VOLUNTEER PARTICIPATION IN CONTEXT - MOTIVATIONS AND POLITICAL EFFICACY WITHIN 3 AIDS ORGANIZATIONS

Employed quantitative and qualitative data in a contextual examination of participation in three San Francisco-area HIV/AIDS organizations: an urban, gay community-based social change setting; an urban, broadly focused information/referral setting; and a suburban individual suppo rt setting. The settings attracted different kinds of volunteers and e ngaged them differently with the setting, each other, and community. I n quantitative analyses external political efficacy (belief in the res ponsiveness of sociopolitical systems to change efforts) significantly distinguished settings, but was best predicted by setting-moderated r elationships to scaled motivations. Qualitative data more clearly illu minated volunteers' motivations for participation, as well as complex embedded relationships between setting, motivations, attitudes about s ociopolitical participation and personal and community experience and identification. Together the findings underscore three unique but rela ted stories for the three AIDS organizations, and the value of context ual approaches to participation and empowerment.