A current emphasis in education is on the promotion of civic responsibility through service learning. Thus, many of the studies on civic engagement have been in the domain of education. Service learning combines classroom instruc- tion with community service with the goal of increasing citizenship participation as well as personal and civic responsibility. In addition to enhancing students’ course- work, service learning may foster civic responsibility by providing opportunities for students to engage directly in their communities and meet the needs of their
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community. In essence, through service learning, students learn to be productive members of society.
Community service has been found to enhance academic and behavioral outcomes as well as sense of civic responsibility. Students who participate in community service have higher grades, fewer behavioral problems, greater polit- ical knowledge, and come to believe that individuals have the capacity to effect change, even after controlling for demographic and socioeconomic character- istics. Additionally, community service promotes a sense of community, increased empathy, and intent to be involved in future community action compared to matched controls. Volunteer work in high school also promotes prosocial attitudes and concern for social issues and future intended service, possibly because students who perceived they were making a contribution to society were more likely to continue serving in the future. However, although mandatory community service programs may boost later volunteer efforts, it is psychological engagement in the activity which predicted change in community belonging and social responsibility in volunteers.
With regards to the sociodemographics of community service participants, girls and older students are more likely to participate in community service than boys and younger peers. European American and Asian American students are most likely to engage in service, as are students who attend private school, and whose parents are highly educated. Those mandated to do service tend to be African American or Latino/a, of lower socioeconomic class, and generally attend private and/or religious schools.
Despite the growing influence of service learning, Sander and Putnam have expressed concern that American levels of civic engagement have fallen with more recent generations. They argue that Americans have witnessed serious erosions in social capital, whether one looks at informal social connections, political par- ticipation, philanthropy, religious participation, or general trust of others. Indeed, over the years, there has been a decline in voting and involvement in political organizations. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 42 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds voted in the 2004 presidential election compared to close to 50 per- cent of 18- to 24-year-olds in 1972 when the voting age was first lowered to 18.
However, other surveys appear to indicate that civic engagement is growing and that the seeming decline in civic engagement might be explained by cohort differences in the type of volunteer work performed. For example, a recent 2006 survey by the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute, the nation’s longest- running assessment of student attitudes and plans for college, suggests a growing trend toward increased civic responsibility. The survey found that about 66 per- cent of entering college freshmen believe it is essential or very important to help others who are in difficulty, the highest figure in 25 years. In addition, students were more likely to show commitment toward social and civic responsibility on several levels. During their high school senior year, many students volunteered, joined community action programs, kept up to date with political affairs, and par- ticipated in organized demonstration as well as political campaigns.
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Methodological Issues
Much of what we currently know about civic responsibility is through civic engagement which in turn, is through correlational studies and longitudinal survey data which are both limited in scope. Little in the way of longitudinal research has been carried out to assess the impact of a sense of civic responsibility. Research on civic responsibility has not fully assessed key process variables theoretically linked to the promotion or mediation of a sense of civic responsibility. Moreover, most program evaluations of community service which may promote civic responsibility were either incomplete in their assessment, conducted only at post- intervention, or lacked a matched control group. It is thus difficult to ascertain directionality and whether one can attribute associations, in the sense of civic respon- sibility, to community involvement or to individual and contextual factors.
Additionally, most research has not taken into account how ethnicity, socio- economic status, and gender may moderate the relationship between community service and future civic engagement or lack thereof. More often than not, dis- advantaged youth are left out of survey research and their sense of civic respon- sibility merits further study. For example, although the UCLA study provides much information about incoming freshmen, it is unable to provide information about young adults who do not attend college.
Future Directions
At this point, it is known that certain conditions can promote civic responsibility.
On an individual level, a sense of compassion and empathic concern and a desire to help others can foster civic engagement. On a social level, communities that have social capital, residential stability and a sense of community connectedness can promote a sense of civic responsibility. Future studies should examine what other individual and social factors might promote civic responsibility. Specifically, future research might take up the challenge of proposing and examining forms of civic engagement from which the disadvantaged can realistically participate and benefit. For example, community gardens, serving as “participatory landscapes,”
appear to build social capital by promoting a sense of community through increased participation and involvement. Besides fostering a sense of civic responsibility, these social and physical environments might also promote community connect- edness that could impact prosocial and helping behaviors as well as physical and psychological health.
Future studies also need to take into account sociodemographic character- istics and cohort differences of civic responsibility since characteristics such as age, race, gender and class differences may impact the choice of civic engagement.
For example, the Baby Boomer generation favors political activism and commun- ity action, whereas the WWII generation favors more traditional forms of civic
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engagement, through churches, hospitals and schools. People with high income but limited time might chose to donate money and resources as their form of civic engagement. On the other hand, African Americans may be more inclined towards church-based volunteering while women and the poor may be more likely to engage in being caregivers to friends and/or families and in neighboring rela- tions, acts of care for neighbors outside the realm of organization or friendship.
Although these activities have been previously ignored in the discussion of civic engagement, Herd and Meyer argue that these invisible activities nonetheless con- stitute a vital form of civic activity.
SEE ALSO: Collective well-being Compassion