own resume while doing things she was interested in. She had the freedom to build her own projects. She felt the whole environment was very open and encouraging. Regulation vs. Autonomy One of the most interesting themes emerging from these interviews was the correlation between volunteer autonomy and how the volunteer tended to view their experience. In Kevin’s case, he mentions how PC Kyrgyzstan wanted volunteers who were independent. It was important to the office that they not have to constantly hold the hand. volunteer’s Pete describes similar sentiments. Having served in two different countries, he could compare and contrast both posts. He also served in Kyrgyzstan, nearly ten years after Kevin did. Pete felt that PC was involved in lives, but it was more to maintain security than to volunteer’s maintain organizational control. PC checking up on his personal life or telling him how to wasn’t do his job. After completing service in Kyrgyzstan, he and his wife (also a PCV) began a new service in China. In China PCVs lived in a large city, in the university compound. With security being much less of an issue than in Kyrgyzstan, PC China was relatively less involved. He felt that PC was supportive when they needed to be, but certainly never felt as though they were a “big brother.” Pete had nothing but good things to say about PC, when asked about possible criticisms that PC has fallen victim to goal displacement, he responded: too cynical for me. It certainly may be true, but it never “That's far crossed my mind. My PMs (Program Managers) were hard working people who wanted to improve the lot of their countrymen and women. My CD (Country Director) in Kyrgyzstan bled for us.
own resume while doing things she was interested in. She had the freedom to build her own projects. She felt the whole environment was very open and encouraging. Regulation vs. Autonomy One of the most interesting themes emerging from these interviews was the correlation between volunteer autonomy and how the volunteer tended to view their experience. In Kevin’s case, he mentions how PC Kyrgyzstan wanted volunteers who were independent. It was important to the office that they not have to constantly hold the volunteer’s hand. Pete describes similar sentiments. Having served in two different countries, he could compare and contrast both posts. He also served in Kyrgyzstan, nearly ten years after Kevin did. Pete felt that PC was involved in volunteer’s lives, but it was more to maintain security than to maintain organizational control. PC wasn’t checking up on his personal life or telling him how to do his job. After completing service in Kyrgyzstan, he and his wife (also a PCV) began a new service in China. In China PCVs lived in a large city, in the university compound. With security being much less of an issue than in Kyrgyzstan, PC China was relatively less involved. He felt that PC was supportive when they needed to be, but certainly never felt as though they were a “big brother.” Pete had nothing but good things to say about PC, when asked about possible criticisms that PC has fallen victim to goal displacement, he responded: “That's far too cynical for me. It certainly may be true, but it never crossed my mind. My PMs (Program Managers) were hard working people who wanted to improve the lot of their countrymen and women. My CD (Country Director) in Kyrgyzstan bled for us.
4C%20rhodes%20Science%20of%20Stories.docx