Control relation change into trust relationship in volunteering

Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania

Abstract

The phenomenon of volunteering reveals itself through the time a person spends for volunteering, through the duration of the volunteering, the area in which volunteering occurs, and the age group of the volunteers. Object of the study – volunteering experiences of young adults. The issue of the research is how young adults experience volunteering in the social help field. The research is phenomenological and not focusing on any foreseen objectives, oriented to the experience of the volunteers. According to phenomenological approach, research methodology was Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. In this article, part of the research is presented, giving deeper view on one of the super-ordinates theme, with the aim: to present change of control relation into the trust relationship with the Other in long term and full-time volunteering. In the study participated 6 research participants, 3 young men and 3 young women, 20 to 30 years old. To collect data of the research we used semi-structured interviews. Conclusions of the study, presented in this article, reveal: 1) The volunteers' experience of volunteering shows that the relationship of control in trying to fit the lives of met people into a personal imagination – what life should be like – changes through confrontation, surprise and even shock to discover authentic relationship of trust based no longer on appreciation but on intimacy and communion; 2) Hidden abilities of volunteers, new opportunities and self-disclosure are possible when a close relationship of trust is created; 3) Abandoning preconceptions about the Other and volunteering, the study participants changed the relationship of control to a relationship of trust. On that base, they began to volunteer in their environment without waiting for permission, instructions or other actions to legalize volunteering. As the relationship changed, as control shifted to a trust-based relationship with those around them, volunteers, realizing the experience, discovered the significance of volunteering, empowered by trust, and personal freedom and creativity; 4) The relativity of the study participants in volunteering was experienced dialogically, seeing the person and associating themselves with the person, and thus experiencing a constant interplay as ignorance, uncertainty, but at the same time as devotion and trust.