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Summary
The purpose
of this study has been to identify any influence
that might be made by the organized camping experience
on the self constructs of youth. To answer this
question a random effects model of meta-analysis
was employed. The meta-analysis reviewed as many
studies as could be located that contained some
measure of the referenced influence. A coding
process extracted data from the studies in order
to calculate an effect size for each independent
case. Data that could be used to establish the
influence of moderators on the identified effect
was also extracted. The reliability of the coding
process was verified using a panel of coders and
was reviewed by a separate panel of experts.
The effect sizes from each
case were combined and a random effect was calculated
according to The Handbook of Research Synthesis
(Cooper & Hedges, 1994). Additionally, the
effect sizes from the independent cases were analyzed
in relationship to the moderator variables using
line plots of the data-points, step-wise regression
analysis, and effect size combination and comparison
sensitivity analysis. The multiple analysis provided
for a triangulation approach to identifying those
moderators that were correlated to the random
effect.
Findings
Using Pearson's r as the metric for effect
size, a small but significant positive random
effect was identified, r = .1032. The random
effect, by definition, is generalizable to the
population. Triangulation identified a camp's
philosophy as it relates to enhancing a construct
of self as being the significant contributing
moderating factor for the effect identified. A
sensitivity analysis of effect sizes for only
those camps classified as having a focus on self
enhancement found that the effect doubled, from
r = .1032 to r = .2006, indicating
a truer measure of the effect that programs focused
on enhancing a construct of self can offer. The
BESD interpretation of the effect of self enhancing
camps translates to a 20 percent increase in the
success rate. See Interpreting of the Random Effect,
in Chapter 4, for a discussion of the BESD.
Triangulation also identified
age as being a moderating factor to a lesser extent.
The relationship between the random effect and
age is negatively correlated (t = -2.2925, p
< .028), implying that there is a greater effect
on younger campers. Through the data analyzed
in this study, some of the largest effects identified
from individual cases (r = .2985,
.3836, .4177, & .5822) were on campers aged
six to ten, at camps that focused on enhancing
a construct of self. The triangulation analysis
also identified that there was positive change
across all age groups that participated in a camp
program with a focus on enhancing self constructs.
All of the negative effects
from individual cases (seven studies ranging from
r = -.1454 to -.0004), and many of the
non-significant positive ones, were found in camps
where the philosophy was on structured learning
and the resultant competence development. In the
classification of campgoal 3, those camps with
a focus on personal enhancement and leisure skills,
a positive but non-significant effect was found.
One exception of this finding was a campgoal 3
camp with what can be interpreted as a medium
sized positive effect (r = .4177).
This camp 's philosophy, as presented in the study
from which the data was extracted, was very leisure
oriented. The description sounded as if the camp
could have a philosophy of self fulfillment, but
the goal stated in the data was to enjoy camp
and have fun.
The findings of the meta-analysis
are generally in agreement with the information
presented in the literature review. A significant
positive effect on the self can be made by programs
that are designed with the intent of enhancing
self constructs. The self can be impacted more
significantly at an earlier age, and a positive
change in self is generally occurring through
adolescence. The study's findings differ from
current psychological theory, discussed in the
literature review, that suggests a sustained experience
is required to influence self constructs. The
difference is that a camp program with some focus
on enhancing self constructs produces a positive
effect on the self in a relatively short period
of from one to eight weeks.
Conclusions
The findings
of this study lead to several conclusions. First
of all, the organized camping experience has a
positive effect on the self constructs of youth.
The effect is a function of those camps that focus
on making a contribution to self through their
programs. Camps that did not have this focus on
construct enhancement generally did not make a
positive contribution considered to be of any
magnitude, r < .05, to a construct of
self. Those camps that focus on competence development
in a structured environment without a focus on
enhancing the self, do not make contributions
to constructs of self, and the effect may even
be negative. Thus, if enhancement of a construct
of self is desired, the camp program must focus
attention on that goal in order to have a positive
effect. Discussion about focusing a camp's program
in order to promote self enhancement is presented
in the Implementations section of this chapter.
The findings also reveal
that a bigger effect is made upon campers that
are younger, although a positive effect was found
across campers between ages six and twenty years
old. One conclusion from this finding is that
camps can benefit from making parents aware of
this opportunity for self enhancement so that
the parents can provide the experience for the
child, if desired. A second conclusion is that
while the effect was larger for younger campers,
the identification of the effect as applicable
to all age ranges provides camping practitioners
with the opportunity to promote this effect as
a positive outcome that can be experienced by
all campers.
Finally, the finding that
the effect can be made in a relatively short period
of time suggests that the camping experience provides
a powerful means of achieving enhancement of self
constructs. Therefore, there are opportunities
for parents and communities to include camping
experiences in the portfolio of methods used to
address youth development needs, as they relate
to the self. Identifying other outcomes from camping
stands to enhance this opportunity to meet youth
development needs.
Discussion
One of the advantages of a meta-analysis, as discussed
in the literature review, is that it can identify
those factors that contribute to an effect. This
identification often provides the advantage of
shedding new light on an area of research. In
the case of this analysis, the findings shed light
on the usefulness of camping in addressing youth
development needs through a positive influence
on self constructs. Earlier discussion pointed
out that the education system is not well equipped
to address youth development needs and that the
state of youth development in American society
today is undesirable. Consequently, communities
can use the findings of this study to identify
the benefits of including camps as partners in
strategies designed to meet youth development
needs.
Research discussed in the
literature review suggests that a set of socially
desirable outcomes results from enhancement of
one's self constructs. These outcomes include
easier adjustment to new environments, a greater
sense of personal satisfaction, and personal habits
that lead to a healthy lifestyle. Identifying
the camping experience as a means of enhancing
self constructs indicates the camp environment
as one that parents and communities should include
in strategies that are designed to meet youth
development needs. The argument for including
camps is made stronger through the identification
of the positive effect as being applicable across
the broad age range of from six to twenty years
old. Including camps in these youth development
strategies is further strengthened through the
power of the camping experience to generate this
effect over a relatively short period of time,
ranging from one to eight weeks as opposed to
several months or longer.
The greater positive effect
that younger campers experience suggests that
parents should expose children to camping at or
near the age of six years old. The identified
development needs of children and early-adolescents
suggest that a positive self image is desirable.
Thus, beginning to establish this positive self
image at an earlier age would give an individual
a stronger personal foundation. In turn, this
foundation would allow the individual to adjust
more easily to changes in their personal environment
and consequently increase the likelihood of subscribing
to healthy living habits through the difficult
period of adolescent development.
Camps that offer programs
to youth that do not have a focus on enhancing
self probably offer beneficial outcomes, although
the outcomes have not yet been substantiated through
research. These camps can enhance their program
outcomes by adopting operational philosophies
that address self development. The components
of these self development programs are discussed
later in the Implementations section of this chapter.
Camps which add the focus of self enhancement
are then in a better position to participate in
community strategies that are designed to address
youth development needs.
Implementations
These findings
can be used by camp practitioners where the camp's
philosophy focuses on enhancing self constructs.
The positive findings of this study can be used
by the camping profession to generate support
from philanthropic and other funding organizations.
Camping practitioners can also use the findings
to promote, to parents, the positive effects of
camp programs focused on self enhancement. By
emphasizing the greater positive effect for younger
campers, camping practitioners can encourage parents
to introduce children to camping at an age where
the child will get the maximum positive effect
from the experience. In light of the conditions
identified in the literature review, the social
desirability of self enhancement and the identified
development needs of youth, the findings can be
useful to parents that are interested in enhancing
a youth's self constructs.
There are common factors
that can be identified in the programs of camps
that have a focus on enhancing a construct of
self. These factors can be adopted by camps that
do not have such a focus in their program philosophies.
The self enhancing camps provide an environment
that is reinforcing to a camper's sense of self.
The reinforcement occurs through positive feedback
about a given experience and the general attitude
that supports the camper's individual identity.
This environment of positive interaction is established
either by hiring staff with experience or training
in development of self constructs, or by developing
this sensitivity during the camp's staff training
program.
Camps that enhance self
also provide an environment in which the camper
feels some sense of control over their experience.
This control is accomplished by involving campers
to some extent in the planning or management of
their camp experience. The involvement can be
as simple as asking the camper for feedback or
input and by responding in a way that demonstrates
that the exchange was heeded. To summarize, camps
wishing to expand the focus of their program philosophy
to include enhancement of self constructs should
establish an environment that reinforces the self
through positive interactions with others, provides
opportunities to achieve success, and an environment
that provides for a sense of involvement, or ownership,
in the camper's experience.
This meta-analysis covered
the research that has been done in the area of
organized camping and self constructs. Further
research in the area of camping outcomes should
continue. Having identified a positive effect
on self, more research to explore the moderating
variables of this influence needs to be done in
order to fully explain the positive effect. Attaining
this knowledge will allow practitioners to tune
their programs in order to achieve a maximum effect
in relation to the desired outcome. In addition,
the other outcomes associated with an organized
camping experience have yet to be established.
Recommendations
A recommendation is made for future research designed
to explore both the other outcomes of organized
camping and the moderators influencing the effect
on the findings of this study. The basis for this
recommendation is twofold. First, through the
course of the meta-analysis it became clear that
there was not enough data on gender, socio-economic
level, or cultural background to identify fully
the moderating effects of these variables on the
self. Additionally, across studies there was little
attention paid to the detail given in describing
a camp's philosophy, staffing practices, the relationship
between the size of a camp's population, or description
of the experience that the camper was undergoing.
Greater detail about the components of these moderators
should also be included in future research. With
regard to the recommendation of other outcomes
of camping, there is limited research that explores
those areas. The application of the lessons learned
during the course of this meta-analysis, about
the shortcomings of the data as they relate to
identifying moderators to the effect, can be used
to assist in the design of research that is focused
on other outcomes.
Questions that still need
to be explored in greater detail include those
that relate to the length of time that the identified
positive effect on self will last. This question
may be difficult to answer, given the number of
variables that are introduced into the equation
once a youth leaves the camp environment. The
relationship between the length of the camp experience
and the size of the positive effect should also
be explored more thoroughly. Due to the number
of cases in the sample of this study, the relationship
between length and effect size could not be explored
with any certainty.
Questions about the use
of instruments used to measure the effect and
the most effective timing for measurements should
also be explored. Current theory about the multi-dimensional
aspects of self, discussed in the literature review,
would suggest that the chosen instrument be designed
to investigate the self from a multi-dimensional
perspective. Finally, any research on self should
be guided by the most current psychological theories
on the self. There is a plethora of research into
influences on the self, and many of the influences
from outside the camp environment may be readily
identifiable. Identifying these outside influences
would allow for the isolation of the influences
that occur within the camping environment, providing
a better understanding of the factors that contribute
to the positive random effect identified in this
study as being a result of an organized camping
experience.
The researcher also recommends
that the findings of the study be disseminated
as widely as is possible, so that camping practitioners
can have access to the information for support
of there efforts. Dissemination of the results
to the public will aid parents in decision making
as they gather information in order to select
a camp for a specific purpose.
The recommended research
task is far from easy, as camps are as individual
as the people that operate them. Furthermore,
positive effect on the self is only one outcome
identified from an organized camping experience.
The perception of parents and camping professionals,
as identified through the ACA research described
in the literature review, suggests that there
are many more outcomes to be defined. In a time
when enhancement of self constructs is considered
culturally desirable and society recognizes that
it needs more focus on meeting the development
needs of youth, the positive effect on self from
camps with a focus on enhancing self suggests
that camping may be a useful tool in addressing
childhood and adolescent development needs.
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