The value of volunteering: comparing youths’ experiences to popular claims

Abstract

Purpose – At the turn of the 21st century, popular claimsmakers made a series of claims about the benefits of volunteer work for youth: that volunteering would reduce youthful self-absorption with peer groups, introduce youth to people different from themselves, foster macro-level understandings of social problems, and connect youth to the community. This article examines youths’ experiences of volunteer work in order to determine which claims are realized and how.

Methodology/approach – I conducted in-depth interviews with 45 youth, aged 15–23, who engaged in volunteer work with a wide variety of organizations.

Findings – Youth did not always realize these claims and when they did, many did so through mechanisms different than those suggested by popular claimsmakers.

Research limitations/implications – Because this is an exploratory study which uses a purposive sample, the findings provide direction for future researchers to more fully investigate how youth realize the benefits of volunteering and under what conditions.

Practical implications – In order to make volunteering a valuable experience for as many youth as possible, volunteer coordinators need to be cautious of uncritically absorbing public claims.

Originality/value of paper – Youth speak for themselves about the value of volunteering and challenge popular claims made about youth and volunteerism.

Citation

Kawecka Nenga, S. (2010), "The value of volunteering: comparing youths’ experiences to popular claims", Beth Johnson, H. (Ed.) Children and Youth Speak for Themselves (Sociological Studies of Children and Youth, Vol. 13), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 295-318. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1537-4661(2010)0000013014