Volunteering is any free activity that is aimed at generating various kinds of benefits for other people. In addition to that, it can be used to understand essential sociological concepts, including social control, stigma, deviance, minority group, assimilation, and affirmative action. Thus, social control is a set of rules, norms, and social structures that regulate the behavior of individuals.
If a person is involved in community help, they understand that social control is a complex phenomenon that is not always present in modern society. It means that everyone should make their personal contribution to support social control. Stigma is a social evaluation that makes people judge others according to their own beliefs. While participating in appropriate activities, volunteers encounter people who suffer a lot from these labels, which helps them understand the harmful effects of this concept. Deviance is described as behavior or action that violates some norms, either official or social. Active volunteering is inevitably connected with people who go against standard rules. However, when volunteers cooperate with them closely, they understand that some external factors can cause this deviant behavior.
In addition to that, the concept of minority group stands for people who represent belief, idea, or ethnicity that is not traditional for a particular place. Rendering assistance to these people can show that their peculiarities do not mean that they should be treated differently as to social norms. Assimilation is a process during which representatives of a particular culture acquire the rules and beliefs of a different culture. Volunteering activities often focus on assimilated populations who need assistance, either material or mental.
Affirmative actions are a strategy to deliver help to representatives of a minority group. Since this concept is central in volunteering, every following volunteering action helps comprehend its principles better. Thus, being involved in volunteering helps understand essential sociological concepts, which, in turn, makes volunteers better citizens.
