'Oh God, It's Going to be Awful' - Clients' and Officers' Perceptions of Adventure Actions (From Alternatives to Custody, P 146-161, 1986, John Pointing, ed. - See NCJ-103976)

• NCJ Number: 103983
• Author(s): P Maitland
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 16 pages
• Sale Source: Basil Blackwell, Inc.
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study identifies probation officers' objectives for client weekend wilderness adventure activities under the Inner London Probation Service (England) and evaluates these activities from officers' and clients' perspectives.

Abstract

The program, which began in 1976, consists of weekend wilderness activities such as rock climbing, camping, canoeing, and parachute jumping. Maintenance tasks such as cooking and cleaning campsites are shared among group members. This 1980 research profiled 76 clients and interviewed 36 clients and 39 officers. The researcher also participated in several weekend programs. The majority of the clients were white, single men under 23 years old with an average of six previous convictions. Twenty-five percent of the sample had histories of mental illness. Officers' primary objective for the program was to improve clients social skills. Participant observation and interviews with clients indicate that clients' interactions with other clients and officers did produce moderate improvements in social skills and increase self-confidence. Client-officer relationships were enhanced by the activities, and this extended to office-based work for weeks after the activities. The program could be improved through preprogram preparation for clients anxious about undertaking an unfamiliar activity with unfamiliar people. The program could also better prepare clients to apply the skills learned in the program.