TITLE:
Community Social Service: Students Away from the Classroom, Building Knowledge in Their Communities
AUTHORS:
Jaime L. Brito Vázquez, Adriana A. Figueroa Muñoz Ledo, María del Carmen Mañón Pazos, Sergio Sedano Jiménez, Vianey Ramírez Chávez, Marlene Quintero Castillo
KEYWORDS:
Community Social Service, Community Intervention, Social Service Students
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.5 No.1,
January
6,
2017
ABSTRACT: The objective of this intervention was to strengthen the Social Service program through an active participation model between students and their communities, promoting a cohesive education and a sense of social responsibility in students. This was a mixed quantitative-qualitative study, transversal-descriptive including pre-post test measures in social service students related to information regarding family violence and the cultural consensus around the purpose, barriers and benefits of social service. Through the experience of community social service, students widen their understanding of family violence and its manifestations, enriching their comprehension of the phenomenon. During the post-test evaluation, the development of social abilities as a part of the cultural consensus on the benefits of carrying out their social service was accentuated. Furthermore, the consensus on the lack of disadvantages of carrying out their social service was increased, while the perception of the need to increase expenditure of time and abandoning other activities was reduced. The experience of community social service allowed students to link academic knowledge to community knowledge, while at the same time their opinion of social service itself was modified in a positive way. Students were able to insert themselves in their community and establish horizontal relationships. Social service represents a means to exercise citizenship and social responsibility. However, it is primordial to involve all other characters in the university universe to guarantee the continuity of projects and actions to benefit communities.