Volunteering with People with Disabilities in the Context of Two Systems: NGOs and the State System of Closed Institutions in St. Petersburg

An interesting point is the trajectory along which only one informant followed, it mixes with the first one. The volunteer of this trajectory was a carrier of stereotypes about living in PNRI. Frankly speaking, the researcher was not able to distinguish the clear boundaries of this stereotype, however, as far as is known, stereotypes and problems about it initially appeared in the family of an informant in which its members experienced an emotionally difficult story (the researcher decided not to disclose the details of this story). Such an informant specifically chose this particular type of activity in order to dispel within herself the prejudices against those people living in the PNRI, resolve the internal conflict, come into contact with the system from the inside and see personalities in disabled people. This path is represented by only one informant. However, even other informants were carriers of some prejudices before joining the volunteer community.

3.1.2 Meeting with a charitable organization, the formation of a volunteer

Based on the results of the collected empirical data, the analysis showed that informants have points of rethinking (sense-changing points) throughout their path. They are not related to the time period or to the experience gained, such points represent short-term and long-term events that become triggers for sense-making. In this part of the chapter, these sense-making points reflecting the understanding of informants will be discussed and presented.

A volunteer gets to know a charitable organization before joining it. The image of the organization is pre-built through a search on the Internet, through friends, advertising, as well as publications in the media. The Internet is becoming the most common way to obtain information about NGOs; volunteers are looking for not a specific organization or even specific volunteering with children. Basically, they are in search of a way by which they can volunteer despite the characteristics of the care-receiver: “I didn't choose specifically to work with children, I chose volunteering” (№. 4, female, social curator) “Я не выбрала именно с детьми работать, я выбрала волонтёрство” .

Informants note the ease of joining a charitable organization, i.e. a quick interview process, ease of communication with staff and the absence of a burden of formalities and bureaucratic operations: “I do not mean the situation in the team, but rather the simplicity of the procedure, because, as far as I understood, not all charitable organizations are ready to take someone new. Very often this is either a multi-stage interview.” (№ 1, female, weekend volunteer) “Я имею в виду не обстановка в коллективе, а простоту процедуры скорее, потому что насколько я поняла далеко не все благотворительные организации готовы так просто кого-то нового взять. Очень часто это либо многоэтапные какие-то собеседования.” . Previous work experience in charitable organizations simplifies joining volunteers, but informants without any practice do not experience difficulties at the first stages of their activity. Internal contradictions and problems arise after meeting with the ward.

At the initial stage of meeting with NGO, the first formation of impressions of the volunteer takes place. Immersed in a new environment, about which he had no expectations and ideas, the volunteer tries to read the prompts from the very first acquaintance with the NGO - from a meeting and a personal meeting with an NGO's employee (something like an interview, but informal).

At the first volunteer meeting, one of the workers invites future volunteers and talks about the organization and its activities, main directions, shows an inspiring video about the lives of volunteers and wards. At the first meeting, the employee broadcasts an image of a “true volunteer”- a person who has considerable empathy, compassion, who is emotionally deeply involved in activities. Happy volunteers are shown with their wards who have been involved in this activity for several years. With the help of this image, the volunteer builds his further work and relationships with colleagues in line with these social tips of a “true volunteer”, understands which actions from him/her are socially acceptable and which are not. Moreover, the meeting strategy is to draw an image of the people with disabilities, with whom the volunteer will have to work directly. Such a person mainly needs love, care, understanding and warmth. This marks the most important function of a weekend volunteer, which consists in becoming a friend for the ward and communicating with him/her on an equal footing. At the second stage, a potential volunteer enters the community through a personal, informal meeting with the program manager, in which they talk about the seriousness of volunteer activities. The purpose of this meeting is that the supervisor personally calls a volunteer outside the office to make sure that the volunteer has serious intentions and shows that the volunteer activity is “... not entertainment to go there.” (№ 3, female, social curator) “...не развлечение туда ходить.” . At the meeting, photoshoots of the wards are shown, namely, the emphasis is placed on the fact that they are in a difficult physical and psychological state, so that the volunteer does not deceive himself in expectations and makes an thoughtful decision, and rethink it once again. This selection stage is also interesting because the supervisor sometimes selects a specific ward, which corresponds to the personality and needs of the volunteer. Around such selection, in volunteer circles, there is a belief that the supervisor is never mistaken in the selection of the ward, that the volunteer and the ward are related to each other in temperament and “emotional connection”, which the supervisor compares.

At all stages of the sense-making, the worldview of the group of volunteers and social curators corresponds to the way of thinking of the authority of supervisor and the closest people, who in the eyes of the volunteer possesses inner “strength” and “heroism”. Such figures, who, in essence, are the main supporting corps, as they “truly burn with their work”. Thus, the ideological nature of the work of volunteers and curators is built around authoritative individuals in the organization.

As usual, the volunteer prepares for the first meeting with the ward informally: the volunteer is given time after the personal meeting with the supervisor to reflect more deeply on this issue and “cool off from the first hot outbursts heroism” (field diary, conversation with volunteers) “подостыть от первых горячих порывов героизма” . Unfortunately, the researcher has no information about the path that people who refuse such volunteering in the early stages take. People who nevertheless gave their consent, also after a short time encounter a new point of reflection - a meeting with the ward.

3.1.3 The first meetings with the ward and internal contradictions

The next stage, at which the volunteer makes sense of his/her activity and own role in it, is the first meeting with the ward in a psycho-neurological residential institution (PNRI). The first few meetings first take place under the mentorship of a volunteer coordinator or social curator, who introduces the volunteer to the internal organization of the PNRI, demonstrates how to interact with the ward, and shares personal experience. Information transfer occurs verbally and unstructured. The volunteer can only ask questions, listen carefully and repeat. At this stage, some volunteers felt discomfort and confusion in this situation, associated primarily with a sense of incompetence. Moreover, the volunteers do not know at all how to behave in the new team, sometimes s/he feels on the margin of community, as there are sometimes jokes, calls to unfamiliar names and situations. In some narratives, volunteers indicated that the “older”, more experienced volunteers were extremely keen on stories about their activities and descriptions of the wards, who forgot to pay attention to the personality of the volunteer. Despite this, more experienced volunteers always offer help to the newcomers, both in solving a specific problem and in emotional support.

With regard to the experience of the researcher himself, it is worth noting the sensations that caused the first meeting with the ward. The researcher was not able to understand the “warlike” mood of her mentors: “... the feeling was that we were going to some kind of spying, and roughly speaking, battle. Just a battle for what? It seemed to me, even from the very first meeting, that they were imposing their point of view on the attitude towards staff in PNRI. We came to the ward or came roughly speaking to fight?” (№ 1, field diary) “... ощущения были, что мы идем на какой-то шпионаж, и грубо говоря на битву. Только битву за что? Мне показалось, даже с самого первого собрания, что мне навязывают свою точку зрения по поводу отношения к сотрудникам в ПНИ. Мы пришли к подопечному или пришли грубо говоря сражаться?” . As further analysis of the interviews and volunteers' behavior showed, a charitable organization, in particular, more experienced volunteers and social curators literally “fight” with the PNRI system, they are directly tuned to improve the life of the wards through endless conflicts with the administration and staff of PNRI.

The choice of the ward takes place either at a personal meeting with the supervisor or at the first visit to the PNRI. Almost every volunteer has a special meaning about such a choice. The general tendency of narratives is as follows: choice endowed with sense that explains feelings and “emotional connection”. Explaining in more detail, the volunteer determines his ward through the emergence of a spiritual connection, some predestination of the meeting. For example, one of the volunteers says: “Already after I left these five guys (wards on the firsts meeting), I knew for sure that I would be with her. For some reason, the internal response was to this girl” (№ 7, female, weekend volunteer) “Уже после того, как я покинула этих пятерых ребят, я точно знала что я буду именно с ней. Внутренний отклик был именно почему-то на эту девочку”; Social curator speaks in the same manner: “I do not know how it happened. But this is at the level of feelings, instincts, I do not know. How exactly it was to her that my soul became very attached.” (№ 4, female, social curator). Volunteers thus rationalize their choice with an emotional connection, even as opposed to objective reasons. For example, such as not a desire and internal fear to work with wards with more physical disabilities.

During the working process, the volunteer constructs for himself an image of a “real volunteer”. The most important for this formation is the presence of empathy: “The ability to put oneself in the place of another person” (№ 12, male, weekend volunteer) “умение ставить себя на место другого человека” , words of another volunteer: «It seems to me that this is some kind of inner fullness. There must be some kindness.” (№7, F, weekend volunteer) “Мне кажется, что это какая-то внутренняя наполненность. Доброта какая-то должна быть”. . This narrative is equally reproduced among all informants, however, informants who regard their activities as work are still not so much immersed in the sphere of feelings and emotional worries: “I treat this as work, nothing more. Maybe I just put the barrier so that everything is work. After all, if all this is to plunge very much, it seems to me personally that it's possible to go nuts.” (№ 5, male, social curator) “Я к этому отношусь как к работе, не более чем. Может быть я просто так барьер поставил такой, что с работой всё. Ведь если бы это всё очень сильно окунуться, вот лично мне кажется, можно реально кукухой поехать.” . It is important to note that the goal of the volunteers is one and the same - to help seriously disabled children, but the vision of the ways to achieve this goal is different. Due to the ways, the concept of a “true volunteer” or a “true social curator” does not change - all informants are focused on the emotional-sensual sphere. It is interesting to note that volunteers who consider themselves to be bad and irresponsible note topic that a "volunteer must be born", and also that volunteering is impossible without solving their personal problems and have confidence in the future (both emotional and financial). Moreover, several informants - volunteers indicate that the volunteer should not talk too much about own “good activity”, but also not be a hero and a sacrificial person. This echoes the fact that all informants try to monitor their internal state and reflect not to burn out. Informants note that NGOs actively support their colleges to prevent burnout: personal communication, supervision, and consultations with an out-of-NGO psychologist help.

To form a complete picture of understanding meaning the volunteer own activity, it is necessary to trace the interaction of the volunteer with the ward, who residents in the PNRI. In narratives, was distinguished main characteristics and features of a person with disabilities, which is constructed identically by both volunteers and social curators. Basically, wards and people with disabilities in general are determined through defects and pathological characteristics. However, this does not mean that informants think through the prism of a medical model for constructing a disease, they only focus on the state of the ward, since it directly affects the methods of interaction. So, the ward can be non-speaking and lying (for Russian is `lezhachii') in a wheelchair, thus with which the activity and ways of building communication change. Opposite the medical model, informants try to see in the ward a person who has the same needs, rights and try to work on an internal sense of fear and hostility considering seriously disabled ward's appearance. The informants in their work with the ward are guided primarily by the principles of “equal communication” and “transfer of spiritual warmth”. These principles are well illustrated by passage from several interviews: “You see, on the basis of some kind of internal warmth, I try to give it exactly ... it's hard to describe it ... internal warmth, I try to give my ward on a physical basis.” (№ 2, male, weekend volunteer) “Понимаешь, на основе какого-то такого внутреннего тепла, я стараюсь подарить именно... тяжело это описать... внутреннее тепло, я стараюсь на физическое основе подарить своему подопечному.” . Another illustration: “Considering communication with guys (wards) is how I communicate in society, as if I communicated with a normotypic person.” (№ 8, male, social curator) “В общение -- это как я общаюсь с социуме, как если бы я общался с нормотипичным человеком, так же я общаюсь и с ребятами.”. The social model of constructing the disease clearly prevails in narratives, as informants try to fill the need of the wards for care, warmth and love, which cannot be given in the PNRI. All volunteer informants and some curators stand by the point of view that for full and effective work with wards there is no need to acquire any in-depth knowledge and skills, for example, medical or juridical.

It is interesting to note what desirable explanations that volunteers build around the problem of the severe physical and mental state of their wards. Firstly, informant volunteers are not deeply involved in the work of the PNRI system as deeply as social curators, i.e. they are more focused on personal communicating with the ward face-to-face, practically not touching on any structural problems and conflict situations between NGOs and PNRI. In this regard, they are more loyal to the residential system than the curators, explaining the state of wards due to the “imperfection” of the state system, and not the staff who are in it (nanny, nurses, administration, doctors). Staff are only victims of the system. Secondly, volunteers explain the condition of the children living in the PNRI without imposing blame on the staff or the system. As a prior explanation, they are more likely to take some kind of initially difficult condition of the wards, which exists by itself, it can be said by default. Thirdly, without sources and preliminary knowledge in the field of working with people with severe disabilities, the volunteer has to collect information from colleagues and rare trainings. The given knowledge from those sources volunteers translate in the narrative. According to the observations of the researcher at the trainings and meetings, it is not represented or imposed as the initial idea that the residential system and the people in it are to blame. Thus, the volunteer is constructing the process of the desired explanation of the new and sometimes frightening environment that they encounter in everyday volunteer practice.

3.1.4 Ambivalent positions and difficulties in the activities of the volunteer

From the collected interviews, several problems and difficulties experienced by volunteers can be distinguished. Weekend volunteers experience isolation - i.e. volunteers are not physically and emotionally close to the main office and colleges. Volunteers are spread to the different PNRI and mostly without any intersecting with colleagues at all. From the researcher's experience, she lived out this isolation from the team and the loss of identification as a volunteer. On the one hand, at any time there is an ability to write to colleagues and ask for help to get support online. On the other hand, one has to face difficulties alone, without even observing colleagues closely, being left alone with the PNRI's staff and the ward. As a result, volunteers do not have a direct opportunity to be seen as a person and to show results of s/his work, motivation gradually decreases and the “volunteer illness” begins. “Volunteer illness” - these words informants denoted as a “disease” in which visits to the ward are postponed and there are more and more excuses for putting it off for another time. Some informants noted a decrease in significance of their work and loss of motivation against the background of isolation and lack of involvement in the team. For some informants, this becomes a sense-shaped factor for volunteering: “This is just not a stick in their organization, but this should be brought to the attention of volunteers. That this is friendship, that this is a team, that this attitude, this love is not primarily for the guys (wards) we work with, primarily “We”, for ourselves, for us.” (№ 13, male, weekend volunteer) “Это вот именно не палка в их организацию, а это вот надо доводить до волонтеров. Что это дружба, что это коллектив, что это отношение, это любовь в первую очередь не к ребятам, с которыми мы работаем , в первую очередь “мы”, к самому себе, к нам.” . Moreover, weak control from coordinators and supervisors and low responsibility assigned lead to the negative consequences too. Complete informality also entails a “volunteer illness”. An illustration is an passage from an interview: “Yes, this is so, when you decide to take a step, in particular, to become a volunteer, it seemed to me that my load as a volunteer will be much greater. And it will ... Well, I will not call this progress, but there will be something that will give me understanding, some kind of self-identification, that here I am a volunteer, here I am doing this, I am immersed in it. For 5 months, this did not appear for me, unfortunately.” (№ 1, female, weekend volunteer) “Да, это так, когда ты решаешься на какой-то шаг, чтобы в частности стать волонтером, то кажется, что скажем так нагрузка твоя будет, мне казалось, что моя нагрузка как волонтера будет значительно больше. И будет... Ну не назову этот прогрессом, но будет что-то такое, что будет давать мне понимание, какую-то самоидентификацию, что вот я волонтер, вот я делаю то, я в это погружена. Вот за 5 месяцев у меня это не появилось, к сожалению.” .

Most of the volunteers also emphasize lack of learning and instructed forms. It is worth describing this point in more detail. The charitable organization provides training for volunteers, curators and other workers which are not mandatory, but the supervisor insists on it, especially for beginners. Such trainings are held at different times during the work of volunteers: some started volunteering more recently, while others have much more experience. The main disadvantage of such trainings is that they do not take place at the preparatory stage. This is justified by an objective reason: the recruitment of volunteers is carried out throughout the year, there are no separate selections. In this regard, the volunteer is forced to seek relevant experiences of others from colleagues and sometimes the Internet. Thus, the information is transmitted defectively and in chaotic way. Because of this, difficulties arise in communication with the ward, the solution of which takes a long time. The long time-spending nature of such a problem serves as a catalyst for the loss of the importance of volunteerism. For example, one of the volunteers says: “Well, so that I get some picture right at the entrance and understanding - this is not there. But so far I don't know many things.” (№6, female, weekend volunteer). Ну прямо, чтобы я какую-то картину получила сразу на входе и понимала - такого нет. Но до сих пор я многих вещей не знаю.” Social curators in the same manner note confusion in information that is transmitted informally and scattered. This forces them to learn from their own experience and make decisions on their own: “I was told to contact another curator, when I started talking with her, I realized that she somehow also couldn't say anything specifically. I'm so “okay.” I will do what I consider necessary. That's all” (№ 5, male, social curator) “Мне сказали обратиться к другому куратору, когда я с ней начал общаться, то я понял, что она как-то тоже конкретно ничего сказать не может. Я такой “ну ладно”. Буду делать то, что считаю нужным. Просто и всё.” .

Some volunteers who do not perceive isolation from the team as a problem, point to a moral internal contradiction. Some do not understand the acute reaction of the positive or negative events of the most active colleagues in the general WhatsApp chat of volunteers and at training meetings, because the main goal of some volunteers is only to communicate with the wards in order to feel their own importance, to feel that life is not in vain. Such volunteers do not go beyond the framework of their personal communication with the ward, all their attention is directed to monitoring their own internal state, they are not interested in being involved in the volunteer team. They are internally detached from any structural or organizational problems. Such volunteers admitted that they have to reproduce the “spectator” activity again and again in front of more experienced colleagues, that is, to express great concern about the living conditions of the wards, pretend to others that they are equally interested in their fate. Moreover, some volunteers demonstrated fictive “tenderness” and “lisp” (for Russian is `syusyukan'ye') to the wards. Such behavior is justified by the fact that in the circle of his colleagues, the volunteer cannot but express concernment and empathy, as others can condemn such a volunteer. In all narratives, empathy came to the fore as the most important feature in formation volunteer/social curator and as a principle that is always evaluated by colleagues.

3.2 Transition from volunteer to social curator, moments of rethinking

After the experience gained from weekend volunteering, a person can follow the trajectory of a social curator. Such transit from a volunteer to a paid curator takes place according to several trajectories in accordance with the information from the collected interviews. In the work of the curator, important events take place that become a point of change the sense of their activities. The social curator, according to informants, is a person who monitors the observance of the rights and freedoms of the ward in a closed-type institution system. The circle of duties and responsibilities of a social curator is much wider than that of a volunteer.

As the analysis of narratives showed, it is worth separating the institution of social curatorship from the volunteer one, since social curators have some feeling of community with each other and with other colleges of the charitable organization. On the contrary, volunteers in most cases mark themselves “isolated” from the main actors of NGOs and their activity as whole. This makes them different social groups.

Trajectories of transition. All social curators went through the experience of weekend volunteering. The informants from the collected interviews justify their transition to social curating in several ways. First, the involvement in the activity became so strong that volunteers began to spend a lot of time on it, spending more and more time in PNRI with wards and joining a team of a charity organization that they began to be offered a job as a social curator to be more fixed to activity. Sometimes volunteers believe that they do not give enough to their wards, that they do not receive the satisfaction they need for helping others, as a result they satisfy with getting position of curator. With a social curator job, volunteers will be able to go about their activity with wages and social guarantees. Second trajectory, for some informants, becoming a social curator is justified by the fact that in this NGO one can get enormous work experience without having any previous experience, that the barrier to enter is very easy. That is, curation in a charitable organization can act as a transit point for career advancement. The third transition trajectory is due to the search for suitable employment, which will not only bring salaries and social guarantees, but also internal satisfaction and self-worth. The third trajectory is the most common.

The social curator essentially includes all the usual functions of a volunteer, with some additional obligations and responsibilities, partial compensation for travel, and wages, which the informants describe as low and not competitive on the job market. It is worth describing the ambivalent positions that curators face in their work - this is a wide range of responsibilities that are not fixed either institutionally or formally according to the job description: "No one knows. In general, ask everyone, everyone will answer in different ways.” (№3, female, social curator) “Никто не знает. В общем, у всех спроси, все по-разному ответят.” , and “But that is a big question. The question is because the social curators themselves do not fully understand what they are doing. There is a big problem.” (№ 5, male, social curator) “Но это большой вопрос. Вопрос, потому что сами соц. кураторы не до конца многие понимают, чем они занимаются. Есть в этом большая проблема.” . Based on the narratives, one can summarize the main task of social curators - monitoring living conditions and observing the rights of the ward in PNRI, reporting on the state of the ward in a non-profit organization, accompanying him in various fields throughout his life (treatment, collecting documentation, improving living conditions in PNRI etc.)

3.2.1 Discoveries as triggers in sense-making

Conclusion

Summarizing all of the above, firstly, after the analysis, we can get an idea of how a volunteer is formed in the process of its activity. Secondly, points of sense-making (events) of the volunteer can be marked. Thirdly, it is possible to identify the conflicting positions that the volunteer experiences while working in a PNRI system and in a charity organization.

Volunteer formation takes place through its interaction with the social and cultural context of a charitable organization and PNRI, which is transmitted through informal communication of information (conversations of volunteers with more experienced members at an everyday level), conducting training sessions and interacting in volunteers chat in WhatsApp. All sources of information, as well as imitation of the behavior of more experienced volunteers and employees, form the image of a volunteer. The volunteer is immersed in the emotional-sensual sphere, in which the most important role is played by personal communication with the ward and an emotional connection with him. The manifestation of empathy for the ward is an obligatory for interaction. Volunteers are “enclosed in themselves”, i.e. they are enclosed in their internal state, which they constantly try to monitor and reflect. Moreover, for the most part, volunteers do not address structural and systemic problems, for example, those directly related to the quality of life of the ward or problems arising within the framework of the state system. Rather, they direct their physical and emotional resources only to communicating with the ward, considering this their fundamental function. In addition, the volunteer is not obligated to have any professional skills, for example, such as positioning and adaptation skills of wards, medical or legal aspects. The volunteer presents himself as a friend to the ward and interaction built on reproducing the knowledge obtained informally and at the trainings.

Touching upon ambivalent positions, the volunteer accepts and reproduces the norms and values of a charitable organization, but at the same time does not oppose the PNRI system as harshly as social curators do. Volunteer activity exists in isolation from all two systems, remaining in emotional and physical distance. There is only communication with the ward in the PNRI once a week and no connection with other problems and collectivity. Volunteer is also isolated from understanding the role of the state system in his/her activity. The volunteer has heard “stories about the abusive treatment of children (wards)” (field diary, record after visiting the ward, November 2019) “рассказы об ужасном обращении с ребятами (подопечными)” , which are then reproduced in the same way in all narratives and conversations. In fact, for a volunteer, the state system of closed institutions represents several nurses, who can sometimes be rude, and sometimes they can be pleasantly talked to.

Regarding the topic of social curatorship, we can conclude that is a sense-making point, which entails a series of discoveries for further understanding and shaping the image of the curator. The curators can be people of different ages, with any education and appearance - a charitable organization accepts all those who are interested in activities without imposing any restrictions. When moving from a volunteer to a curator, practical goals are usually pursued to consolidate oneself in the official labor market, however, this profession was chosen because of the search for a socially significant path in life. Moreover, the curators do not represent themselves in the role of a prestigious employee, pointing to low wages and irregular schedule, however the feeling prestige of the work is replaced by a sense of internal satisfaction in their own importance through closeness with the wards and colleagues.

For social curators in general, the sense-shaped factor is involvement in the team and rooted in the ideology of the charitable organization. This feeling of collectivity and ownership of the organization is not built around the material ways of collectivity, but around the feeling of closeness to the collective with common attitudes and values. Such values ??and attitudes of curators can be described in the word “fighter” against the system in the broadest sense. Thus, curators do not experience conflicting positions with respect to a particular system. They clearly define themselves on the side of a charitable organization.

In conclusion, in this study, no bright contradictory positions were found both among volunteers and social curators in adopting one of the systems. Conflicting positions arise most often on intraorganizational and sometimes moral and ethical issues.

Bibliography