Amanda Moore McBride

A Framework of Asset-Accumulation Stages and Strategies

Based on a study with 298 low-income participants, we propose that asset accumulation occurs in 3 stages. In the first stage (reallocation), current resource inflows exceed current outflows. To do this, people reallocate resources from consumption or leisure. In the second stage (conversion), people may convert resources from liquid to illiquid forms. In the third stage (maintenance), people resist temptations to dissave. We theorize that people adopt psychological and behavioral strategies to achieve these objectives. Putting psychological and behavioral strategies together with the stages of reallocation, conversion, and maintenance results in 6 strategy groups. We provide real-world examples of each strategy group and discuss implications for encouraging account ownership among the unbanked, improving asset-accumulation programs, and improving financial education.

The Forms and Nature of Civic Service: A Global Assessment

Tang for their involvement in the design of the project, and to Suzanne Fragale for formatting and production of the report.

Civic Service Worldwide: Defining a Field, Building a Knowledge Base

Civic service appears to be a global phenomenon. The growth of service may warrant a distinct field of study in which a comparative knowledge base could inform development and implementation of policies and programs. In this article, the authors summarize results of a global assessment of civic service. Searching by country and using information from organizational memberships, publications, and the Internet, 210 civic service programs were identified in 57 countries. This study has many limitations, raising more questions than it answers. Nonetheless, it is the first worldwide empirical glimpse of service, shedding light on several key questions: What are the current status and forms of civic service? What are its structures, goals, and effects? This introductory article of the special issue frames these questions for consideration by the authors, who identify historical and cultural determinants, forms, and mediators of civic service in different regions of the world.

International Service and the Perceived Impacts on Volunteers

Although international volunteer service is growing in prevalence worldwide, there is little rigorous research about its impacts. This quasi-experimental study assesses the perceived impacts of international service on international volunteers. We focus on four internationally oriented outcome categories: international awareness, intercultural relations, international social capital, and international career intentions. International service provides exposure and immersion to develop these perspectives, relationships, and intentions. Using generalized linear mixed regression modeling, international volunteers (n = 145) are statistically more likely to report increases between the baseline (1 month before service) and postservice time periods (1 week to 1 month after service) in all outcomes except intercultural relations, as compared to a matched comparison group (n = 145). Age, race, occupational experience, and previous international experience are also associated with various outcomes. Implications include continued cultural growth, potential mutual impacts of international social capital, and future research on the volunteers and host communities.

Volunteering as a Pathway to Productive and Social Engagement Among Older Adults

Introduction. Research on outcomes of volunteering in later life largely focuses on the health of volunteers. This is in contrast to studies of youth, where attention is directed toward the effects of volunteering on subsequent productive and citizen behaviors. In this study, we examined the effects of volunteering on subsequent social and civic activity of older adults. Method. This study was conducted with volunteers from Experience Corps® (EC), a national program that brings older adults into schools to work with students. Data were derived from a baseline survey of older adults who were new EC volunteers in fall of 2006 and 2007. Follow-up interviews were conducted with 338 volunteers in fall 2010 to capture work, education, and community activities undertaken subsequent to joining EC. Results. Subsequent to joining EC, 16% of volunteers reported that they started a new job, 53% started another volunteer position, 40% started a community activity, and 39% took a class/started educational program. When asked if and how EC participation played a role in their new involvements, 71% said it increased confidence, 76% said it increased realization of the importance of organized activities/daily structure, and more than 40% said they made social connections that led to new involvements. Most reported they were more likely to be involved in advocacy efforts for public education. Discussion. Volunteering among older adults is a means as well as an end—just as it is for young people. Programs can do more to attract and serve older adults by promoting volunteering as a pathway to other engagements, including work, social, and civic activities.

Measuring International Service Outcomes: Implications for International Social Work Field Placements.

International field placements are a unique educational opportunity for social work students to develop the skills they need for social work practice in a globalized world; however, outcomes of international placements have not been rigorously studied. This article reports on the International Volunteer Impacts Survey (IVIS), a 48-item survey administered to 983 respondents that measures perceived outcomes of international service. Using factor analysis procedures, the authors assess factor structure and reliability of major outcomes of international service including international contacts, open-mindedness, international understanding, intercultural relations, life plans, civic activism, community engagement, media attentiveness, and financial contributions. Further development of the IVIS and the implications for using it to assess student outcomes in international social work field placements are discussed.

International Service: History and Forms, Pitfalls and Potential

International voluntary service represents the contribution of one’s time to some cause, which is largely uncompensated and spent in a country other than one’s home country. The forms of international service have evolved from roots in missionary service to a focus on development of the host communities and the volunteers. Current trends emphasize mutuality, accountability, and participation by host communities, but against a historical and contemporary backdrop, inequality remains between the volunteers and hosts. This paper speculates a range of possible positive and negative developmental outcomes, programmatic strategies to mediate negative effects, and research to inform program and policy development. Center for Social Development Washington University in St. Louis 1 International service programs have existed for decades, but what do we know about their forms and effects? We consider international service a distinct programmatic form of voluntary civic service. Sherraden defines civic service as “an organized period of substantial engagement and contribution to the local, national, or world community, recognized and valued by society, with minimal monetary compensation to the participant” (2001, p. 2). We attach the descriptor “civic” to convey that the action is performed in the public realm, while “service” connects the behavior to the field of voluntary action. As such, an international civic service program has the characteristics of long-term, intensive volunteering whereby the “server” engages in social, economic, or community-based activities in a country other than her home country. Examples of international service programs include the United States’ Peace Corps, Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Nigerian Technical Aid Corps, European Work Camps, Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, Canada World Youth, and United Nations Volunteers. Programs differ greatly in their administration, targeted server groups, and goals and activities. Service programs may link nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in sending and hosting countries, or there may be complex, cooperative arrangements between government entities and a range of NGOs in different countries (McBride et al., 2003; Sherraden & Benitez, 2003b). The volunteers may be disadvantaged youth, privileged youth, mid-career adults, or retired business executives. The goals may be to address the citizenship development of the volunteers or the economic development of communities or both (McBride et al., 2003). The volunteers may be engaged in activities as diverse as cultural preservation, tutoring, watershed management or business development. Center for Social Development Washington University in St. Louis 2 In a global assessment of civic service programs, international service programs were the most prevalent form of service, above national service programs, constituting 59 percent of 210 identified programs worldwide (McBride et al., 2004). Ninety-three percent of the programs were administered by NGOs. A majority of these programs were based in North America and Western Europe and implemented in Southern countries. Full-time service participation was required by a majority of the programs with a median duration of three months, a mean of five months, and a range of one week to two years. Eligibility criteria for service ranged from age and residence to foreign language and specialized skills. Some programs required that the server pay for the service experience, while others provided stipends that were close to market wages in the host communities, begging the categorization of this service as “volunteerism.” For about one-third of the programs, volunteers were provided housing and transportation assistance. Education, community development, and environmental protection were the primary areas of service, and goals included increasing the server’s motivation to volunteer again, increasing the server’s skill acquisition, promoting cultural understanding, creating or improving public facilities, and promoting sustainable resource use. In spite of its prevalence and complexities, scholarship on international service lags behind the status of programs and policies (McBride et al., 2003; Perry and Imperial, 2001; Smith & Elkin, 1981; Woods, 1981). While there may be positive effects of international service, there are undoubtedly negative effects as well, marked by elitism, state interests, and vestiges of imperialism (Brav et al., 2002; Grusky, 2000; Simpson, 2004). Depending upon the goals, the programs may support diplomacy between nations, dispense aid, engage in social and economic development, or focus on the needs and development of the volunteers, constituting a 1 Transnational service may be a subset of international service, which has more complex and cooperative service administration, goals, and activities (Sherraden & Benitez, 2003). In reporting these statistics, the two are added together. Center for Social Development Washington University in St. Louis 3 type of “self-service.” In this paper, we review what is known about international service. We begin by tracing its history, though we undoubtedly oversimplify the antecedents and evolution of international service in this brief space. We selectively identify the roles of colonialism, postwar reconstruction, international development, and globalization. Pairing the status of international service with its history, we identify possible pitfalls and potential of international service. Research implications are discussed with particular emphasis on international service as a development strategy. INTERNATIONAL SERVICE: FROM COLONIALISM TO GLOBALIZATION Missionary Service International “service” has arguably existed since colonial expansion in the form of missions (Ehrichs, 2002). Through missions billed as aid and development Christianity expanded worldwide. Missionary service was aided with inventions in navigation, discovery of new lands, and Europe’s growing trade with other parts of the world. The motivations and impacts of missionary service were complicated. While this form of service may have improved access to education, nutrition, and healthcare, on the whole, missionary service constituted a onesided relationship between passive beneficiaries and “enlightened” reformers. Missions had complex relationships with a range of entities; they were strategic and sometimes conflicting partners with imperialists, and were seen as proselytizers or lifesavers to the local communities. Mission service still exists today in multiple iterations, e.g., missions where proselytizing may be the focus, reverse missions based on reciprocity of service, or faith-based service emphasizing development as a self-expression of religious beliefs. While inter-religious conflict is leading policymakers and international organizations to consciously eschew religion as a basis Center for Social Development Washington University in St. Louis 4 of program design, religion is used by others as a unifier across class, race, and nationality, with religion-based international service resurging in the first decade of the twenty-first century

Institutional Predictors of Volunteer Retention The Case of AmeriCorps National Service

Institutional predictors of volunteer service retention in AmeriCorps*State and National are assessed using data from the quasiexperimental, longitudinal study of AmeriCorps. Multilevel logistic regression is used, with individual member characteristics at the first level and institutional facilitation at the second level (across 107 program sites). Members are more likely to complete their terms of service if the program sites involve members in planning their service activities, match the activities to their career interests, help them develop a relationship with a mentor, and facilitate their reflection on the service experience with others. This study identifies strategies that may promote retention as an intermediate yet fundamental outcome.

Macro Practice Teaching and Curriculum Development From an Evidence-Based Perspective

ABSTRACT This article contributes to the discourse around evidence-based practice (EBP) as an organizing principle and guiding framework for macro-practice education as it has developed in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. In examining the first five years of implementing evidence-based education at the macro level, some lessons learned are provided. This learning has opened the door for continuing the dialogue on surmounting the challenges around training macro social workers in evidence-based practices. The overarching challenge in integrating EBP into the curriculum lies in the complexity of the multi-dimensional conceptualization of evidence.

The Influence of Solution-Focused Reflection on International Social Entrepreneurship Identification

Abstract This study tests potential pathways to social entrepreneurship by assessing the influence of solution-focused reflection among individuals who participated in international service. Using a logistic regression to analyze 245 survey responses, findings support the hypothesis that solution-focused reflection is significantly related to social entrepreneurship. This finding is consistent with the behavioral theory of social entrepreneurship opportunity and the creativity model of opportunity recognition. Implications suggest opportunities for future research on ways for institutions to structure operations to help entrepreneurs identify pathways to social action.