Re: service-learning daily digest, #320

Hello Deb, Beth Amy, Michael, and Eric (and list members)--

I appreciate the mention of our work on the Functional Approach and on
"Mandatory Volunteerism" and I do (humbly) think the studies
we've done would be useful for discussion in a course on "The
Psychology of Civic Engagement".  

I also have to agree with Michael (and Beth Amy) that the findings with
regard to required community service _are_ ambiguous.  What Mark
Snyder, Gil Clary, and I found in our 1999 study (reference below) is
that requirements may hurt students who do not find themselves currently
ready to volunteer (whether or not they have demonstrated motivation to
do so in the past), but also that requirements may NOT hurt students who
do not perceive the requirement to be "controlling." 

Therefore, we suggested that certain factors may increase the likelihood
that required programs will have positive (and not negative) effects on
intentions to volunteer in the future (the specific dependent variable we
examined).  These proposed factors (as expanded in a recent Social
Policy Report) are:  1) Autonomy provided to students with
regard to their service (for example, choice of activity);  2)
Collegial Relationships with site supervisors and clients (if
there are any);  3) Reflection Activities that serve to
connect the service with academic learning and/or life goals;  and
4) Matching of personal goals and service activities (which comes
straight from our work on the Functional Approach that suggests that
individuals may volunteer to serve a variety of functions and that
activities that allow them to meet these functions/goals will have more
beneficial effects on a range of outcomes). 

So, in line with recent work by Eyler and Giles, we feel that program
quality makes A LOT of difference in terms of the outcomes for students,
as well as their community partners.

The references to our work are:

Stukas, A. A., Clary, E. G., & Snyder, M. (1999). Service learning: Who benefits and why. Social Policy Report, 13, 1-19.

Stukas, A. A., Snyder, M., & Clary, E. G. (1999). The effects of “mandatory volunteerism” on intentions to volunteer. Psychological Science, 10(1), 59-64.

Clary, E. G., Snyder, M., Ridge, R. D., Copeland, J., Stukas, A. A., Haugen, J., & Miene, P. (1998). Understanding and assessing the motivations of volunteers: A functional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(6), 1516-1530.

Without being unduly self-promoting, let me alert the list to an
upcoming special issue on Community Involvement (with half of the
articles devoted to service-learning initiatives) that will be released
in the Fall (northern hemisphere) in the Journal of Social Issues:

Community Involvement:  Theoretical Approaches and Educational
Initiatives
(Art Stukas & Michelle Dunlap, Issue Editors)

Introduction

Stukas, A. A., & Dunlap, M. R. (2002).  Community
involvement: Theoretical approaches and educational initiatives.
Journal of Social Issues, 58(3), xx-xx.

Theoretical Approaches

Batson, C. D., Ahmad, N., & Tsang, J. (2002). Four motives for
community involvement. Journal of Social Issues, 58(3),
xx-xx.

Penner, L. A. (2002). Dispositional and organizational influences on
sustained prosocial actions: An interactionist perspective. Journal of
Social Issues, 58(3), xx-xx.

Piliavin, J. A., Grube, J. A., & Callero, P. L. (2002). Role as
resource in public service. Journal of Social Issues, 58(3),
xx-xx.

Nadler, A. (2002). Inter-group helping relations as power relations:
Maintaining or challenging social dominance between groups through
helping.  Journal of Social Issues, 58(3), xx-xx.

Educational Initiatives

Bringle, R. G., & Hatcher, J. A. (2002). Campus-community
partnerships: The terms of engagement. Journal of Social Issues,
58(3), xx-xx.

Eyler, J. (2002). Reflection: Linking service and learning--linking
students and communities. Journal of Social Issues, 58(3),
xx-xx.

Singer, J. A., King, L. A., Green, M. C., & Barr, S. C. (2002).
Personal identity and civic responsibility: “Rising to the Occasion”
narratives and generativity. Journal of Social Issues, 58(3),
xx-xx.

Werner, C. M., Voce, R., Openshaw, K. G., & Simons, M. (2002).
Designing service-learning to empower students and community: Jackson
Elementary builds a nature study center. Journal of Social Issues,
58(3), xx-xx.

Concluding Comments

Clary, E. G., & Snyder, M. (2002). Community involvement:
Opportunities and challenges in socializing adults to participate in
society. Journal of Social Issues, 58(3), xx-xx.

I trust that this information will be of interest to the list and I hope
that I haven't been too verbose here.  I'm willing to take comments
offlist and report back as necessary.  Keep up the good work and
good luck with the course!

Best wishes,

Art

Art Stukas, Ph.D
School of Psychological Science
La Trobe University
Bundoora, VIC 3086
AUSTRALIA

61-3-9479-1515
fax 61-3-9479-1956
A.Stukas@latrobe.edu.au