The Peace Corps is a transformative experience for many young Americans. The majority of volunteers have worthwhile services they remember fondly; however, these experiences are not always positive. The Peace Corps is a Cold War initiative that uses soft power techniques to further American exceptionalism, capitalism, and the modernization theory of development. The goal of this project was to understand what factors led to the negative experiences of Peace Corps Volunteers. I conducted an ethnography that focused on online communities, semi-structured interviews, Peace Corps memoirs, and news articles to understand Peace Corps Volunteers’ experiences and the organizational culture where they take place. Findings show that those with negative experiences were unable to live up to the expectations set by Peace Corps, were unsupported by Peace Corps staff, and found that the policies for reporting crimes against volunteers caused further harm. I concluded that volunteers with negative experiences found blame with the Peace Corps as an organization for their negative experiences and recommend a complete cultural shift in how volunteers with negative services are treated and a more inclusive and open conversation about what life as a volunteer is like. However, this cultural shift is only possible by utilizing an organizational culture framework aimed at preventing and addressing misconduct.
","abstract_html":"<p>The Peace Corps is a transformative experience for many young Americans. The majority of volunteers have worthwhile services they remember fondly; however, these experiences are not always positive. The Peace Corps is a Cold War initiative that uses soft power techniques to further American exceptionalism, capitalism, and the modernization theory of development. The goal of this project was to understand what factors led to the negative experiences of Peace Corps Volunteers. I conducted an ethnography that focused on online communities, semi-structured interviews, Peace Corps memoirs, and news articles to understand Peace Corps Volunteers’ experiences and the organizational culture where they take place. Findings show that those with negative experiences were unable to live up to the expectations set by Peace Corps, were unsupported by Peace Corps staff, and found that the policies for reporting crimes against volunteers caused further harm. I concluded that volunteers with negative experiences found blame with the Peace Corps as an organization for their negative experiences and recommend a complete cultural shift in how volunteers with negative services are treated and a more inclusive and open conversation about what life as a volunteer is like. However, this cultural shift is only possible by utilizing an organizational culture framework aimed at preventing and addressing misconduct.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Jacobson, Nicole"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A.","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Alejandro Cerón"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-11-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-11-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:01:39Z","subjects":["Cultural anthropology","Ethnography","Negative experience","Organizational culture","Peace Corps","Anthropology","Other Anthropology","Social and Behavioral Sciences","Social and Cultural Anthropology"],"languages":["English (eng)"],"rights":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
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"],"dc:subject":["Cultural anthropology","Ethnography","Negative experience","Organizational culture","Peace Corps","Anthropology","Other Anthropology","Social and Behavioral Sciences","Social and Cultural Anthropology"],"dc:title":["Putting It Gently: The Other Side of a Peace Corps Volunteer Experience"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:01:39Z"}