Rediscovering community: Interethnic relationships and community gardening

• Main Authors: August John Hoffman, Julie Wallach, Eduardo Sanchez
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: UTS ePRESS 2010-11-01
• Series: Gateways : International Journal of Community Research & Engagement
• Online Access: http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/ijcre/article/view/896

Community service work, volunteerism and mentoring have recently become popular topics of research as effective methods in improving self-esteem and civic responsibility. In the current study we explored the relationship between participation in a community service gardening program and ethnocentrism. We hypothesised that an inverse correlation would emerge where students who participated in a community service-gardening program would increase their perceptions of the importance of community service work and decrease their scores in ethnocentrism. Results of the paired samples t-test strongly support the hypothesis that community service gardening work significantly reduces reports of ethnocentrism: t(10) = -2.52, (p < .03) for community college students. The ramifications of the study and ramifications for future research are offered.