Civic Service Worldwide: Defining a Field, Building a Knowledge Base.

In this article, the authors summarize results of a global assessment of civic service. Searching by country and using information from organizational memberships, publications, and the Internet, 210 civic service programs were identified in 57 countries

Service-Learning and Civic Outcomes: From Suggestive Research to Program Models

Service-learning has been identified as an intervention that may address low levels of youth civic engagement. Service-learning is compared to two other interventions that have been associated with civic outcomes: community service and civic education curricula. Studies of these three types of interventions are systematically reviewed and compared, taking into account rigor of designs and methods. Across a range of civic indicators, no clear pattern was found regarding the impact of each intervention. This review highlights the need for increased rigor and sensitivity of measurement in future research on civic development among school-age students

The Management Imperative: Displacement, Dynamics, and Directions Forward for Training Social Workers as Managers

Management’s place within social work has long been of concern. Social workers are being displaced as managers due to competition from other professions, poor regard for their skills as managers, declining student interest, and weak graduate training. This article examines the displacement, discussing its impact on organizational mission, values, and culture; social work’s future; graduates’ readiness to take on management tasks; and career and compensation advancement. These concerns motivated the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis to implement a requirement that master of social work students complete three credits of concentration-level management coursework. We explore this change and others in a case that provides directions forward for training social workers as managers

International Service: History and Forms, Pitfalls and Potential

International voluntary service represents the contribution of one’s time to some cause, which is largely uncompensated and spent in a country other than one’s home country. The forms of international service have evolved from roots in missionary service to a focus on development of the host communities and the volunteers. Current trends emphasize mutuality, accountability, and participation by host communities, but against a historical and contemporary backdrop, inequality remains between the volunteers and hosts. This paper speculates a range of possible positive and negative developmental outcomes, programmatic strategies to mediate negative effects, and research to inform program and policy development

International Service and Higher Education: Toward a Vision for the Field

International Service and Higher Education: Toward a Vision for the Fiel

Access to International Volunteering

This analysis examines rates of international volunteering among various demographic groups in the United States using data from the 2005 Current Population Survey. We use logistic regression analyses to address the importance of inclusion. Those most likely to serve overseas are white, highly educated, young, foreign-born individuals without dependent children in the home and not employed full-time. As a type of volunteering implemented primarily through the nonprofit sector, these findings suggest implications for recruitment and retention of volunteers who serve abroad

Limitations of Civic Service: Critical Perspectives

Limitations of Civic Service: Critical Perspective

Civic Service Worldwide: Social Development Goals and Partnerships

Civic service is a long-term, intensive form of volunteering. This article reports on a global assessment of civic service, which identified 210 programs in 57 countries. Program goals and administrative partnerships suggest that civic service is a social development intervention. For civic service to achieve its potential, research is recommended regarding server inclusivity, goal accomplishment, and the nature and effect of partnerships

Toward Measurement of Civic Service

Toward Measurement of Civic Servic

Learning to Vote: Informing Political Participation Among College Students

To inform universities’ capacity to encourage student political participation, we examine associations between four civic influences — civic instruction, deliberative course-based discussion, community service, and service learning — and youth participation during the 2008 presidential election. These four influences were selected because they are commonly integrated into higher education environments. Using an original survey we employ a broad definition of political behavior to explore ways college students express themselves politically and to examine potential influences on their participation. We hypothesize that students exposed to civic influences are more likely to vote and engage in other participatory activities than those who lack such exposure. Findings reveal that educationally-based civic influences that specifically address political content are more strongly associated with political behavior than is service-based activity. This supports an on-going reform discourse that targets civic education as a promising avenue for increasing youth participation in American elections and suggests a key role that universities can play during election years