Stakeholder Perceptions and Influence on Participation, Use of Services, and Collaboration in Community-Based Social Service Organizations Aimed at Children and Families

Purpose & Research Questions:

The report Innovations in the Field of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention: a Review of the Literature (2012) reveals that “Maximizing population- level change requires new understanding of how to construct and sustain effective state systems, local community collaboration, and robust community-based organizations.” My study fits into this emphasis on macro systems and social context in the promotion of family and child well-being. This study focuses on community-based organizations, which in addition to providing social services, promote community relationships and sharing of information about resources. In addition, this study is focused in a country in which such organizations are a relatively new phenomenon, providing unique insight into stakeholder perceptions as organizations develop in innovative ways. Specifically, this study explores:

1. How stakeholders perceive the benefits and limitations of community-based social service organizations.

2. What stakeholder understandings influence participation, use of services, and collaboration.

Methods:

Eighty-three in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia (pop. 1.3 million), among adults aged 19-68. Purposive sampling with specific criteria for choosing interview subjects was employed, culminating in the following breakdown of participants/stakeholders: 15 community-based organization leaders, 11 social service professionals, 10 recipients of services at community organizations, 25 volunteers with social service organizations, 20 non-volunteers, and 2 government officials. Through both direct and indirect prompts, the interviews elicited participants’ understandings and attitudes towards community-based organizations, social services, and social policy.

The analytic process uses methods of grounded theory.  The interviews were digitally recorded and then transcribed. They remain in Russian to preserve their integrity. Nvivo software was used to analyze the data in an iterative process of coding, writing memos, and analysis.

Results:

Stakeholder perceptions of benefits and limitations: All stakeholders EXCEPT non-volunteers pointed to flexibility in responding to needs, more humane interactions, and expertise in specific social problems as benefits of community-based organizations, while describing lack of resources and inability to change policy or structure as limitations. Non-volunteers were suspicious of these organizations in general, having had little experience with them and claiming that the government should provide all services, as was historically the case.

How stakeholder understandings influence participation, use of services, and collaboration: Organization leaders, service professionals, volunteers, recipients of service, and government administrators describe steadily developing cooperation among organizations and with the government, along with high levels of government control. All groups agree that the level of trust in community organizations is low, and perceive that this negatively influences community participation and use of services. However, they admit that use of government services is also avoided due to bureaucracy and lack of quality.

Implications:

Understanding stakeholder perceptions is critical for several reasons. Perceptions will serve to either enhance or hinder successful networking and collaboration of governmental, formal, and less formal organizations. In addition, strong attitudes toward state-delivered services versus community-based organization services influence take-up rates for both. This study also underlines critical lessons for cross-cultural practice, primarily the importance of understanding local perceptions when working alongside community organizations in service provision.