Wilderness Experience Research Articles

Two Years Later: A Qualitative Assessment of Youth Well-Being and the Role of Aftercare in Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Treatment

This study evaluated youth well-being 24-months after the conclusion of outdoor behavioral healthcare (OBH) treatment and explored how youth transition to a variety of post-treatment settings. OBH treatment involves integrating clinical treatment approaches with wilderness expeditions that average over 50 days. Transition from OBH treatment often requires that youth and family utilize aftercare services, which are typically: (a) outpatient services, which are comprised of individualized, group or family therapy, or (b) residential services, which are comprised of residential treatment centers, therapeutic boarding schools, and others. The results suggest that 80% of parents and 95% of youths perceived OBH treatment as effective, the majority of clients were doing well in school, and family communication had improved. Aftercare was utilized by 85% of the youths and was perceived as a crucial component in facilitating the transition from an intensive wilderness experience to family, peer and school environments. Results also indicated that many continued to use alcohol and/or drugs to varying degrees, had legal problems, and still had issues forming friendships with peers. OBH treatment was perceived as being a necessary and effective step in helping youths address, and eventually overcome, emotional and psychological issues that were driving destructive behavior prior to OBH treatment.

The power of the instructor in the solo experience: An empirical study and some non-empirical questions

The purpose of this study was to investigate participants' perceptions of an organized solo within a wilderness experience program and the influence that the instructors have on their perception of the solo. More specifically, this research project focused on the role of the instructor in the solo as perceived by the participants while still on solo, at the end of their wilderness experience, and three and a half months following the program. Qualitative data indicated that the instructors do have an influence on the participants' perception of their solo experience through the (a) preparation for, (b) facilitation during and (c) discussion after the solo. Recommendations to enhance the use of the wilderness solo include: (a) understand student expectations prior to the solo, (b) provide a clear rationale for the solo and associated activities, (c) implement an optional instructor/student visit during solo, (d) provide a one-on-one discussion with students prior to a group debrief after the solo, and (e) carefully consider the impact of the solo on program events and group dynamics that follow.

The Open Space of Democracy by Terry Tempest Williams

B o o k R e v ie w s 3 5 7 One of the difficulties in reconstructing the history of black women’s participation in western settlement is the scarcity of primary sources. The anthology is particularly valuable for the variety of sources uncovered and dis­ cussed: census, court, and church records; oral histories; newspapers; published and unpublished memoirs; and minutes from meetings of black women’s clubs. Of particular interest to literary scholars are the vignettes drawn from these sources and interspersed throughout, including poems, letters, and excerpts from interviews, oral histories, and memoirs. The Open Space of Democracy. By Terry Tempest Williams. Great Barrington, Mass.: Orion Society, 2004. 107 pages, $8.00. Reviewed by Tara Penry Boise State University, Idaho Like so much of Terry Tempest Williams’s work, The Open Space of Democracy is both lyrical and purposeful. “The Arctic is balancing on an immense mirror,” begins the second chapter. “The tundra is shimmering” (28). Such images of balance, fragility, and immensity abound in this slender book, providing layers of literary texture beneath the book’s political purpose—to demonstrate how citizens in a democracy can participate in constructive dialogue across ideologi­ cal differences. Illustrated with paintings by Mary Frank, the book opens by imagining “a figure ... arching over a deep chasm to make contact with a smaller figure ... also stretching across the divide to meet the other” (2). Democracy, Williams argues, requires such stretching from its participants. As in other books, Williams uses her lyrical descriptions of nature to try to move some readers to feel what she feels, to stretch toward her ecological politics. But the primary commitment of this book is to define and demonstrate the sort of communication required in a democracy. The book’s first and third chapters present multiple scenes of such demo­ cratic encounter. In chapter 1, “Commencement,” Williams exchanges respect­ ful letters with a Republican senator after speaking on the theme of civil dis­ obedience in a commencement address delivered one day after George W. Bush proclaimed his “mission accomplished” in Iraq (14). In chapter 3, “Engagement,” Williams and her neighbors in Castle Valley, Utah, collaborate across political differences to achieve the common purpose of saving a local mesa from devel­ opment. Ranging in tone between the idealistic and the pragmatic, these and other examples illustrate the author’s vision ofa “spiritual democracy,” “inspired by our own sense of what we can accomplish together” (87). The book’s second chapter, “Ground Truthing,” supports the author’s belief that any political action must come from firsthand contact with affected lands. Like a scientist who must test her abstractions on the ground, a citizen in a democracy must “walk ... the ground to see for oneself if what one has been 3 5 8 W e s t e r n A m e r ic a n L it e r a t u r e F a l l 2 0 0 5 told is true” (28). Spending time in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge—a contested space under Bush energy policy—she finds “the literal open space of democracy” (59). The algae and fungi, “working together to break down rock into soil,” represent “a radical form of democracy” (58). And in the understanding that develops among the travelers in their shared experience of wilderness, she sees the literal paradigm for how community can grow in open spaces that move the spirit. Not surprisingly for those who know her prior work, Williams becomes most poetic and stining in her descriptions of the natural world, as when she meditates on the arctic tern’s 22,000-mile migration from pole to pole in search of perennial light or discovers a herd of caribou over a ridge. As a whole, the book will affect readers differently as long as the election of 2004 is remem­ bered with feeling. Explicitly critical of George W. Bush from the first page, it requires some readers to stretch farther than others. But its ideals are lofty, its examples of communication honest, and its prose forceful. Still relevant after the election, the book deserves a place in any library or course on political phi­ losophy...

Understanding the Influence of Gender and Ethnicity on Evaluations of Outdoor Leader Effectiveness

This study examines the influence of gender and ethnicity on evaluations of leader effectiveness involving a short-term wilderness education programme in the United States. Data were obtained from adolescents (ages 15 to 19, n = 503) participating in the Student Conservation Association's national Conservation Work Crew summer programme (CWC). There were two objectives: 1) to determine how the CWC experience differs for female and male participants, and those from varying ethnic backgrounds, and 2) to examine the impact of crew leaders in mediating the perceived quality of the experience. Although the majority of participants rated the experience favourably, females gave the SCA experience a more positive evaluation (on average) than males, and white participants indicated higher ratings than non-whites. As predicted, the perceived quality of the crew leaders mediated the relationship between gender and ethnicity, and the impact of this outdoor experience on participants. Results of this study highlight the importance of not only recognising differences across ethnic and gender lines among programme participants, we must also emphasise effective communication skills if outdoor leaders are to be effective with a diverse audience. Results also emphasise the need to better understand the role of leaders in providing quality wilderness experiences.

URBAN HORTICULTURE IN THE CONTEMPORARY UNITED STATES: PERSONAL AND COMMUNITY BENEFITS

URBAN HORTICULTURE IN THE CONTEMPORARY UNITED STATES: PERSONAL AND COMMUNITY BENEFITS

A concurrent model of the wilderness therapy process

Though wilderness therapy programs are growing in number and popularity, the theoretical basis for distinguishing wilderness therapy from traditional therapeutic modalities is lacking. Existing models describing the wilderness therapy process have been stage-based, meaning the process has been conceptualized as sequential and discrete. Lost in this conceptualization of the wilderness therapy process is the dynamic and interrelated nature of therapeutic factors reasoned to be present at all times and to varying degrees. To address the limitations of stage based models and the lack of a strong theoretical basis in wilderness therapy, a concurrent model of the wilderness therapy process is proposed. This proposed model consists of three factors believed to be unique to the wilderness therapy milieu: Wilderness, Physical Self, and Social Self. The constituents of each of these factors are detailed and theoretical rationale for inclusion provided. In addition hypotheses about the intensity of each of these factors are discussed as a function of the temporal progression of the wilderness experience (e.g. entrance into wilderness program, exiting wilderness program). Advantages of the proposed model as well as suggestions for model testing and refinement are included.

Expedition Medicine (Revised Edition)

Henry M. Stanley, in his second trans-Africa expedition of 1874–1877, lost 68% of his 356 men. Among the casualties, 58 died in battle or were murdered (several were cannibalized), 45 died of smallpox, 21 from dysentery, 14 drowned, and 1 was killed by a crocodile; several others died of starvation (all of this from the preface to this book). Modern-day expeditions—defined as organized and usually challenging journeys with a specific purpose of exploration, research, education, or discovery—are generally less dangerous than that experienced by Stanley. But they require extensive planning and preparation, by both leaders and expedition members, to reduce the frequencies of injury, illness, and death potentially associated with such adventures. This book is a compendium of information that will be useful to those who plan and participate in such journeys. The editors have divided their book into three sections: expedition planning, field medicine, and specific environmental settings; each section comprises 7–14 chapters written by a total of 24 contributors. The section on planning includes advice on expedition risk assessment, assembling of medical kits, and first aid training. The second section addresses base camp hygiene, water purification, and care of various minor and serious conditions that may be encountered in the field; and the third addresses problems specific to high-altitude, polar, jungle, desert, and aquatic environments. A major strength of this book is that, while targeted primarily to those (e.g, medical officers) who will be responsible for the health of expedition members, the writing is not highly technical. Hence, it is also suitable for paramedical personnel and other expedition members who may be interested (as they should be) in health issues specific to their expedition. In fact, this book is useful reading for those who may not have the background, time, or resources to join an expedition, but who simply enjoy wilderness experiences or ecotours for recreational purposes. As the editors point out, with the increasing availability of vacations in remote places offered by specialty tour companies, the boundary between such journeys and expeditions has become blurred. The book contains numerous tables and figures, which add to its readability. Inclusion of exotic subjects, such as treatment of bites by sea snakes and scorpions and attacks by large animals, makes for interesting reading. The chapters vary somewhat in value to the reader. The chapter on commonly encountered ailments, such as gastrointestinal and respiratory illnesses, is very useful. The one on assessment of the injured patient is rather long; it is difficult to imagine wading through this chapter and recording various findings while managing the critically injured person in the field. The chapter on heat-related injuries fails to distinguish between heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and hyponatremia, conditions with different clinical presentations, management requirements, and prognosis. The chapter on medical aspects of survival is brief and not very useful. Notwithstanding these minor shortcomings, this is a useful volume not only for those who plan and participate in expeditions but also for those of us who may aspire to join an expedition or who just dream of visiting exotic places. I recommend a copy for your bookshelf; better yet, for your backpack.

The Wilderness Experience and Spirituality What Recent Research Tells Us

(2003). The Wilderness Experience and Spirituality What Recent Research Tells Us. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance: Vol. 74, No. 6, pp. 27-32.

Encountering Heidi

In recent times, the wilderness is seen by many as a place for the individual to escape the routines of everyday life and regain contact with one's true self. Ingrained in that escape to the wilderness is the concept of challenging dangerous situations that, if voluntarily faced, can lead to adventure and the attribution of character. The river is one such wilderness place where individuals go to escape civilization and embrace their river-runner selves, which involves the imputation of wilderness adventurer identities. In the escape to a river wilderness, river runners encounter other groups. While it has been widely assumed that encounters in wilderness areas adversely affect the wilderness experience, the authors explore how encounters with others on the river provide audiences that are central in the construction and affirmation of the wilderness adventurer identity.

Quantifying Our Children's Necessity for Nature

Quantifying Our Children's Necessity for Nature

What to Do About Crowding and Solitude in Parks and Wilderness? A Reply to Stewart and Cole

Recent research by Stewart and Cole (2001) adds evidence that the number of encounters among park and wilderness visitors is negatively, but weakly-to-moderately related to visitor satisfaction. However, their conclusions—1) that there is little empirical evidence to support limits on park and wilderness use, and 2) surveys of park and wilderness visitors contribute little or nothing to resolving the issue of use limits—warrant further consideration. Reliance on global measures of visitor satisfaction is fraught with methodological and managerial problems. Consequently, quality in outdoor recreation might better be defined through a management-by-objectives approach, one that, in the case of parks and wilderness, might include consideration of the social, cultural and legal importance of solitude and concern over crowding-related impacts. Moreover, research on visitor evaluations of crowding and other impacts of recreation, especially as it addresses potential tradeoffs among multiple desirable attributes of park and wilderness experiences, can help inform management policy regarding the appropriateness of use limits. Stewart and Cole admonish us to be cautious about limiting use of parks and wilderness, and this is good advice. But we should be equally cautious about not limiting use when its social and resource impacts diminish qualities important to visitors and threaten objectives for which at least some park and wilderness areas probably should be managed.

Sustainability of wilderness sea kayaking in the Bay of Fundy, Canada

A study was undertaken to investigate the potential long-term sustainability of sea kayaking in the Bay of Fundy, Canada. The biological and physical state of the environment of four islands frequently visited by sea kayakers was measured in spring, summer, and fall, 1997. Information was also collected on the quality of kayakers’ wilderness experience, and whether encounters with other groups of people or the quality of the environment affected that experience. The kayakers’ impact on the bio-physical states of the islands was found to be minimal. Few impacts were recorded, and most of these were in areas that were frequently and readily modified by waves and tides. All respondents indicated that their wilderness experience was good to excellent, with 97% indicating a very good to excellent experience. More than 80% of respondents indicated that the quality of the natural environment had either a positive or very positive impact on their wilderness experience. Nearly half (43%) of respondents indicated that encounters with other groups of people had a negative or very negative effect on their wilderness experience. Recommendations have been developed for the management of islands in maritime environments with the goal of long-term sustainability.

Integrating multiple wilderness values into a decision-making model for Denali National Park and Preserve

Decisions about how to manage wilderness recreation in Denali National Park and Preserve require managers to integrate a diverse set of public values, a process that typically involves balancing tradeoffs among multiple and often competing values. While decisions about how to manage wilderness are often contentious, previous research suggests that if managers are able to predict public support for various management alternatives the decisions become more tractable. This study develops a decision-making model that integrates social, resource, and managerial values associated with the Denali wilderness experience. Specifically, stated choice analysis is used to evaluate the choices overnight wilderness visitors make when faced with hypothetical tradeoffs among the conditions of social, resource, and management attributes of the Denali wilderness. Study findings offer an empirical approach for predicting and evaluating the likelihood of public support for Denali wilderness management alternatives.

Heterogeneous preferences for congestion during a wilderness experience

This analysis breaks down the congestion levels experienced during specific parts of a wilderness canoe trip. By explicitly addressing the heterogeneity in preferences for congestion during a trip, we are able to determine the relative value canoeists place on solitude at different points of a trip. Our econometric model utilizes a random effects probit framework to efficiently estimate the welfare impacts of congestion on each trip portion. The welfare effects of congestion levels vary across wilderness areas, parts of a trip and individuals.

A Longitudinal Study of the Effects of a Wilderness-Enhanced Program on Behaviour-Disordered Adolescents

Abstract Juvenile delinquency is a major problem. If it is possible to identify and work with adolescents at risk of becoming delinquent when they are in the at-risk stage, it may be possible to change their attitudes and behaviours. Some programs that have reported short-term and anecdotal success have been wilderness-enhanced programs. Results have generally supported short-term improvement in behaviour. However, conclusive evidence of sustained behaviour change has not been forthcoming. This study examined a program that contained a wilderness component and made use of cognitive-based therapy in the lengthy follow-up period. It employed a longitudinal tracking method, with a pre and post test and control and reference groups, with Jessor and Jessor's Problem Behaviour Proneness model as a guide to the self-report questionnaire. Thirty-one scales were developed that tested variables deemed to be good predictors of problem behaviour proneness. The subjects were tested five times over a two-year period. A MANOVA was conducted on the longitudinal subset of students who were present at every data collection point, then an ANOVA was conducted to compare the groups at different points in time using the cross-sectional data set that contained a much larger number of students' responses. The wilderness-enhanced program of two years duration did appear to cause changes in problem behaviour. Twenty two of the variables showed improvement in attitude and behaviour and seventeen of these were statistically significant. When these significant changes were overlaid with the seemingly positive effects on most of the other variables, the argument for the effectiveness of the wilderness-enhanced program was strengthened. The initial wilderness experience appeared to be important in the change process. Although early change was generally not significant, it was nonetheless present and this seemed to support the idea that the experience acted as a catalyst. The changes were of sufficient magnitude in 19 of the variables to bring the treatment group into the normal range of behaviour for adolescents as exemplified by the reference group. Seventeen of these were statistically significant. The treatment group moved from having 19 variables indicative of promoting problem behaviour proneness at the commencement of the study to only having six at the end. Thus the treatment group's propensity to problem behaviour proneness seemed to have reduced significantly. Many of the improvements in behaviour occurred late in the two-year follow-up period, so it appears vital that a lengthy follow-up period should be part of any multivariate program. The Setting For The Study Adolescence is a time of change. For some, the changes are not made successfully and this can lead to behaviour problems, extremes of which can lead to juvenile delinquency. There is a great need for intervention with these juvenile delinquents: to assist them get back on track, that is, to move them back into the normative range of adolescent behaviour (Wragg, 1995). It is now realised that juvenile delinquency is a complex issue and many factors are involved in its development (Jessor and Jessor, 1977). The peer group is important. The influence of the family is also very important, through conflict and aggression in the home, parenting style, family break-up and many other factors. The adolescent's personality is another important factor. Such traits as a negative attitude to school and authority, a low commitment to goals, refusal to accept responsibility, and the rights of others can all be indicators of a predisposition to delinquency. All these variables were addressed in the study. Because juvenile delinquency is such a complex problem, with many different variables being important in its development, a multivariate approach of the psychosocial models is a much better way of examining the phenomenon. Jessor and Jessor's Problem Behaviour Theory Model (1977) is one such model and it contains three sets of variables which together influence a state called "problem behaviour proneness". …

Tradeoffs Among Social, Resource, and Management Attributes of the Denali Wilderness Experience: A Contextual Approach to Normative Research

Wilderness experiences are thought to be comprised of three primary dimensions, including social, resource, and management conditions. Decisions about how to manage wilderness recreation in Denali National Park and Preserve involve potential tradeoffs among these conditions. This study extends the normative approach to wilderness research by developing and applying a decision-making model that considers social, resource, and managerial attributes of the wilderness experience within a more holistic context. Specifically, stated choice analysis is used to evaluate the choices overnight wilderness visitors make when faced with hypothetical tradeoffs among the conditions of social, resource, and management attributes of the Denali wilderness. Study findings offer normative, but contextually informed empirical guidance in formulating indicators and standards of quality for the wilderness experience.

"There Is Not Much Thrill about a Physiological Sin"

"There Is Not Much Thrill about a Physiological Sin"

The Dynamic, Emergent, and Multi-Phasic Nature of On-Site Wilderness Experiences

Feelings and cognitions of leisure may not only be dynamic during the course of the total outdoor recreation engagement, they may be dynamic, emergent, and multi-phasic during the on-site phase. Experience Sampling Method data were collected from a sample of wilderness visitors multiple times during a visit to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Four modes of environmental experience (focus on self, others, task, and environment) and four aspects of wilderness experience (a combined oneness/primitiveness/humility variable, timelessness, solitude, and care) were measured. Univariate and multivariate repeated measures analyses demonstrated significant change from the entry, through immersion, to the exit phases of the wilderness experience. This experiential change included greater focus on the environment and on self/in-trospection at the exit compared to the entry phase, and less focus on others/social acceptance during the immersion phase. Scores on humility/primitiveness/oneness were higher at both the immersion and exit phases than during entry, and care for the wilderness was higher during the exit phase than during entry. Implications of findings for understanding the complex nature of leisure experiences are provided.

City Kids in the Wilderness: A Pilot-Test of Outward Bound for Foster Care Group Home Youth

Children in urban foster care settings, rarely have the opportunity to participate in adventure-based wilderness experiences, such as Outward Bound. This paper describes the use of a seven-day Outward Bound experience with 23 youth from four foster care group homes in Atlanta, Georgia. The effort examines data collected before and after the program documenting the perspectives of the youth, their foster parents, and their foster care workers in regard to the impacts on the youth. The research highlights the difficulties of evaluating a field-based experience, and provides data that illustrates the potential effects of Outward Bound on youth in group-home care. Further research is needed to fully demonstrate the effects of such efforts and to identify how to best tailor the experience to the needs of youth in urban foster care settings.

What is Wilderness Therapy?

Despite a growing number of programs operating in the United States under the guise of “wilderness therapy,” a consistent and accepted definition is lacking. Rehabilitative, outdoor-based approaches, such as “challenge courses,” “adventure-based therapy,” or “wilderness experience programs,” are often used interchangeably to describe “wilderness therapy.” This paper attempts to shed light on this issue by presenting an integrated and consistent definition of wilderness therapy to guide program design and future research efforts. Three trends in the industry are also explored which support the notion that wilderness therapy programs are searching for recognition by state agencies, national accreditation agencies, insurance companies and mental health professionals. These trends support the idea that consistent wilderness therapy practices may be emerging which support the use of a consistent definition.