Mutual Benefit Association Research Articles

Towards a ‘world-wide empire of the Gael’: nationalism, identity, and the Hibernian Australasian Catholic Benefit Society, 1912–22

AbstractIn the early twentieth century, Irish ethnic, benevolent and mutual benefit associations around the world became part of the transnational fight for Irish freedom, utilising large, widespread memberships to raise funds and lobby for Irish independence. In Australia and New Zealand the largest such group was the Hibernian Australasian Catholic Benefit Society (H.A.C.B.S.), which boasted some 41,000 members spread across almost 600 branches in 1920. The society's engagement with the home rule movement and the subsequent Irish Revolution provides a fascinating example of how the expansive spatial and intergenerational networks of Irish-Catholic benevolent associations were mobilised in full support of Irish self-determination, particularly after 1919. Members of the H.A.C.B.S. in Australia had to negotiate complex and sometimes competing identities and loyalties: to Ireland, Australia and the British Empire, and the evolution of these tensions reflects the variety and complexity of global Irish nationalism. Reflecting patterns observed elsewhere, within a context of increasing sectarian tensions, labour militancy and broad Catholic disillusionment with their political and economic place in Australasian society, the H.A.C.B.S. moved from devout imperial loyalty in 1916 to total support for a fully independent Irish republic by 1922.

Organizational Determinants of Political Involvement in Trade and Professional Membership Associations

AbstractTrade and business associations and professional membership societies like many other political interest groups in the United States advocate and lobby their interests in the policy arena. Yet, we lack the understanding of how organizational capabilities shape different forms of political engagement in trade and professional associations. Research on the political involvement of tax-exempt organizations has been focused on charitable nonprofits. Studying the elements that underlie political action strategies and tactics of trade and professional associations would expand our understanding of political engagement in the nonprofit sector. In our sample of occupational mutual benefit associations, both resource dependence and institutional factors such as board size, affiliated foundation, tax-exempt status, business classification, and membership type explained the likelihood of political strategies including advocacy, lobbying, grassroots activity, and having a political action committee (PAC). Organizational size characteristics such as budget, staff, and membership size mattered as well.

Risk Management in the Ambulatory Care Process in a Mutual Benefit Association Covering Work-Related Accidents and Diseases: Applying Modified Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) Methodology.

To assess the impact of different forms of use of failure mode and effect analysis methodology for risk prioritization in the ambulatory care process in a mutual benefit association covering work-related accidents and diseases. The study is based on a previously drafted and individually prioritized risk map by a multidisciplinary team made up of patient safety committee members from health care centers and clinics in a mutual benefit association covering work-related accidents and diseases. The professionals mainly carry out their work in the field of management (individual manager group (IMG)). A group formed by clinicians subsequently completed 2 prioritizations: one based on the individual opinions of each of the members (individual clinical group (ICG)) and another in a consensual way (consensual clinical group (CCG)) as recommended by failure mode and effect analysis methodology. The risk prioritization was compared in the 3 groups (IMG, ICG, and CCG). The risk prioritization by the IMG defines 7 extreme risks (risk prioritization ≥ 275). When the clinical group prioritizes them in an individual way (ICG), there is no extreme risk, whereas when it does so in a consensual way (CCG), there are 21 extreme risks. With respect to the coincidences of existing causes between the 3 groups, it is noted that the "risk of falls" is rated by both the clinical and the manager group but prioritized differently. On the other hand, the ICG and CCG coincide in that pressure on health care services can contribute to carrying out incomplete anamnesis. They also both consider that internal and external waiting lists and holiday periods can cause a delay in the starting of rehabilitation. The IMG and the CCG show similarity in the risk assessment of overprescribing medication and that multiple computer sessions are initiated. Finally, the IMG and the ICG coincide in the "lack of delivery of the medication leaflet". The point of view of the clinicians is important in the risk prioritization of the ambulatory health care process. The difference in the risk prioritization between the clinical group at individual level and after consensus is remarkable.

Becoming a Hybrid Organization: When Traditional Nonprofits Found New Ventures

IntroductionA growing number of traditional nonprofit organizations are embracing free enterprise by founding for-profit business ventures (e.g., Kerlin, 2006; Khieng and Dahles, 2015; Park and Kim, in press). As an example, the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a 150-year old nonprofit focused on empowering women by providing services such as affordable childcare, afterschool youth programs, job training, and crisis counseling. In recent years, however, numerous local associations of the YWCA have founded for-profit new ventures, including catering and food delivery services, cafes, hotels, resale stores, and even an e-commerce platform.A nonprofit's decision to found a business venture represents a type of entrepreneurship: the creation of organizations addressing societal problems through business methods. Social is attracting increasing attention, interest, and resources (e.g., Dees, 1998; Mair and Marti, 2006). Although it is not a new phenomenon, in the past decade an eruption of scholarly and practitioner-oriented work has been devoted to the topic, which reflects the exponential growth in the number of entrepreneurs and newly created ventures (e.g., Dacin, Dacin, and Tracey, 2011; Short, Moss, and Lumpkin, 2009). Moreover, funders of all types, from angel investors to philanthropic foundations to grant-giving government agencies, are providing an increasing amount of resources to entrepreneurs (Austin, Stevenson, and Wei-Skillern, 2006). Consumers have also begun to actively seek goods and services produced by ventures (Hibbert, Hogg, and Quinn, 2005).Despite the flourishing interest in entrepreneurship, scholars have been slow to examine nonprofit founded ventures (NFVs) as a unique organizational form. Instead, research has centered on stand-alone ventures, such as TOMS Shoes, which are founded as independent entities rather than by existing organizations (e.g., Estrin, Mickiewicz, and Stephan, 2013; Ruebottom, 2013). Other scholars have provided overviews of this trend in the nonprofit sector but have not examined the phenomenon empirically (e.g., Dees and Anderson, 2003). This represents an important omission in prior work because it cannot be assumed that findings and theory generated from studying independently founded ventures necessarily have a correspondence to ventures founded and managed within the boundaries of an existing nonprofit organization. Yet, by not examining NFVs as a discrete phenomenon, several questions remain unexamined. Specifically, it is not clear what motivates nonprofits to found these types of business ventures, how organizational characteristics influence venture success, and what characteristics of NFV managers are most critical to the NFV's long-term viability.To address these questions, this study utilized an exploratory, partially inductive research design based on semi-structured interviews with 33 nonprofit directors, NFV managers, and other ancillary participants in the sector (e.g., resource providers). The study reveals why and how nonprofits are turning to the creation of business ventures to further their aims. An increased understanding of this phenomenon represents a contribution not only to entrepreneurship, but to work at the intersection of and non-profit management.The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. First, a brief overview of and NFVs is provided, including a discussion of motives for each. Nonprofit trends that impact NFVs are presented, with particular emphasis on the growing market orientation of the nonprofit sector. The study's research design and method are then explained, and findings are presented. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications, limitations, and future research directions.Literature reviewSocial and nonprofit founded ventures (NFVs)Overview of entrepreneurshipSocial is a phenomenon that dates back to the community movements, mutual benefit associations, and cooperative enterprises of the early 19th century (Rispal and Boncler, 2010); however, the term social entrepreneurship was not coined until the mid-1970s and not popularized until the 1990s (e. …

Trade Associations and the Legitimation of Entrepreneurial Movements

Trade associations are an important topic of investigation for nonprofit and voluntary sector researchers because they serve civic purposes and help to support innovative areas of entrepreneurship. We examine how local trade associations in the emerging gourmet food truck industry help to reduce uncertainty and augment industry legitimacy by (a) representing collective interests when challenged by regulators and incumbents (e.g., restaurants), (b) generating collective identity and creating cultural capital, and (c) providing a regime to manage “tragedies of the commons,” procure club goods, and promote self-regulation. We draw on social media data and narrative accounts by industry activists to explicate the evolution of the field from 2008 to 2012 in 11 cities. Findings suggest that trade associations, as an often-overlooked type of mutual benefit association, are key players in the legitimation of creative industries.

Creating Aging-Friendly Communities in the United States

An aging United States population, combined with traditional American values of independence and individualism, is fostering increased interest in community efforts to promote aging in place. This article describes the types of community aging-friendly initiatives that currently exist in the United States, and the roles that various sectors (e.g., public, non-profit, private) have played in their development. Findings from a national internet-based survey identified 292 current aging-friendly community initiatives, of four types: community planning, system coordination and program development, co-location of services, and consumer associations. Most represent local community interventions, developed in the absence of federal funding or guidance and often hampered by limited political authority or economic resources. Private sector solutions, such as mutual-benefit associations, appear to be on the rise; however, such initiatives are not widely accessible, especially to those individuals with insufficient resources or political power to participate in the private market. Taken together, these findings raise questions regarding the sustainability of current efforts, their availability to less-resourced individuals and communities, and the long-term ability of communities in the United States to make the infrastructure changes required to meet the needs of an aging society without an increased government role.

From Pioneering to Persevering: Family Farming in Indiana to 1880 (review)

Reviewed by: From Pioneering to Persevering: Family Farming in Indiana to 1880 Richard F. Nation From Pioneering to Persevering: Family Farming in Indiana to 1880. By Paul Salstrom. (West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 2007. Pp. xii, 208.) Paul Salstrom, a leading figure among Appalachian historians, turns his attention to Indiana agriculture in the nineteenth century, and his work offers a number of important insights and information. The question that drives From Pioneering to Persevering is "why family farming was so economically viable in early Indiana" (xii). Salstrom's answer is that Hoosier farmers captured a significant portion of the East Coast sale price of corn, the states' key commodity. Salstrom roots that success in the railroad's inability to establish monopolies in transportation, unlike further west. Salstrom further argues that it would not be until the invention of a mechanical harvester for corn that Hoosier family farms would be at risk and thus cease to persevere, dating that occurrence to the post-World War II period. The relationship between the earlier reason for perseverance and the final cause of decline is not self-evident and is never explored, because the book itself ends in 1880, at the peak of what Salstrom calls family-farm perseverance in Indiana. To pin that decline on the mechanical harvester glosses over the key role of New Deal agricultural policy in paving the way for the adoption of harvesters, as well as the impact of hybrid corn and the chemical revolution in agriculture in increasing yields in the post-World War II era. It also ignores the rise of a culture of consumption in the twentieth century, with its desire for larger marketable surpluses that may have driven the adoption of mechanical reapers, chemicals, and hybrids. Moreover, in 1880 Indiana agriculture was in the midst of change. By 1890, the Farmer's Mutual Benefit Association and other pre-Populist organizations would gain a foothold in Indiana (although the lack of a railroad monopoly would be one reason Populism never really takes off), following in the tracks of an even more widespread, albeit short-lived, success of the Grange in the 1870s. These movements underscore the fact that some Hoosiers believed the family farm was at risk. By 1880, widespread drainage of Indiana's wet prairies was underway, requiring serious capital investment that would make the traditional family farm less viable. Finally, good census figures on farm tenantry become available for 1880, and strong regional variation within the state for tenantry makes a simple formulation of the family farm suspect, although one of the strengths of the book is its recognition of such regional differences. Both of Salstrom's key arguments are based on the secondary literature and not on extensive research in the primary sources. Nearly a quarter [End Page 118] of the book is devoted to Native American and French agriculture, which provides a useful contrast to the Anglo-American family farm, but it is not worthy of the extensive attention. Thus, the book reads more like a synthesis than a monograph, even as it seeks to answer questions better suited for a monograph. At 126 pages of text, excluding notes, the book just seems too short to accomplish much. It does not provide a solid account for academic readers because it is not rooted in primary sources and fails to give a full accounting of the eventual decline of the family farm. For me and for other experts in Indiana agriculture, the time spent reading it is valuable, but for historians working on other states' agricultural pasts, the model produced is not fleshed out convincingly enough to demand their attention. For the reading public, the book will provide a decent overview of Indiana agriculture to 1880, but, with its tantalizing arguments about the later period, it will leave them wishing for more. Richard F. Nation Eastern Michigan University Copyright © 2008 West Virginia University Press

Dangers to going it alone: social capital and the origins of community resilience in the Philippines

ABSTRACTRobert Putnam's influential article ‘Bowling alone: America's declining social capital’ puts forward a number of possible factors to explain the decline of civil society in the USA. Many of these same forces are also at work in America's erstwhile colony in Asia, the Philippines, where almost the opposite outcome is true if one can measure such things as social capital by the activity of formal and informal associations and networks devoted to mutual assistance. Unlike Americans, however, Filipinos are exposed to a much higher degree of everyday risk. This article traces the evolution of mutual benefit associations and networks and suggests that it is in precisely those geographical regions most exposed to personal misfortune and community danger that they proliferate most readily.

The American Approach to Health Insurance

Dans cet article, publie pour la premiere fois dans le Quarterly Vol. 12, No 2, 1934, l'A. presente l'approche americaine de l'assurance sante, qu'il compare a l'approche europeenne, dont une premiere partie retrace les grandes etapes historiques (au Royaume-Uni et en Allemagne). L'arriere-plan historique de l'assurance maladie, telle qu'elle s'est developpee en Europe, est economique, son premier objectif ayant ete la protection du revenu, le remboursement des soins medicaux y etant un objectif second. Si l'experience europeenne est pleine d'enseignements, le cas des Etats-Unis necessite une approche differente, du fait que les couts des soins medicaux mettent desormais en jeu des sommes plus importantes et affectent bien plus de gens que ne le fait la perte de salaire due a la maladie, et aussi du fait que la provision d'un soin medical adequat, curatif et preventif, implique des possibilites plus importantes que dans l'ancien temps, pour soulager la souffrance, promouvoir la sante, augmenter l'efficacite economique. L'A. conclut ainsi son article par une serie de recommandations pour un systeme de sante plus stable, dans lequel les soins medicaux seraient pris en charge par l'assurance maladie, soutenue par l'impot.

Study of the practice of homeopathic General Practitioners in France

Little is known about the practice of homeopathic general practitioners (GPs) in France. We report a descriptive, cross-sectional study on this subject. The aim was to acquire a clearer idea of (1) the type of patients who consult homeopathic GPs and (2) the type of treatment provided by such GPs, in terms of diagnoses, prescriptions and costs. The survey was carried out on a representative sample of the French homeopathic GP population and covered three seasons of the year. The data was collected by means of a questionnaire which GPs completed for each consulting patient. It emerged that the type of patients who consult homeopathic GPs are chiefly women, between the ages of 20 and 54, living in an urban environment, not in employment, covered by National Health Insurance for Salaried Workers, and belonging to a Mutual Benefit Association. The most common reasons for consultation were ENT disorders, stress and anxiety. The homeopathic GPs mainly used homeopathy to treat these disorders. On average, four medicinal products per patient were prescribed per 2-month course of treatment, for an average reimbursed cost of 3.78€.

No Place Like Home

In 1887 Florence Nightingale wrote: my view, you know is that the ultimate destination of all nursing is the nursing of sick in their own homes ... I look to the abolition of all hospitals, but no use to talk about the year 2000 (p. 1). Like Nightingale, many nurses throughout history have argued that home care is the preferred, rationale, cost effective alternative to institutional care. Yet the history of home care suggests otherwise. Buhler-Wilkerson explains that home care has remained a marginalized experiment in care giving for over one hundred years and has yet to find its place in modern care. She examines how race, ethnicity gender, disease and illness, and patterns of practice and custom have sculpted the history of home care. In 1813 the ladies of Charleston, South Carolina, were the first to organize home care under the auspices of the Ladies' Benevolent Society (LBS) in the antebellum south developing a system of care that was compatible with the needs of the poor and the southern way of life. At that time privately endowed institutions, administered by boards appointed by city government, provided care for orphans and the sick and the elite distributed from both public and private sources. In addition, more than thirty private and religious organizations included charity to the destitute, the poor, the insane, vagrants, chronic invalids, and drunkards. The LBS provided relief to those who lay outside the extant Charleston health care system, namely, free blacks and poor whites sick in the home. Organized by 125 women of Charleston's wealthiest families, the LBS women believed the rich were obligated to improve the conditions of the poor while the poor, in turn, were expected to manifest their gratitude to the rich (p. 5). According to the ladies, the LBS was not a mutual benefit association, but rather one that depended on an intimate understanding of the poor and reflected the proper female attitude of meekness, humility, and desire to serve. During the first decade (1813-1823), the ladies cared for 290 patients, who were mostly women, each year. While the patients were screened to

Remissioning nonprofits: Two case studies of membership associations

AbstractThe mission of a mutual benefit association is so inexorably intertwined with its membership that a change in one cannot succeed without a corresponding change in the other. Two case studies of United Ways' state associations' “remissioning” initiatives give details on the dynamic interplay of mission and membership in mutual benefit associations, a fundamental characteristic that distinguishes them from public benefit nonprofits. To anticipate change, association managers must focus on the shifting demands from their members' stakeholders. They also must clearly understand the nature of their membership and who represent their members when members are organizations, and they must be ready to engage in intra‐association politics to effect a change in mission.

Mutual support groups to reduce alcohol consumption by pregnant women: marketing implications.

This paper reports on a study of social support and alcohol consumption of 153 women during pregnancy. The majority of women changed their alcohol intake patterns during pregnancy because of concern for the health of the fetus. Most women decreased the amount and frequency of drinking and changed their beverage of choice. Social support was found to be significantly related to reduction in alcohol use during pregnancy. Social support came from relationships with specific individuals and groups of individuals. Health care providers may be able to extend the range of their work by designing specific prevention strategies targeted toward the development and implementation of mutual support groups for pregnant women. The marketing discipline has identified certain characteristics of the mutual benefit association, an organization which exists exclusively for the benefit of its members. The authors propose that the mutual support group, often used to promote health-related behaviors, is a special case of the mutual benefit association; further, that appropriate application of established marketing principles and practices will be effective in promulgating the mutual support group. The authors offer a marketing strategy for the mutual support of pregnant women, a strategy which should be effective in further reducing the alcohol intake of pregnant women.

A Social-Psychological Classification System for Mutual Benefit Associations

A Social-Psychological Classification System for Mutual Benefit Associations

A social-psychological classification system for mutual benefit associations

A social-psychological classification system for mutual benefit associations

Maintaining Goals in a Mutual-Benefit Association

Maintaining Goals in a Mutual-Benefit Association

Artificial abortion in female teachers and staffs of schools

The number of artificial abortions in female teachers of public schools in Kyoto prefecture was estimated from bills of medical fee submitted to the Kyoto Branch of the Public School Mutual Benefit Association in October, 1958.Out of 5501 female techers aged 20-40, 129 teachers (32.8 per 1000 in a month) received artificial abortions in that month. This rate was 5.9 times and 3.9 times higher respectively comparing with the rate of reported artificial abortions in female populations of the same age in the entire country and in Kyoto Prefecture in the same year.This high rate of artificial abortion seemed to be one of causes for the higher incidence of diseases of urogenital organ in female teachers.

Duration of Disabling Acute Illness among Employed Males and Females: Eastern Health District of Baltimore, 1938-1943

HT HE dependence of many individuals on earnings from employment gives importance to the risk of interruptions of such earnings because of disabling illness. For many years commercial insurance companies and cooperative groups, such as mutual benefit associations, have provided protection for this risk to limited groups of individuals (25, 28). The governments of a number of countries have also established compulsory disability insurance programs (11, 22). Recently many individuals have proposed a federal compulsory disability insurance program for the United States. In the past decade, several states have adopted compulsory temporary disability benefit plans (1, 24). Under disability insurance programs, protection is provided for temporary or permanent disability or both. The definition of disability and the period during which benefits are provided differ under separate plans. Temporary disability is often defined as inability to perform the usual occupation; permanent disability may be defined as inability to undertake work providing economic and social status reasonably similar to that to which the worker is accustomed (30). Temporary disability protection commonly begins after a short waiting period following the onset of each illness, such as three or seven days. It is often furnished for only a limited period, such as twenty-six or thirteen weeks. Permanent disability coverage begins at the end of the temporary disability benefit period and continues indefinitely (11, 12, 22, 24). The growth of disability insurance plans presents a need for special statistics on the amount of disability in employed 1 From the Milbank Memorial Fund. The study of illness in the Eastern Health District of Baltimore was conducted by the United States Public Health Service and the Milbank Memorial Fund.

When did the War Begin?

The Circuit Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, recently had occasion to decide a life insurance case, New York Life Insurance Co. v. Bennion,' the determination of which involved the interesting question, When did the begin for the United States ? Mrs. Louise Bennion sued the New York Life Insurance Company for the double indemnity of $10,000 due her in the event of the death of her husband by accident. Her husband, Captain Bennion, was killed when his ship was sunk at Pearl Harbor in the Japanese attack December 7, 1941. The company duly paid the principal sum due under the policy, $10,000. However, the policy excepted from the liability for double indemnity an accident which occurred in war or an act incident thereto, so that if Pearl Harbor involved double indemnity was not due. The issue turned on the question whether this country was at when Pearl Harbor was attacked, or only got into when Congress declared war, December 8, 1941, 4:10 p.m., i.e., whether the Pearl Harbdr attack occurred in time of peace, as Mrs. Bennion, the plaintiff, contended, or whether the attack was itself an act of war. The company had no difficulty in proving that every one regarded the attack as an act of war, and in holding for the insurance company, the court stated that it is commonly known that Pearl Harbor commenced the war.2 Reaching this result would have presented no difficulty but for the fact that in every other state and federal case which had involved deaths occurring at Pearl Harbor, the court had found against the insurance company. These cases were four in number: Savage v. Sun Life Assurance Co.,3 Pang v. Sun Life Assurance Co.,4 Rosenau v. Idaho Mutual Benefit Association,5 and West v. Palmetto State Life Insurance Co.6 These opinions are to be explained perhaps as motivated by the hysteria, partly on the ground that they were based upon the stipulation that the declaration of by Congress, December 8, 1941, at 4:10 p.m. was the first act of of the political department,7 and partly as the result of the prejudice against insurance companies prevailing in certain courts. Whatever the explanation may be, these courts decided

When Did the War Begin?

The Circuit Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, recently had occasion to decide a life insurance case, New York Life Insurance Co. v. Bennion,' the determination of which involved the interesting question, When did the begin for the United States ? Mrs. Louise Bennion sued the New York Life Insurance Company for the double indemnity of $10,000 due her in the event of the death of her husband by accident. Her husband, Captain Bennion, was killed when his ship was sunk at Pearl Harbor in the Japanese attack December 7, 1941. The company duly paid the principal sum due under the policy, $10,000. However, the policy excepted from the liability for double indemnity an accident which occurred in war or an act incident thereto, so that if Pearl Harbor involved double indemnity was not due. The issue turned on the question whether this country was at when Pearl Harbor was attacked, or only got into when Congress declared war, December 8, 1941, 4:10 p.m., i.e., whether the Pearl Harbdr attack occurred in time of peace, as Mrs. Bennion, the plaintiff, contended, or whether the attack was itself an act of war. The company had no difficulty in proving that every one regarded the attack as an act of war, and in holding for the insurance company, the court stated that it is commonly known that Pearl Harbor commenced the war.2 Reaching this result would have presented no difficulty but for the fact that in every other state and federal case which had involved deaths occurring at Pearl Harbor, the court had found against the insurance company. These cases were four in number: Savage v. Sun Life Assurance Co.,3 Pang v. Sun Life Assurance Co.,4 Rosenau v. Idaho Mutual Benefit Association,5 and West v. Palmetto State Life Insurance Co.6 These opinions are to be explained perhaps as motivated by the hysteria, partly on the ground that they were based upon the stipulation that the declaration of by Congress, December 8, 1941, at 4:10 p.m. was the first act of of the political department,7 and partly as the result of the prejudice against insurance companies prevailing in certain courts. Whatever the explanation may be, these courts decided