WILDERNESS EXPERIENTIAL PROGRAM AS AN ALTERNATIVE FOR PROBATIONERS: AN EVALUATION (FROM YOUTH INJUSTICE: CANADIAN PERSPECTIVES, P 215-229, 1993, THOMAS O'REILLY-FLEMING, BARRY CLARK, EDS. -- SEE NCJ-148261)

• NCJ Number: 148274
• Author(s): J Winterdyk; R Roesch
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 15 pages
• Sale Source: Canadian Scholars Press
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: Canada

Annotation

This article presents the results of an evaluation of an experiential wilderness program, A.C.T.I.O.N. (Accepting Challenge Through Interaction with Others and Nature), based on the Outward Bound philosophy, employed for a group of juvenile male probationers in eastern Canada.

Abstract

Wilderness programs, in general, offer physical and mental challenges, adventure, and an experiential education process to promote personal growth and identity. The programs tend to emphasize high impact and stress-directed involvement which demands that individuals excel beyond what they believed were their capabilities. This would appear appropriate for juveniles; one of the underlying assumptions of this study, and similar programs, was that by participating the delinquents would improve their self-concept and self-esteem, and they would adopt more socially acceptable modes of behavior. The main theorem tested was that, other things being equal, this type of program would prove to be a viable alternative to placing juveniles on probation. Tables, endnotes