This article employs a boundary work framework to analyze how volunteers from two nonprofit human services organizations navigated the tensions between volunteerism and professionalism. Based on interview data and analysis of organizational documents, the study found that volunteers at the first organization, fundraisers for child health promotion and parent education, dichotomized volunteerism and professionalism as incompatible social systems with divergent objectives, practices, and tools. Volunteers at the second organization, which provides emergency ambulance services, engaged in constant boundary crossing, oscillating between a volunteer and professional approach to tasks and relationships depending on the context. In both cases, paid staff and members of the public affected participants’ ability to engage in boundary work. The study offers insights for nonprofit organizations wishing to professionalize their volunteer workforce by specifying how volunteer job types, organizational structure, and interactional partners’ feedback impact volunteers’ ability to engage in boundary crossing, passing, and boundary spanning.

中文翻译：

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作为边界工人的志愿者：在非营利组织中协商志愿服务和专业之间的紧张关系

本文采用边界工作框架来分析来自两个非营利性人类服务组织的志愿者如何应对志愿服务和专业服务之间的紧张关系。根据访谈数据和对组织文件的分析，该研究发现，第一个组织的志愿者、儿童健康促进和家长教育的筹款人将志愿服务和专业精神二分法作为具有不同目标、实践和工具的互不相容的社会系统。第二个组织的志愿者，提供紧急救护车服务，不断跨越边界，根据情况在志愿者和专业方法之间摇摆不定。在这两种情况下，受薪工作人员和公众都会影响参与者从事边界工作的能力。