The Role of Voluntary Association Membership on Rural Community Residents' Awareness of Community Issues

A model was developed to explore the relationship between the personal characteristics of rural community residents, their social involvement, and their social awareness. Specific personal characteristic variables were educational level, gender, gross family income, and marital status. Social involvement variables were personal impact of farm financial strain, knowledge of a financially strained farm operator, and number of voluntary association memberships. Of the 527 rural community residents surveyed, 12.3% were not involved in any voluntary association, and 41% were members of only one voluntary association. Personal characteristic variables weighed heavily in determining the total number of voluntary association memberships. Education and gross family income were significantly related to the total number of voluntary association memberships, while gender and marital status were not significantly related. Of greatest importance in determining awareness of social issues was the degree to which the farm crisis had an impact on the residents personally. Based on this study, community change agents need to consider the use of relationship networks when attempting to disseminate information and advance social change. Change agents must also take into account the fact that persons with less education or with lower gross family incomes will be less likely to hold voluntary association memberships. (JHZ)