Civic Engagement and the Baby Boomer Generation: Research, Policy, and Practice Perspectives / Edition 1

by Laura Wilson

Overview

Discover a vital source of volunteers for your organization

By the year 2020, there will be 65 million people aged 65 and over living in the United States—a new generation of active older adults expecting to use the expertise, experience, and life skills they’ve gained to make valuable contributions to society in their retirement years. Civic Engagement and the Baby Boomer Generation presents the latest research findings and evaluation studies that help promote a thorough understanding of the programs, policies, and civic opportunities available to people aged 50 and older. This unique book is an essential resource for nonprofit organizations seeking to meet their needs with a generation of volunteers eager to explore new options, work in new capacities, and continue lifelong learning.

More than any previous generation, baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) are defying stereotypes about aging while seeking new and meaningful lifestyles. Civic Engagement and the Baby Boomer Generation defines an agenda for future policy, research, and practice to help reverse the well-documented decline in civic engagement in the United States, providing older Americans with opportunities to have an impact in their local, national, and global communities. The book’s contributors focus attention on the value of civic engagement in creating vital social capital and social networks.

Civic Engagement and the Baby Boomer Generation examines:

• current issues and trends in civic engagement
• results from senior corps. examinations
• expanding youth service concepts
• lifelong learning institutes
• the relationship between civic engagement and leadership
• issues in elder service and volunteerism
• outcomes of a national agenda setting meeting
• intergenerational relations and civic engagement

Civic Engagement and the Baby Boomer Generation is an important source of information for anyone working with nonprofit, government, and corporate organizations concerned with public policy, community affairs, volunteerism, research, practice, and education.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780789005519
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	03/07/2006
Pages:	298
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Laura Wilson

Table of Contents

• About the Editors
• Contributors
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• PART I: OVERVIEW OF CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
• Chapter 1. Civic Engagement in the United States (William A. Galston and Mark H. Lopez)
• Introduction
• Why Does Civic Disengagement Matter?
• Civic Attitudes and Knowledge
• Civic Behavior
• Conclusion
• Chapter 2. Social Capital and Civic Engagement of Individuals Over Age Fifty in the United States (Thomas H. Sander with Robert D. Putnam)
• Overall Trends in Social Capital
• Life Cycle versus Generational Trends
• Generational Trends Beyond Volunteering
• Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey
• Bridging and Tolerance
• Conclusion
• PART II: NATIONAL SERVICE AND THE FIFTY-PLUS POPULATION
• Chapter 3. Civic Engagement and National Service: Results from Senior Corps Evaluations (Priyanthi Silva and Cynthia Thomas)
• Introduction to Senior Service and Volunteerism
• Methodology
• Describing National Senior Service: The Senior Corps Volunteer Programs
• The Foster Grandparent Program
• The Senior Companion Program
• The RSVP Program
• Strengths of the Senior Corps Programs
• Limitations to National Senior Corps Growth
• The Future of National Senior Service
• Chapter 4. Expanding Youth Service Concepts for Older Adults: AmeriCorps Results (Karen Harlow-Rosentraub, Laura B. Wilson, and Jack Steele)
• Introduction
• Site Composition of Legacy Corps Activities
• Political Activity and Citizen Involvement Among Members
• Conclusions
• PART III: LIFELONG LEARNING AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
• Chapter 5. Civic Engagement and Lifelong Learning Institutes: Current Status and Future Directions (Sharon P. Simson, Laura B. Wilson, and Karen Harlow-Rosentraub)
• Introduction
• The Educational Mission of Lifelong Learning Institutes
• The Civic Engagement Mission of Lifelong Learning Institutes
• Methods
• Results about Current Status of LLIs and Civic Engagement
• Results Regarding the Future of LLIs and Civic Engagement
• Discussion
• Future Directions
• Chapter 6. Legacy Leadership Institutes: Combining Lifelong Learning with Civic Engagement (Laura B. Wilson, Jack Steele, Sharon P. Simson, and Karen Harlow-Rosentraub)
• Background and Description
• Program Design and Structure
• Research and Evaluation Findings on the Legacy Leadership Institute Model
• Outcomes and Conclusion: The Impact and Potential of the Legacy Leadership Institute Concept
• Chapter 7. An International Application of Lifelong Learning and Civic Engagement (Ben H. Slijkhuis and Joke M. Zwart)
• Core Elements of the U.S. Legacy Leadership Concept
• Translating the American Concept to the Dutch Situation
• Construction of the Dutch Model
• The SESAM Academy
• The Results of Two Years of SESAM Academy
• Moving On: Other Countries Are Waiting
• PART IV: INTERGENERATIONAL CONCEPTS AND APPLICATIONS
• Chapter 8. Intergenerational Relationships and Civic Engagement (Sally Newman and Richard Goff)
• Introduction
• Intergenerational Civic Engagement and Societal Conditions
• Profiles of Youth and Older Adults and Implications for Intergenerational Activities
• Intergenerational Models in the United States
• The Structure
• Problems and Challenges
• Best Practices of Intergenerational Models
• Outcomes
• Impact on Age Cohorts
• Individual Intergenerational Relationships
• Conclusion
• Chapter 9. Defining the Relationships Between Civic Engagement and Leadership in Later Life (Tracey T. Manning)