Adolescents who participate in wilderness program experience enhanced identity complexity and sense of purposeSome adolescents experience significant social, emotional, and academic challenges that are associated with their inability to succeed in traditional schools and a high risk of dropout. These at-risk students often attend alternative schools and may move to alternative residential schools, some of which are categorized as therapeutic boarding schools (TBSs) designed to better address their varied needs. TBS are generally based on what is called the positive youth development (PYD) framework. The goal of attending a TBS is educational success and emotional growth, including the effective development of life purpose and meaning. Youth purpose (conceptualized as broad goal-directedness) and identity complexity (the capacity to find meaning with a sense of self that varies with different environments) are protective factors that tend to contribute to positive developmental and educational outcomes. This study was specifically designed to determine the impact of a wilderness program on struggling adolescents' transition from their home environment to a therapeutic residential school. The study examined the impact a 30-day wilderness experience program (WEP) had on measures of participants' purpose and identity complexity.
The school in this study is located in Colorado and is attended free of charge by low-income students from all over the United States who are at risk of dropping out of traditional schools. The WEP is a component of the school’s orientation program and is designed to prepare students for successful participation in the alternative residential school. During the WEP, students camp, backpack, and hike. The trip is 25 to 30 days long and includes individual and small-group activities designed to build skills, promote goal setting, and encourage reflection.
This is a mixed methods study, with quantitative assessments before and after program participation (pre/post design) combined with participant interviews. After WEP completion, students participated in open-ended interviews about their experience and how they felt it affected their identity, purpose, and transition to the residential school. The researchers calculated effect sizes from the quantitative analyses but did not conduct tests of statistical significance.
The study results indicate that participation in the WEP had positive effects on both youth purpose and identity complexity (reported as moderate effect sizes). The qualitative interviews were analyzed to better explain the quantitative findings and youths' personal experiences. Several themes in three categories (multiple selves, identity complexity, and world of purpose) are discussed, enriched by quotes from the participant interviews.
Study participants described their life paths leading to enrollment in the school as full of instability, struggle, and risky behaviors. They discussed having multiple selves or facades, depending on the situation, and acknowledged they often made poor choices and engaged in damaging behaviors. They described their wilderness experience as a bridge from their troubled past to a more hopeful future. Participants began to better understand and accept themselves and discussed developing self-awareness, perspective, and empathy. They learned to challenge themselves and appreciated feeling accomplished as they made progress. The WEP was designed to teach interpersonal and other life skills using a strengths-based approach, and participants reported learning how to solve problems in healthy and nonviolent ways. They described the wilderness experience as a special opportunity that helped inspire them to progress towards new goals. Participants reported being particularly affected by a part of the WEP during which they took a solo three-day camping trip. The qualitative results more fully illuminate the participants’ experiences and support the quantitative findings that WEP participation can positively impact adolescents’ identity complexity and sense of purpose, as well as facilitate their successful transition to an alternative residential school.
This mixed methods study adds to the evidence base on important psychosocial benefits of WEP and provides justification for future research in this specific area of identity complexity and sense of purpose.
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