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This chapter investigates volunteering, much vaunted in recent policy as a valuable means by which young people may gain valuable experience for work and careers. The chapter argues however that policies to encourage more youth volunteering are based on a conundrum: the fact that there is no robust evidence to support the view that volunteering is a beneficial means by which to access paid employment. Case study research of a volunteering organisation in Scotland, which delivers bespoke employability training to young people which includes daily spells of volunteering in a range of voluntary sector workplaces, provides some insight into why this might be the case. Work experience placements can consist of young people ‘time-filling’ with meaningless, poor-quality work and lack of engagement by employers makes it difficult for young people to gain experience in organisations offering paid employment opportunities. However, the chapter underscores the significant contribution of trainers to other beneficial outcomes of volunteering programmes, such as the confidence and wellbeing of young trainees.

This chapter examines the level of active citizenship in prison based on the interviews with 50 prisoners. Recognising that citizenship encompasses more than just rights and responsibilities but is intertwined with participation, it considers their activities prior to imprisonment, the opportunities for participative citizenship behind bars and outlines some reasons for involvement in what are characterised as citizenship activities inside. The chapter concludes by reviewing the impact of an institution that limits agency, freedom of choice and movement, and restricts individuals’ involvement in civic society. While engaging in activities traditionally associated with freedom is problematic in prisons, different institutions provide opportunities for various levels of purposeful activity, programme participation and civic engagement. What impact, if any, does prison have on civic engagement and activities associated with citizenship among those who are sent there?

Active ageing is recommended by international policy bodies including the World Health Organisation as a means to tackle the challenges of demographic ageing. This chapter considers active ageing in Ireland in a time of austerity, specifically assessing older people’s involvement in social participation, creative activities and volunteering in Ireland. It investigates the motivations for, potential benefits from and barriers to participation in such activities. It discusses how certain groups, (including the oldest old, those with mobility issues and men) may be under-represented in terms of participation. The chapter draws on three mixed methods empirical studies to illuminate the findings. The chapter concludes that while social benefits and an enhanced quality of life are associated with such engagement, governments need to ensure that such programmes are adequately resourced so that all groups of older people may participate and that older people are not overburdened providing services that ought to be provided by the state.

What does social justice look like in an academic immersion course? This chapter describes a course that addresses the need to link volunteer service with a strong anchoring in social analysis by combining a 15-hour on-campus component and a ten-day immersion experience in New Orleans where students worked in a variety of non-profits. Classes held on campus entailed a rigorous social analysis of race and social class in New Orleans, environmental impacts, the role of social and political systems, the lived experience of New Orleanians, and next steps – to rebuild or not? In New Orleans students did policy analysis, community strategic planning, grant writing, and environmental restoration as part of their participatory action research projects.

This chapter examines women working in museums, paid or as volunteers, in curatorial roles or in secretarial, cleaning, or other positions. It shows that while women had some difficulty accessing curatorial roles, they used non-curatorial roles and volunteering to make space in museums, from which they might also undertake curatorial work; women were less compartmentalised than their job descriptions implied. It also explores the process of professionalisation in museums during the period, and finds that although it privileged men, it was incomplete and inconsistent, and also created opportunities for women. Women found roles undertaking repetitive and detailed work, working with children, and communicating with the general public.

This chapter outlines the origins and development of the ‘Poor Man’s Lawyer’ as a form of pro bono volunteering by lawyers at settlement houses, churches, and community centres. It looks at the advantages and limitations of this kind of volunteering, and how Poor Man’s Lawyer work was used by lawyers at different stages of their careers. The chapter also explores how the National Council of Social Service and other proto-voluntary sector groups embraced legal advice work as part of their mission to better organise and co-ordinate voluntary and statutory social work in the interwar period. It also considers the relationship between the social work and legal professions from the 1890s to the 1930s.