Volunteering as Punishment
Written on March 4, 2010 at 11:59 am by Damien
The other week I saw this post about an 11 your old girl who is being required to do six hours of “volunteer work” to get her free Oyster card back or else face a ban of one year.
There has been a lot of discussion around the increase in the use of community service.
Should something be referred to as volunteering if it’s not entirely voluntary?
Apparently those that volunteer (especially at an early age) really enjoy it and go on to volunteer more as they go through life. Some agree with this “ends justifies the means” argument. Others don’t.
What do you think? Is it OK to use the word volunteering when referring to punishment through community service?
5 comments on this post
I think it’s really interesting that of the many comments on there only a few pick up on the volunteering aspect to the story. The few that do, clearly see it is as community service and equate it with punishment. That’s certainly the way Elliz’s mother sees it according to the quote.
I think it’s useful to think about volunteering as a way of giving where your freedom to give is in balance with your intention to make a beneficial impact on your community. Clearly, community service to get your zip back, as much as it may have beneficial impacts socially and otherwise, comes with a lot less freedom than volunteering!
Interesting recent research (see below) suggests that people are reluctant to describe what they do as volunteering because they see it as ’something others do’. They are often more likely to describe their own volunteering activity in more personal terms, e.g just helping out those around me. http://www.vds.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/Christine%2520Reilly.pdf
Taken with the way volunteering gets presented in the media (exhibit A is the article linked to above), volunteering is seen as an incredibly value-laden term in overly negative terms (e.g. as punishment) or in overly positive terms (beyond the reach of many’s personal everyday experience). I think we need a more balanced approach.
Thanks Patrick you make good points. It’s difficult to tell where the word volunteering was introduced – was it first used by TfL, the journalists writing the story or via the girl’s mother when she spoke to the journalists? Either way, whether it’s misuse of the term or misunderstanding of the nature of the measures applied by TfL, it doesn’t bode well for people’s perception of volunteering. I think you are right though – it’s a much bigger issue than this one story.
TfL use the word volunteering here: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresandtickets/1063.aspx#section-6
It’s pretty clear it’s linked to volunteering in the eyes of those who’ve set the system up. It’s managed by v.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/12248.aspx
Colleague Olly Benson’s blogged about it here:
http://futureproof.olib.co.uk/2009/07/25/sacrifice-optional-and-about-other-people/
Thanks again Patrick. Really great links and information.
Interesting post.
Is it OK to use the word volunteering when referring to punishment through community service?
To me, describing community service as “voluntary work” gives volunteering a bad name. These days the courts are handing out community service as an alternative to prison, but to most true volunteers it’s anything but a punishment. It’s disappointing to see British institutions directly associating community service and volunteering; in the long run it could damage the image and appeal of giving our free time to a worthwhile cause.
The initiative otherwise has some strong points but if ‘volunteering’ is being used as a ‘punishment’ then it’s no punishment at all. Keep community service and voluntary work separate.