Families of Rural Volunteer Firefighters
Sean Cowlishaw
School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora VIC
Lynette Evans
School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora VIC
Jim McLennan
Manager of the Bushfire CRC, School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora VIC
PP: 17
Abstract
The protection of Australian rural communities from fire and other emergencies is provided mostly by volunteers. However, many fire agencies are facing concerns over falling volunteer numbers and are increasingly looking at factors potentially impacting on volunteering. Evidence suggests that family issues play a role in many volunteer resignations and could be contributing to declining volunteer numbers.
Despite this, there is little research available on the families of rural volunteer firefighters and agencies have little evidence to inform strategies for supporting the families of their volunteers. In a preliminary effort to address this lack of knowledge, this review summarises the small amount of research available on rural families in general, and then volunteer firefighter families in particular.
It then introduces a potentially useful model of Work-Family Conflict, which suggests that time- and strain-based pressures may be important sources of difficulty for spouses and partners balancing volunteer firefighter and family roles.
This review concludes by summarising directions for future research that are important, if volunteer-based rural fire agencies are to develop policies to better support the families of their volunteers.
Keywords
Family, rural, volunteers, firefighting, emergency services, work-family conflict (WFC)
References
Allen TD, Herst DE, Bruck CS and Sutton M (2000) Consequences associated with work-to-family conflict: A review and agenda for future research. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 5: 278-308.
Alston M (1995) Women on the Land: The Hidden Heart of Rural Australia. Kensington, NSW: University of New South Wales Press.
Alston M (1998) Farm women and their work: Why is it not recognised? Journal of Sociology 4: 323-334.
Alston M (2006) I’d like to just walk out of here: Australian women’s experience of drought. Sociologia Ruralis 46: 154-170.
Andrews G, Hall W, Teeson M and Henderson S (1999) The National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing: The Mental Health of Australians. Canberra: Mental Health Branch, Department of Health and Aged Care.
Beatson R and McLennan J (2005) Australia’s women volunteer fire fighters: A literature review and research agenda. Australian Journal on Volunteering 10: 18-27.
Best CJ, Cummins RA and Lo SK (2000) The quality of rural and metropolitan life. Australian Journal of Psychology 52: 69-74.
Birch A and McLennan J (2006) NSW Grain Belt Community Survey 2005: Evaluating the Community’s Understanding about the NSW Rural Fire Service. Melbourne: Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre, School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University.
Bureau of Transport Economics (2001) Economic Cost of Natural Disasters in Australia (Report No 103). Canberra: Bureau of Transport Economics.
Carlson DS, Kacmar KM and Williams LJ (2000) Construction and initial validation of a multidimensional measure of work-family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior 56: 249-276.
CFA Corporate (1998) Focus Group Report: Volunteer Development Project. East Burwood VIC: CFA Corporate.
Corneil W, Beaton R, Murphy S, Johnson C and Pike K (1999) Exposure to traumatic incidents and prevalence of posttraumatic stress symptoms in urban firefighters in two countries. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 4: 131-141.
Cowlishaw S (2007a) The Families of CFA Volunteer Firefighters: An Agency Staff Perspective. Melbourne: Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre, School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University.
Cowlisahw S (2007b) [Interviews with CFA volunteer managers]. Unpublished raw data.
Di’Intino R (2006) Volunteer Firefighter Recruitment and Retention in Rural Pennsylvania. Harriburg, PA: The Center for Rural Pennsylvania.
Edwards JR and Rothbard NP (2000) Mechanisms linking work and family: Clarifying the relationship between work and family constructs. Academy of Management Review 25: 178-199.
Ellis S, Kanowski P and Whelan R (2004) National Inquiry on Bushfire Mitigation and Management. Canberra: Department of Transport and Regional Services.
Fitzgerald M, Pearson A and McCutcheon H (2001) Impacts of rural living on the experience of chronic illness. Australian Journal of Rural Health 9: 235-240.
Frazer C, Jackson H, Judd F, Komiti A, Robins G, Murray G et al (2005) Changing places: The impact of rural restructuring on mental health in Australia. Health and Place 11: 157-171.
Frone MR (2000) Work-family conflict and employee psychiatric disorders: The national comorbidity survey. Journal of Applied Psychology 85: 888-895.
Goff SJ, Mount MK and Jamison RL (1990) Employer supported child care, work/family conflict, and absenteeism: A field study. Personnel Psychology 43: 793-809.
Greenhaus JH and Beutell NJ (1985) Sources of conflict between work and family roles. Academy of Management Review 10: 76-88.
Guidotti T and Clough V (1992) Occupational health concerns of firefighting. Annual Review of Public Health 13: 151-171.
Hallebone EL, Townsend MA and Maloney ME (2000) Globalising policy changes: Social impacts in two Australian towns. Journal of Family Studies 6: 214-230.
Halpern DF (2005) Psychology at the intersection of work and family: Recommendations for employers, working families, and policymakers. American Psychologist 60: 397-409.
Haslam C and Mallon K (2003) A preliminary investigation of post-traumatic stress symptoms among firefighters. Work and Stress 17: 277-285.
Hayward R and Tuckey MR (2007) Well-being in volunteer fire-fighters: Moving beyond critical incidents to examine the role of emotional demands and resources, in particular camaraderie. In Dollard M, Winefield T, Tuckey M and Winwood P (eds) Proceedings of the 7th Industrial and Organisational Psychology Conference, pp.129-133. Adelaide: Australian Psychological Society.
Hepburn CG and Barling J (1996) Eldercare responsibilities, interrole conflict, and employee absence: A daily study. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 1: 311-318.
Judd FK and Humphreys JS (2001) Mental health issues for rural and remote Australia. Australian Journal of Rural Health 9: 254-258.
Kossek EY and Nichol V (1992) The effects of on-site child care on employee attitudes and performance. Personnel Psychology 45: 485-509.
Lyons M and Passey A (2005) Australians Giving and Volunteering 2004. Canberra: Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.
Major VS, Klein KJ and Ehrhart MG (2002) Work time, work interference with family, and psychological distress. Journal of Applied Psychology 87: 427-436.
McKenzie H (1994) Population decline in non-metropolitan Australia: Impacts and policy implications. Urban Policy and Research 12: 253-240.
McLennan J (2004) Volunteer Data Base Collection and Management for Strategic Planning and Policy Development: A Comparison Across Fire Services. Melbourne: Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre, School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University.
McLennan J (2006) Survey of New Volunteers at Six Months: April-September 2005 Entry Cohorts. Melbourne: Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre, School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University.
McLennan J and Birch A (2005) A potential crisis in wildfire emergency response capability? Australia’s volunteer firefighters. Environmental Hazards 6: 101-107.
McLennan J and Birch A (2006a) The Relative Contribution of Volunteer Firefighters to the Australian Economy. Melbourne: Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre, School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University.
McLennan J and Birch A (2006b) Survey of South Australian Country Fire Service Volunteers. Melbourne: Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre, School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University.
McLennan J and Birch A (2007) Why would you do it? Age and motivation to become a fire service volunteer. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Moran CC and Colless E (1995) Perceptions of work stress in Australian firefighters. Work and Stress 9: 405-415.
Morrissey SA and Reser JP (2007) Natural disasters, climate change and mental health considerations for rural Australia. Australian Journal of Rural Health 15: 120-125.
Murphy SA, Beaton RD, Pike KC and Johnson LC (1999) Occupational stressors, stress responses, and alcohol consumption among professional firefighters: A prospective, longitudinal analysis. International Journal of Stress Management 6: 179-196.
Netemeyer RG, Boles JS and McMurrian R (1996) Development and validation of work-family conflict and family-work conflict scales. Journal of Applied Psychology 81: 400-410.
New Zealand Fire Service Commission (2001) Developing a Strategy to Nurture, Enhance, and Expand the Volunteer Fire Brigade (Report No 23). Wellington: UMR Research.
Regehr C (2005) Bringing the trauma home: Spouses of paramedics. Journal of Loss and Trauma 10: 97-114.
Regehr C, Dimitropoulos G, Bright E, George S and Henderson J (2005) Behind the brotherhood: Rewards and challenges for wives of firefighters. Family Relations 54: 423-435.
Regehr C, Goldberg G and Hughes J (2002) Exposure to human tragedy, empathy, and trauma in ambulance paramedics. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 72: 505-513.
Repetti RL (1992) Social withdrawal as a short-term coping response to daily stressors. In Friedman H (eds) Hostility, Coping and Health, pp.151-165. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Rothbard NP and Edwards JR (2003) Investment in work and family roles: A test of identity and utilitarian motives. Personnel Psychology 56: 699-730.
Sarantakos S (2000) Quality of family life on the farm. Journal of Family Studies 6: 182-198.
Schultheiss DE (2006) The interface of work and family life. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 37: 334-341.
Sharma S and Rees S (2007) Consideration of the determinants of women’s mental health in remote Australian mining towns. Australian Journal of Rural Health 15: 1-7.
Stehlik D (2003) Australian drought as lived experience: Social and community impacts. In Botterill LC and Fisher M (eds) Beyond Drought: People, Policy and Perspectives, pp.87-108. Collingwood, VIC: CSIRO Publishing.
Stehlik D, Lawrence G and Gray L (2000) Gender and drought: Experiences of Australian women in the drought of the 1990s. Disasters 24: 38-53.
Strazdins L, Clements MS, Korda RJ, Broom DH and D’Souza RM (2006) Unsociable work? Non-standard work schedules, family relationships, and children’s well-being. Journal of Marriage and Family 68: 394-410.
Thoits PA (1991) On merging identity theory and stress research. Social Psychology Quarterly 54: 101-112.
Thompson B, Kirk-Brown A and Brown D (2001) Women police: The impact of work stress on family members. In Hancock PA and Desmond PA (eds) Stress, Workload and Fatigue, pp.200-210. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Vinokur AD, Price RH and Caplan RD (1996) Hard times and hurtful partners: How financial strain affects depression and relationship satisfaction of unemployed persons and their spouses. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 71: 166-179.
Westman M and Piotrkowski C (1999) Introduction to the special issues: Work-family research in occupational psychology. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 4, 301-306.
Willis M (2005) Bushfires – How can we avoid the unavoidable? Environmental Hazards 6: 93-9.
Woodward A and Kallman J (2001) Why volunteers leave: Volunteer exit survey in the emergency services. Australian Journal on Volunteering 6: 91-98.
eContent Home
