This chapter addresses German youth's participation in community service in four steps. First, it relates the German system of market economy to some of the special characteristics of community service in this country after unification. Second, it discusses possible effects of community service on adolescents’ development. Third, it presents an empirical study that is based on the idea that community service may have positive effects on adolescent identity formation and improve adolescents’ understanding of societal structures. The chapter closes with some reflections about the context of community service for adolescent development in German society.

Community Service in Germany

The concepts of “community service” and “volunteering” used interchangeably in this chapter do not have exact equivalents in the German language. The expressions gemeinnuetzige Taetigkeit and soziales Ehrenamt come closest. They traditionally describe voluntary and continuous unpaid work within an organization that is performed in the interest of others during one's spare time, the soziales Ehrenamt having a higher degree of organization and obligation (Gaskin, Smith & Paulwitz, 1996; Oik, 1992). In the last years, structural changes in the meaning of the two concepts weakened the foregoing criteria. Financial rewards are diverse and include expenses and pocket money. Community service activities in Germany also have a strong leisure component and only some are designed for direct promotion of public interests. And the voluntary criterion applies to most but not all cases meant by the two terms. For instance, “civil service” in 1998 is a 13-month engagement in social work as an alternative to 10-months obligatory military service for young males.