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A Demonstration That School-Based Required Service Does Not Deter—But Heightens—Volunteerism

T literature on civic engagement points to a number of factors that shape the socialization process, such as family background, socioeconomic status, school involvement, and location and type of community. In recent years, theorists have focused on another aspect of youths’ lives as a potential facilitator of civic engagement— their participation in school-based community service. Studies show that service and activism during youth are associated with life-long civic engagement involving voting, trust in government, and involvement in voluntary organizations (e.g., Youniss, McLellan, and Yates 1997; Stewart, Settles, and Winter 1998; Jennings 2002). Because service is believed to foster a sense of civic identity, many policy makers and educators have called upon school districts to implement programs requiring students to perform service as a prerequisite for graduation. Other commentators, however, have questioned whether service (voluntary or mandated) has the capacity to turn youth into active and engaged citizens who are capable of assessing and solving problems. For example, a recent report by the National Association of Secretaries of State (1999) asserted that even though rates of service are increasing, youth involvement in formal political activities has remained decidedly individualistic. Others view mandated service as contradictory, especially when compared to volunteer service. These criticisms are based on the idea that required service can take away youths’ intrinsic motivation, provoking the question as to whether such policies lessen the quality of the service experiences or even turn youth off to future volunteerism altogether (Sobus 1995; Stukas, Snyder, and Clary 1999). A recent estimate indicates that 19% of public high schools require students to perform community service, up from 16% in 1996 (Chapman and Kleiner 1999). Despite the increasing popularity of required community service and service learning programs, empirical evidence to support either side of this controversy is inconsistent. Research has yielded mixed or null results, lacks comparison groups, is missing longitudinal designs, has not controlled for variations in intensity of service, and lacks contextual data on program philosophy (Melchior 1997; Niemi and Chapman 1999).