Court-Ordered Community Service : The Experiences of Community Organizations and Community Service Workers

Community service is a court-ordered sanction for probation, requiring individuals to work unpaid hours at approved agencies. This Element explores the organizational and interpersonal dynamics of working with court-ordered service workers. Interviews with workers in Northeast Georgia suggest practices to improve experiences for both parties.

Community service is a common court-ordered sanction in many countries. Individuals sentenced to community service must work a specified number of uncompensated hours at an approved community agency, typically as a condition of probation. A core expectation of court-ordered community service is that the community agencies benefit from this labor. However, very little research examines the organizational and interpersonal dynamics involved when community organizations work with court-ordered community service workers. What are local public and nonprofit organizations'' experiences with court-ordered community service workers? How do the workers, themselves, experience court-ordered community service within community agencies? We address these questions through interviews with 31 volunteer managers and 34 court-ordered community service workers in two court jurisdictions in Northeast Georgia. We frame our findings within the volunteer management literature and suggest practices that could improve experiences for both the court-ordered community service worker and the community organization.