The impact of international service on the development of volunteers' intercultural relations.
Approximately one million people from the United States perform international volunteer service each year, representing a significant flow of ideas, people, resources, and aid across international borders. This quasi-experimental study assesses the longitudinal impact of international volunteer service on volunteers' intercultural relations, international social capital, and concern about international affairs. Using linear mixed regression models that control for a counterfactual comparison group of individuals that did not travel abroad, international volunteers are more likely to report significant increases in international social capital and international concern two to three years after returning from service. Results indicate that intercultural relations may also continue to increase years after returning from service. International service may be a useful approach to helping people gain skills and networks that are needed in an increasingly global society.
School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1010 W. Nevada St., Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Centre for Social Development in Africa, Faculty of Humanities, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Electronic address: bjlough@illinois.edu.
Benjamin J
BJ
Lough
School of Social Work, University of Missouri-St. Louis, USA.
Margaret Sherrard
MS
Sherraden
George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, USA.
Amanda Moore
AM
McBride
School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1010 W. Nevada St., Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
Xiaoling
X
Xiang
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D014195:Travel; D014481:United States; D014838:Volunteers; D014937:Work; D055815:Young Adult
Cultural development; International; Longitudinal; Social capital; Volunteering