Curry Nigel, Fisher Rhiannon
Countryside and Community Research Institute, Oxstalls Campus, Oxstalls Lane, Gloucester, GL2 9HW UK.
University of the West of England, Bristol, UK.
Eur J Ageing. 2013 Apr 18;10(4):325-333. doi: 10.1007/s10433-013-0277-5. eCollection 2013 Dec.
Government exhortations for full community involvement in their locales in England and Wales have particular significance for rural elders as the literature suggests that they are amongst the most active in this sphere. But different people have different propensities to 'join in'. A taxonomy of different degrees of involvement in community is derived: antagonising, absenting, being, belonging, bestowing and communing. Being, belonging and bestowing are explored empirically, because they are the elements of principal concern to policy, making use of surveys of rural elders in six locations in England and Wales. A minority of respondents undertook bestowing activity (actively assisting others or taking part in voluntary activity) but most felt there were benefits from being (just living in a place) or belonging (having an identity with place) to a community. Of those who did not join in, most claimed that this was because they did not want to. Education and qualifications had the strongest association with 'joining in', although income and wealth per se had little impact. Two lessons for government community policy are important. First, many older people do not wish to 'join in', and second, the variables that tended to be associated with participation may not be that easy to influence through community policy.
英国政府鼓励英格兰和威尔士各地社区充分参与，这对农村老年人具有特殊意义，因为文献表明他们是该领域最活跃的群体之一。但不同的人“参与”的倾向不同。由此得出了一个关于社区参与程度的分类：对抗、缺席、存在、归属、奉献和交流。对存在、归属和奉献进行了实证研究，因为它们是政策主要关注的要素，研究利用了对英格兰和威尔士六个地区农村老年人的调查。少数受访者参与了奉献活动（积极帮助他人或参加志愿活动），但大多数人认为作为社区的一员（仅仅生活在一个地方）或归属（与某个地方有认同感）是有益的。在那些没有参与的人中，大多数人声称这是因为他们不想参与。教育程度和资格与“参与”的关联最为紧密，尽管收入和财富本身影响不大。政府社区政策有两条重要经验教训。第一，许多老年人不想“参与”；第二，与参与相关的变量可能不太容易通过社区政策来影响。
