraro, KF and LaGrange, RL (1992) Are older people most afraid of crime? Reconsidering age differences in fear of victimization. Journal of Gerontology 47, S233–S244.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gonzales, E, Matz-Costa, C and Morrow-Howell, N (2015) Increasing opportunities for the productive engagement of older adults: a response to population aging. The Gerontologist 55, 252–261.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hager, MA and Brundney, JL (2004) Volunteer Management Practices and Retention of Volunteers. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.Google Scholar
Han, SH, Tavares, JL, Evans, M, Saczynski, J and Burr, JA (2016) Social activities, incident cardiovascular disease, and mortality: health behaviors mediation. Journal of Aging and Health 29, 268–288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Health and Retirement Study (HRS) (2011) Sample Sizes and Response Rates. Available at http://hrsonline.isr.umich.edu/sitedocs/sampleresponse.pdf.Google Scholar
Heo, J, Chun, S, Lee, S and Kim, J (2016) Life satisfaction and psychological well-being of older adults with cancer experience: the role of optimism and volunteering. International Journal of Aging and Human Development 83, 274–289.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hong, SL, Morrow-Howell, N, Tang, F and Hinterlong, J (2009) Engaging older adults in volunteering: conceptualizing and measuring institutional capacity. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 38, 200–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaskie, B, Imhof, S, Cavanaugh, J and Culp, K (2008) Civic engagement as a retirement role for aging Americans. The Gerontologist 48, 368–377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
King, D (2008) Neighborhood and individual factors in activity in older adults: results from the Neighborhood and Senior Health Study. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity 16, 144–170.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
LaGrange, RL and Ferraro, KF (1989) Assessing age and gender differences in perceived risk and fear of crime. Criminology 27, 697.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LaGrange, RL and Ferraro, KF (2017) The elderly's fear of crime: a critical examination of the research. In Jason, D and Stephen, F (eds), The Fear of Crime. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, pp. 77–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loukaitou-Sideris, A and Eck, JE (2007) Crime prevention and active living. American Journal of Health Promotion 21, 380–389.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lu, N, Peng, C, Jiang, N and Lou, VW (2018) Cognitive social capital and formal volunteering among older adults in urban China: does gender matter? Journal of Applied Gerontology 39, 404–412.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Madsen, W, Ambrens, M and Ohl, M (2019) Enhancing resilience in community-dwelling older adults: a rapid review of the evidence and implications for public health practitioners. Frontiers in Public Health 7. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2019.00014.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manning, LK (2010) Gender and religious differences associated with volunteering in later life. Journal of Women and Aging 22, 125–135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martinez, IL, Crooks, D, Kim, KS and Tanner, E (2011) Invisible civic engagement among older adults: valuing the contributions of informal volunteering. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology 26, 23–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morrow-Howell, N, Hinterlong, J, Rozario, PA and Tang, F (2003) Effects of volunteering on the well-being of older adults. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 58B, S137–S145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrow-Howell, N, Lee, YS, McCrary, S and McBride, A (2014) Volunteering as a pathway to productive and social engagement among older adults. Health Education and Behavior 41, 84S–90S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Musick, MA, Herzog, R and House, JS (1999) Volunteering and mortality among older adults: findings from a national sample. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 54B, S173–S180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Musick, MA, Wilson, J and Bynum, WB (2000) Race and formal volunteering: the differential effects of class and religion. Social Forces 78, 1539–1570.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mutchler, JE, Burr, JA and Caro, FG (2003) From paid worker to volunteer: leaving the paid workforce and volunteering in later life. Social Forces 81, 1267–1293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ofstedal, MB, Weir, DR, Chen, K-T and Wagner, J (2011) Updates to HRS Sample Weights. Health and Retirement Study. Available at http://hrsonline.isr.umich.edu/sitedocs/userg/dr-013.pdf.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ohmer, ML (2007) Citizen participation in neighborhood organizations and its relationship to volunteers’ self- and collective-efficacy and sense of community. Social Work Research 31, 109–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Okun, MA and Michel, J (2006) Sense of community and being a volunteer among the young-old. Journal of Applied Gerontology 25, 173–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Okun, MA, Yeung, EW and Brown, S (2013) Volunteering by older adults and risk of mortality: a meta-analysis. Psychology and Aging 28, 564–577.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Okun, MA, O'Rourke, HP, Keller, B, Johnson, KA and Enders, C (2014) Value-expressive volunteer motivation and volunteering by older adults: relationships with religiosity and spirituality. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 70B, 860–870.Google Scholar
Rosenberg, E and Letrero, IL (2006) Using age, cohort, and period to study elderly volunteerism. Educational Gerontology 32, 313–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rotolo, T, Wilson, J and Hughes, M (2010) Homeownership and volunteering: an alternative approach to studying social inequality and civic engagement. Sociological Forum 25, 570–587.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
StataCorp (2013) Stata Multiple Imputation Reference Manual. College Station, TX: StataCorp. Available at http://www.stata.com/manuals13/mi.pdf.Google Scholar
Tang, F, Copeland, VC and Wexler, S (2012) Racial differences in volunteer engagement by older adults: an empowerment perspective. Social Work Research 36, 80–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Torgerson, M and Edwards, ME (2012) Demographic determinants of perceived barriers to community involvement: examining rural/urban differences. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 22, 371–390.Google Scholar
US Bureau of Labor Statistics (2016) Volunteering in the United States, 2015. Washington, DC: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor. Available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/volun.nr0.htm.Google Scholar
Van Cauwenberg, J, Clarys, P, De Bourdeaudhuij, I, Van Holle, V, Verté, D, De Witte, N, De Donder, L, Buffel, T, Dury, S and Deforche, B (2012) Physical environmental factors related to walking and cycling in older adults: the Belgian aging studies. BMC Public Health 12, 142.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Dyck, D, Cerin, E, De Bourdeauhuij, I, Salvo, D, Christiansen, LB, Macfarlane, D and Conway, (2015) Moderating effects of age, gender and education on the associations of perceived neighborhood environment attributes with accelerometer-based physical activity: the IPEN adult study. Health and Place 36, 65–73.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Varma, VR, Tan, EJ, Gross, AL, Harris, G, Romani, W, Fried, LP, Rebok, GW and Carlson, MC (2016) Effect of community volunteering on physical activity: a randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 50, 106–110.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wahrendorf, M, Blane, D, Matthews, K and Siegrist, J (2016) linking quality of work in midlife to volunteering during retirement: a European study. Journal of Population Ageing 9, 113–130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Warburton, J and McLaughlin, D (2006) Doing it from your heart: the role of older women as informal volunteers. Journal of Women and Aging 18, 55–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wei, Y, Donthu, N and Bernhardt, KL (2012) Volunteerism of older adults in the United States. International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing 9, 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiersma, EC and Koster, R (2013) Vulnerability, voluntarism, and age-friendly communities: placing rural northern communities into context. Journal of Rural and Community Development 8, 62–76.Google Scholar
Wilson, J (2000) Volunteering. Annual Review of Sociology 26, 215–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, J and Musick, M (1999) The effects of volunteering on the volunteer. Law and Contemporary Problems 62, 141–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson-Genderson, M and Pruchno, R (2013) Effects of neighborhood violence and perceptions of neighborhood safety on depressive symptoms of older adults. Social Science and Medicine 85, 43–49.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Woolley, F (1998) Social Cohesion and Voluntary Activity: Making Connections. Centre for the Study of Living Standards. Available at http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.466.3440andrep=rep1andtype=pdf.Google Scholar