Effects of Volunteering Experiences and Motivations on Attitudes Toward Prisoners: Evidence from Hong Kong

Abstract

Volunteers are playing an increasingly bigger role in correctional institutions both in Western settings and in the Hong Kong Chinese context, and yet previous studies have focused only on descriptive accounts of their motivation and satisfaction. Utilizing three samples in Hong Kong, namely prison volunteers (N054), non-prison volunteers (N0146), and non-volunteers (N077), the present study compares these groups' attitudes toward prisoners. Moreover, this study examines the correlations between volunteer satisfaction and volunteer motivation and attitudes toward prisoners. The results indicate that, compared to the non-volunteer group, both the volunteer groups exhibited more positive attitudes toward prisoners. For the prison volunteers, motivation to express important values and to help others correlated with the attitude that prisoners can change positively. The implications of the study are discussed.

Validation of a Chinese Version of the Attitudes Toward Prisoners Scale

“…Eighty percent of this group ( n = 43) had attained postsecondary schooling. As with past studies (Chui & Cheng, 2013a; Tewksbury & Dabney, 2005), most volunteers who had served offenders (81%; n = 44) reported that they were Christians. Nine had indicated that they held no religious beliefs with one self-reporting as a Buddhist.…”

“…The same mixed attitudes can be noted from punitive attitudes research where the public, in both Western (Cullen, Fisher, & Applegate, 2000) and Chinese (Cao & Cullen, 2001) contexts, expresses support for both harsh sanctions against and the rehabilitation of offenders. Specifically for volunteers who work with prisoners, past studies pointed to how these volunteers are motivated by a desire to help prisoners and to simply share their beliefs (Chui & Cheng, 2013a, 2013b; Kerley, Matthews, & Shoemaker, 2009). Therefore, volunteers who serve offenders may not only acknowledge their bad character but also feel that they are human beings who deserve support at the same time.…”

You Do What? A Qualitative Investigation Into the Motivation to Volunteer With Circles of Support and Accountability

“…Although there is little research that has explored motivation to volunteer with CoSA specifically (e.g., R. J. Wilson et al, 2007a), previous research has found that volunteers in U.S. correctional settings are predominantly White, middle-aged, and older men, with high levels of education and religious affiliation (Chui & Cheng, 2013;Denney & Tewksbury, 2013;Mills & Meek, 2016;Tewksbury & Collins, 2005;Tewksbury & Dabney, 2004). Furthermore, many volunteers tend to be motivated by a strong sense of religious belief and care for others, with a prominent motivation being that the volunteers believe that they have been called by God to their roles (Tewksbury & Collins, 2005).…”

Attitudes of employees toward offenders sentenced to community service

“…Određen broj autora, pristalica takozvane kontakt-hipoteze, smatra da se redukcija predrasuda prema drugim narodima ili marginalizovanim grupama najefikasnije rešava kontaktom (Harvey, White, Hood & Sherif, 1961). Pretpostavlja se da se čestim direktnim kontaktima sa grupama koje su predmet socijalne distance smanjuju socijalne predrasude i socijalna distanca (Chui & Cheng, 2013).…”