Young Adults' Civic Engagement in Community-Based Organizations

Abstract

Young adults are less civically engaged than other age groups, and have less of an awareness of community-based organizations (CBOs) and their role in communities in the United States. CBOs fulfill an integral function, often acting as the social service arm of local communities. The issues that CBOs often address are systemic such as poverty, mental health, public health, and unemployment. The purpose of the assignment in a Ph.D. of education program was to design and implement a service-learning research project utilizing a civic engagement and critical pedagogy model in an undergraduate course on the roles and issues of CBOs. The goals of this project are to 1) help young adults be more aware of systemic issues in our society; 2) introduce them to the role of CBOs in addressing these systemic issues; and 3) increase their civic engagement.