Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Measuring Social Capital as an Outcome of Service Learning

  • Published:
Innovative Higher Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Service-learning has been put forth as one of the proposed solutions to increasing social capital. However, service-learning research has not significantly addressed the impact of service learning on social capital. Unlike most previous studies, this research used quantitative analysis to measure the effect of university service-learning programs on social capital by examining the question: What impact do service-learning programs have on social capital post-graduation? This study showed that service learning addresses the civic engagement problem by providing evidence suggesting that service learning predicts social capital post-graduation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. A course is considered service-learning, in any discipline, if it contains a service-learning component. The course may be optional or mandatory and is a credit-bearing course. At Rutgers University all disciplines offering a course with a service-learning component are listed with CASE.

References

  • Adler, P. S., & Kwon, S. (2002). Social capital: Prospect for a new concept. Academy of Management Review, 27(1), 17–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alm, L. R. (1999). Linear correlation and regression. In G. J. Miller & M. L. Whicker (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in public administration (pp. 249–276). New York, NY: Marcel Dekker.

    Google Scholar 

  • Astin, A. W., & Sax, L. J. (1998). How undergraduates are affected by service participation. The Journal of College Student Development, 39(3), 251–263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Babbie, E. (2001). The practice of social research (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Worth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barber, B. R., & Battistoni, R. M. (1993). A season of service: Introducing service learning into the liberal arts curriculum. PS: Political Science and Politics, 26(2), 235–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baxter, S. (2008 February). A proposal for a national service learning program. PA Times, pp. 6–7.

  • Berscheid, E., Snyder, M., & Omoto, A. M. (1989). The relationship closeness inventory: Assessing the closeness of interpersonal relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(5), 792–807.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1985). The forms of capital. In J. G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). New York, NY: Greenwood.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brehm, J., & Rahn, W. (1997). Individual level evidence for the causes and consequences of social capital. American Journal of Political Science, 41(3), 999–1023.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brewer, G. A. (2003). Building social capital: Civic attitudes and behavior of public servants. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 13(1), 5–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bringle, R. G., & Hatcher, J. A. (2002). Campus-community partnerships: The terms of engagement. Journal of Social Issues, 58(3), 503–516.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burns, N., Schlozman, K. L., & Verba, S. (2001). The private roots of public action: Gender, equality, and political participation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, D. E. (2000). Social capital and service learning. PS: Political Science and Politics, 33(3), 641–645.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CASE Faculty Orientation Packet [brochure] (2001). New Brunswick, NJ: Citizenship and Service Education Program.

  • Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94(Suppl), S95–S120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corporation for National and Community Service [CNCS], U.S. Department of Education, Points of Light Foundation, USA Freedom Corps’ Volunteer Center National Network. (2002). Students in service to America: A guidebook for engaging America’s students in a lifelong habit of service. Washington, DC: USA Freedom Corps. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED473771)

  • Creed, W. E. D., & Miles, R. E. (1996). Trust in organizations. A conceptual framework linking organizational forms, managerial philosophies, and the opportunity cost of control. In W. E. D. Creed, R. E. Miles, R. M. Kramer, & T. R. Tyler (Eds.), Trust in organizations: Frontiers of theory and research (pp. 16–39). London, England: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cruz, N. I., & Giles, D. E., Jr. (2000). Where’s the community in service-learning research? Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning (Special Issue), 28–34.

  • DeFilippis, J. (2001). The myth of social capital in community development. Housing Policy Debate, 12(4), 781–806.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorado, S., & Giles, D. E., Jr. (2004). Service-learning partnerships: Paths of engagement. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 11(1), 25–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Driscoll, A., Holland, B., Gelmon, S., & Kerrigan, S. (1996). An assessment model for service-learning: Comprehensive case studies of impact on faculty, students, community, and institutions. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 3(1), 66–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dufour, C. (2005, February). Service learning and social capital formation. Paper presented at the American Political Science Association Conference on Teaching and Learning in Political Science, Washington, DC.

  • Farr, J. (2004). Social capital: A conceptual history. Political Theory, 32(1), 6–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fukuyama, F. (1996). Trust: The social virtues and the creation of prosperity. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gelmon, S. B., Holland, B. A., Seifer, S. D., Shinnamon, A., & Connors, K. (1998). Community-university partnerships for mutual learning. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 5, 97–107 (fall).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanifan, L. J. (1916). The rural school community center. The Annals of the American Academy of Political Sciences, 67, 130–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howard, R. W. (2006). Bending towards justice: Service learning and social capital as a means to the tipping point. Mentoring & Tutoring, 14(1), 5–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahne, J., Chi, B., & Middaugh, E. (2006). Building social capital for civic and political engagement: The potential of high school civics courses. Canadian Journal of Education, 29(2), 387–409.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keith, N. Z. (1998). Community service for community building: The school-based service corps as border crossers. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 5, 86–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelley, H. H., Berscheid, E., Christensen, A., Harvey, J. H., Huston, T. L., Levinger, G., et al. (1983). Close relationships. San Francisco, CA: Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin, N. (1999). Social networks and status attainment. Annual Review of Sociology, 25, 467–487.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin, N. (2000). Inequality in social capital. Contemporary Sociology, 29(6), 785–795.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin, N. (2001). Building a network theory of social capital. In N. Lin, K. Cook, & R. Burt (Eds.), Social capital: Theory and research (pp. 3–29). New York, NY: Aldine De Gruter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers-Lipton, S. J. (1996). Effect of service-learning on college students’ attitudes toward international understanding. Journal of College Student Development, 37(6), 659–668.

    Google Scholar 

  • Misztral, B. (1996). Trust in modern societies: The search for the bases of social order. Cambridge, England: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, W., & Streb, M. (2001). Building citizenship: How student voice in service-learning develops civic values. Social Science Quarterly, 82(1), 155–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noguera, P. (2003). City schools and the American dream: Reclaiming the promise of public education. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ostrom, E. (1996). Civic education for the next century: A task force to initiate professional activity. PS: Political Science and Politics, 29, 755–758.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paxton, P. (1999). Is social capital declining in the United States? A multiple indicator assessment. American Journal of Sociology, 105(1), 88–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A. (1998). Social capital: Its origins and applications in modern sociology. Annual Review of Sociology, 24, 1–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A., & Landolt, P. (1996). The downside of social capital. The American Prospect, 26, 18–21. May/June 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  • Print, M., & Coleman, D. (2003). Towards understanding of social capital and citizenship education. Cambridge Journal of Education, 33(1), 123–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R. D. (1993). The prosperous community: Social capital and public life. The American Prospect, 4(13), 35–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R. D. (1995). Bowling alone: America’s declining social capital. Journal of Democracy, 6(1), 65–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rus, A., & Iglic, H. (2005). Trust, governance and performance: The role of institutional and interpersonal trust in SME development. International Sociology, 20(3), 371–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shadish, W. R., Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (2002). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for generalized causal inference. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, E. (2005, February). Using the experimental method to assess the efficacy of a service-learning approach to American government. Paper presented at the American Political Science Association Teaching and Learning Conference, Washington, DC.

  • Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey (2000). Retrieved April 21, 2010, from http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/data_access/data/datasets/social_capital_community_survey.html

  • Stanton, T. K., Giles, D. E., Jr., & Cruz, N. L. (1999). Service learning: A movement’s pioneers reflect on its origins, practice and future. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stone, W. (2001). Measuring social capital: Towards a theoretically informed measurement framework for researching social capital in family and community life. (Research paper No. 24). Melbourne, Australia: Australian Institute of Family Studies.

  • The National Service Community Act of 1990 [As amended through December 17, 1999, P.L. 106–170], p. 10, Retrieved online April 30, 2010 from, http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/role_impact/history.asp

  • The World Bank. (n.d.). What is social capital? Retrieved April 21, 2010, from http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTSOCIALDEVELOPMENT/EXTTSOCIALCAPITAL/0contentMDK:20185164∼menuPK:418217∼pagePK:148956∼piPK:216618∼theSitePK:401015,00.htm

  • Noguera, P. (2001). Transforming urban schools through investments in the social capital of parents. In S. Saegert, J. P. Thompson, & M. R. Warren (Eds.), Social capital and poor communities (pp. 189–212). New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ulsaner, E. M. (2000). Producing and consuming trust. Political Science Quarterly, 115(4), 569–590.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ulsaner, E. M., & Brown, M. (2005). Inequality, trust, and civic engagement. American Politics Research, 33(6), 868–894.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ulsaner, E. M., & Conley, R. S. (2003). Civic engagement and particularized trust: The ties that bind people to their ethnic communities. American Politics Research, 31(4), 331–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woolcock, M. (1998). Social capital and economic development: Toward a theoretical synthesis and policy framework. Theory and Society, 27(2), 151–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, New York, NY, USA

    Maria J. D’Agostino

Authors
  1. Maria J. D’Agostino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria J. D’Agostino.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

D’Agostino, M.J. Measuring Social Capital as an Outcome of Service Learning. Innov High Educ 35, 313–328 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-010-9149-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-010-9149-5

Key words

Search

Navigation