The Effects of Adventure Education on AtRisk Populations and Group Cohesion - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 21
About This Presentation
Title:

The Effects of Adventure Education on AtRisk Populations and Group Cohesion

Description:

Lindsay and Newberry (2000) found that low elements challenge courses ... Lindsay, J.F., Jr. and Newberry, E.H. (2000) The impact of social skills ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:130
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 22
Provided by: uwl9
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: The Effects of Adventure Education on AtRisk Populations and Group Cohesion


1
The Effects of Adventure Education on At-Risk
Populations and Group Cohesion
  • By Dave Lueck
  • ESS 777
  • Fall 2008

2
Introduction
This project aimed to research the effects of
Adventure Education and similar programs on the
behavior of at-risk populations, as well as on
group cohesion. To that end, 10 Adventure
Education/at-risk articles and 3 Adventure
Education/group cohesion research articles were
reviewed. The following slides provide
definitions, results, limitations, conclusions,
suggestions for future research, and a
bibliography.
3
Definitions
4
Adventure education
  • A variety of self-initiated activities utilizing
    an interaction with the natural environment, that
    contain elements of real or apparent danger, in
    which the outcome, while uncertain, can be
    influenced by the participant and the
    circumstance. (Gilbertson, Bates, McLaughlin, and
    Ewert 2006)

5
Adventure education
  • The branch of outdoor education concerned
    primarily with interpersonal and intrapersonal
    relationships uses activities that provide a
    group or an individual with compelling tasks to
    accomplish. These tasks often involve group
    problem solving and personal challenge. (Priest
    and Gass, 2005)
  • Direct, active, and engaging learning experiences
    that involve the whole person and have real
    consequences. (Prouty, Panicucci, and Collinson,
    2007)

6
Outdoor pursuits
  • Activities which entail moving across natural
    land and/or water resources by non-mechanized
    means of travel. (Ford and Blanchard, 1993)

7
At-Risk Youth
  • Youth who, for various reasons, are not fitting
    in with school or society. (They) live in a
    negative environment and/or lack the skills and
    values that help them become responsible members
    of society. (Cross, 2002)
  • A group of individuals who are likely to need
    intervention to avert potentially dangerous
    circumstances. (Stumbo, 1999)

8
Definitions (continued)
  • Locus of Control Based on the theory that
    suggests there are two poles of thought regarding
    social expectancy. Internally oriented people
    tend to believe that the choices they make will
    have a impact on the outcome of a given
    situation. Externally oriented people tend to
    believe that the outcome of a given situation is
    generally out of their control. (Lindsay and
    Newberry, 2000)
  • Recidivism Repeated or habitual relapse, as
    into crime. (Flexner and Hauck, 1996)

9
Definitions (continued)
  • Resiliency The capacity of those who are
    exposed to identifiable risk factors to overcome
    such risks and avoid negative outcomes such as
    delinquency and behavioral problems,
    psychological maladjustment, academic
    difficulties, and physical complications.
    (Bloemhoff, 2006)
  • Cohesion A dynamic process that is reflected in
    the tendency for a group to stick together and
    remain united in pursuit of its instrumental
    objectives and/or for the satisfaction of member
    affective needs. (Weinberg and Gould, 2007)

10
Results
  • Lindsay and Newberry (2000) found that low
    elements challenge courses significantly
    increased internal locus of control of youth from
    residential care for at least three months.
  • Bloemhoff (2006) reported that at-risk adolescent
    boys increased in resilience after completing a
    high elements ropes course.
  • Cross (2002) found that a rock climbing program
    decreased alienation and increased sense of
    control in at-risk adolescents.

11
Results (continued)
  • Conley, Caldarella, and Young (2007) indicate
    that at-risk middle and junior high school
    students with internalizing behaviors improved
    significantly in involvement, but less than half
    of the students felt that they could take what
    they learned back to the classroom.
  • Lipsey and Wilson (2000) reveal in a
    meta-analysis that wilderness challenge programs
    involving intense physical activity and
    therapeutic enhancements reduce antisocial and
    delinquent behavior.

12
Results (continued)
  • Autry (2001) found that a ropes course/hiking
    program brought about positive gains for at-risk
    adolescent girls in the areas of trust awareness,
    sense of empowerment, teamwork, and recognition
    of personal values. However, an inability to
    take those values back to everyday life was
    noted.
  • In a review of studies, Crompton and West (2001)
    report that outdoor adventure programs enhance
    self-concept and reduce recidivism in at-risk
    youth.

13
Results (continued)
  • Edwards and Houghton (1998), after reviewing
    literature concerning intentional change in
    at-risk adolescents, conclude that many of them
    participate in negative behaviors to establish
    non-conforming reputations, which are often set
    by fifth grade. Furthermore, they resist change
    if it threatens there reputations. Outdoor and
    adventure education can present such populations
    with the appropriate time to effect change and
    achieve goals in pro-social ways.

14
Results (continued)
  • Neill (2001) noted that an Outward Bound
    Australia program led to enhanced personal
    confidence, and improved social and leadership
    skills in disadvantaged youth.
  • Bensoff and Glass (2002), Hatch and McCarthy
    (2005), and Kugath (1997) all found that
    adventure programs improve group cohesion for
    adolescents, college student organizations, and
    family groups.

15
Limitations
  • Crompton and West (2001) warn that many study
    designs are weak, and studies are more likely to
    be published if positive changes took place.
    Therefore, individual studies may not be
    representative of all research, and should be
    viewed with caution.
  • Neill (2001) cautions that while the participants
    in his study were disadvantaged, they were
    actively involved in efforts to improve their
    lives. Therefore, the programs capitalized on
    their pre-set drive to improve their lives.

16
Conclusions
  • Adventure education and similar programs
    positively affect various aspects of the lives of
    at-risk youth, as evidenced by the
    studies/meta-analyses of Autry (2001), Bloemhoff
    (2006), Conley, Caldarella, and Young (2007),
    Crompton and West (2001), Cross (2002), Lipsey
    and Wilson (2000), Neill (2001), Lindsay and
    Newberry (2000).
  • Adventure programs improve group cohesion,
    according to Bensoff and Glass (2002), Hatch and
    McCarthy (2005), and Kugath (1997).

17
Conclusions
  • Various types of programs, to include ropes
    courses, low elements, Outward Bound, and outdoor
    pursuits challenges produce significant results,
    as shown by Autry (2001), Bloemhoff (2006), Cross
    (2002), Lindsay and Newberry (2000), Lipsey and
    Wilson (2000), and Neill (2001).

18
Future research
  • Because transfer of gains is an issue, study of
    transfer methodology would be useful.
  • Study of the effects of different types of
    follow-up intervention programs would help
    practitioners foster long-term progress in the
    behaviors of at-risk youth.
  • There appears to be a need for research that
    examines ideas for extending the longevity of
    challenge course gains in cohesion.

19
Bibliography
Autry, C. E. (2001). Adventure therapy with
girls at-risk responses to outdoor experiential
activities. Therapeutic Recreation Journal,
35(4), 289-306. Attah, E.B. and Fischer, R.L.
(2001). City kids in the wilderness a
pilot-test of outward bound for foster care
group-home youth. The Journal of Experiential
Education, 24 (2), 109-117. Benshoff, J. and
Glass, J. (2002) Facilitating group cohesion
among adolescents through challenge course
experiences. The Journal of Experiential
Education, 25 (2), 268-277. Bloemhoff, H.J.
(2006) The effect of an adventure-based
recreation programme (ropes course) on the
development of resiliency in at-risk adolescent
boys confined to a rehabilitation centre. South
African Journal for Research in Sport, Physical
Education and Recreation, 28 (1), 1-11. Conley,
L., Caldarella, P., and Young, E. (2007).
Evaluation of a ropes course experience for
at-risk secondary school students. Journal of
Experiential Education, 30 (1), 21-35. Crompton,
J. and West, S. (2001) A review of the impact
of adventure programs on at-risk youth. Journal
of Park and Recreation Administration, 19 (2),
113-140. Cross, R. (2002). The effects of an
adventure education program on perceptions of
alienation and personal control among at-risk
adolescents. The Journal of Experiential
Education, 25(1), 247-254.
20
Bibliography (continued)
Edwards, J., Gordon, S., and Houghton, S.
(1998). Effecting intentional change in
adventure programming for at-risk adolescents.
Perth, Australia Proceedings of the
International Adventure Therapy Conference.
(ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 424
068) Ford, P. and Blanchard, J. (1993) The
leadership and administration of outdoor
pursuits. USA Venture. Flexner, S. and Hauck,
L. (Eds.). (1996) Random house unabridged
dictionary. (2nd ed.) New York Random
House. Gilbertson, K., Bates, T., McLaughlin, T.,
and Ewert, A. (2006) Outdoor education
methods and strategies. Champaign, IL Human
Kinetics. Hatch, K.D. and McCarthy, C.J. (2005).
Exploration of challenge courses long-term
effects on members of college student
organizations. Journal of Experiential
Education, 27 (3), 245-264. Kugath, S. (1997)
The effects of family participation in an outdoor
adventure program. Proceedings of the
International Conference on Outdoor Recreation
and Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction
Service No. ED 417 050) Lindsay, J.F., Jr. and
Newberry, E.H. (2000) The impact of social
skills training and challenge course training on
locus of control of youth from residential care.
The Journal of Experiential Education, 23 (1),
39-42.
21
Bibliography (continued)
  • Lipsey, M.and Wilson, S. (2000). Wilderness
    challenge programs for delinquent youth a
    meta-analysis of outcome evaluations. Evaluation
    and Program Planning, 23 (2000), 1-12.
  • Neill, J. (2001). The impact of outward bound
    challenge courses on disadvantaged youth.
    Colonial Foundation, 1-23.
  • Priest, S. and Gass, M. (2005) Effective
    leadership in adventure programming. Champaign,
    IL Human Kinetics.
  • Prouty, D., Panicucci, J., and Collinson, R.
    (Eds.) (2007) Adventure education theory and
    applications. Champaign, IL Human Kinetics.
  • Stumbo, N. (1999) Intervention activities for
    at-risk youth. State College, PA Venture.
  • Weinberg, R. and Gould, D. (2007) Foundations
    of sport and exercise psychology. Champaign, IL
    Human Kinetics.
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com