The emergence of volunteerism in a post-disaster context : a systematic scoping study literature review

Disasters tend to stimulate the creation of spontaneous informal activity by self-organising voluntary groups and individuals. This has been demonstrated by the transnational surge of volunteer activity in the aftermath of countless disasters worldwide that have varied in both size and nature. Yet despite the universality and inevitability of volunteer behaviour, research into the phenomenon of voluntarism following the occurrence of a natural disaster has only been lightly examined. This paper presents a scoping review of the available literature on the emergence of local and international volunteerism following the occurrence of a natural disaster. Four major themes were identified in the literature: (i) motivational drivers of volunteerism in post-disaster contexts; (ii) volunteer typologies; (iii) opportunities and challenges presented by the informal volunteer; and (iv) extending volunteerism.