Adolescent and youth volunteering as a way of engaging with socially significant issues: An overview of international research
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33910/2687-0223-2020-2-3-152-161Keywords:
volunteering, volunteerism, young volunteers, engagement in socially significant issuesAbstract
The article analyzes volunteering, specifically, volunteer activities carried out by teenagers and young people, as a form of participation in managing socially significant issues. Empirical data is based on relevant English-language publications retrieved from the Web of Science database. Search queries included key phrases “volunteering/volunteerism AND adolescents/youth”, “volunteering/volunteerism AND participation in managing issues”. Retrieved articles were divided into five thematic clusters: characteristics of unpaid work, motivation (drivers) for unpaid work, advantages of volunteering, costs of volunteering, and regulatory and structural reactions to volunteerism.
Articles on adolescent and youth volunteerism were analysed separately. It is noted that a certain experience has been accumulated in adolescent and youth volunteerism, starting with legal regulation and organisational support and ending with establishing databases containing data on the frequency and scope of volunteerism.
It has been found that objectives of adolescent and youth volunteering, beside involvement in important social work, include personal and social development as well as promotion of active citizenship. Researchers interpret volunteering as a primary environment that conducive to the younger generation’s personal development. The main emphasis is on young people’s development in three realms: feelings and attitudes, indicators of behavioural adaptation, and academic performance. Forms and technologies of adolescent and youth engagement with important social issues were not an object of the researchers’ particular attention. It was noted that, in the course of their socialisation, volunteers become familiar with social problems and motivated to overcome them.
The authors observe that engagement issues are interconnected with other objectives, e.g. to prevent deviant behaviour, to build social competences, to gain necessary social experience, etc.
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