Kategoria BISAC: Social Science >> Volunteer Work

Radest reviews the history and present practice of community service in the United States. While appreciative of the genuine contributions of community service programs to the development of schools and society, the author believes that hidden behind good intentions and willing energies there is a strain of ambivalence that cannot be ignored (such as when a citizen is sentenced by the court to perform a number of hours of community service). He analyzes philosophically and psychologically this ambivalence, employing his experience in the field, his observations of school and...

One of the few studies of how the elderly help others through formal and informal volunteerism. While a large number of studies focus on the help older people receive from relatives and friends, this work examines the many ways in which older people are involved in giving care to others. Written by a sociologist and based on a stratified sample of hundreds of individuals, this study assesses a number of dimensions of care giving. While much of this labor goes unnoticed, it is central to the building and maintenance of family and community ties, and reveals ways in which social life is...

"22. Arrived in Bellaire at 3P.M. There is trouble in the neighborhood of Grafton..." Thus begins the extraordinary journals of a modest, humble man. John Beatty (1848-1914) left his work and his home to join the Ohio volunteers in 1861. He began as most do, as a lowly private, but rose through the ranks to become a Brigadier General by 1862. Beatty faithfully recorded his daily life and experiences in what has become one of the best resources for exploring the day-to-day life of a Union soldier during the Civil War. This is so much more than just a recounting of military action. Beatty...

Allen Jedlicka proposes a revolutionary new approach to the development problems faced by much of the world. Arguing that government controlled bureaucracies are not effective in addressing the social and economic concerns of developing nations and regions--because they are more concerned with organizational survival than with helping people--Jedlicka develops an alternative solution that relies on volunteer efforts. He asserts that, free of the corrupt influences that affect bureaucracies, volunteers are often more successful in directly helping their target audience because the...

The United States has a long history of citizens rendering service to their communities. Examples of government-sponsored voluntary service organizations include the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Peace Corps, and Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA). During the Clinton administration, the national service movement was advanced by the establishment of AmeriCorps, a large-scale national service program designed to place young people in community service positions across the country. More recently, the Obama administration has set in motion a major program expansion of AmeriCorps over...