Exploring the role of religious faith in distinguishing Christian faith-based organisations from secular NGOs working with women and children in Cambodia

Thesis

Faith-based organisations (FBOs) and secular non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are significant service providers in the developing world, yet limited research has systematically compared these organisations. Adding knowledge to the field about the faith-based and secular actors implementing social policy, this thesis explores the extent to which, and why, religious faith might distinguish Christian FBOs from secular NGOs. It elucidates this by comparing organisations working with women and children in Cambodia who have been sexually trafficked, abused, or involved in the sex trade.

Analysing data from thirteen Christian FBOs and twelve secular NGOs, including from interviews, websites and organisational documents, this study examines the ways in which religious faith in FBOs distinguished their: 1) goals and missions, 2) motivations, 3) approaches to care, and 4) conceptions of success—areas of research that have had limited exploration in a development context. An existing typology is built upon and operationalised in the study that, in particular, de-complexifies the process of categorising FBOs and allows for more accurately classifying secular NGOs.

Faith was found to distinguish FBOs from secular NGOs in all four of the dimensions comparatively examined in this thesis. The findings illuminate the ways in which FBOs understood and integrated faith in their organisations, providing a richer understanding of the role of religious faith in FBOs. It is argued that the contrasts between the two types of organisations, in terms of faith, relate to both the infusion of faith in FBOs and the development context in which they work—a concept referred to here as Context-Infusion Convergence. This theory ensures the study’s wider significance, providing an avenue for future comparative research on FBOs and secular NGOs in other geographical locations.

This thesis thus empirically examines the extent to which faith may distinguish FBOs from their secular counterparts and provides theoretical insight about why these differences may exist. Doing so, it adds to knowledge about religious faith in FBOs and in the study of social policy.

Authors: Frame, J

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-bmp221gma
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford