Antisocial children in a summer camp environment: A time-sampling study

Abstract

A discussion is set forth regarding the possibly dysfunctional consequences of grouping antisocial children in homogeneous contexts for treatment. It is posited that antisocial children can profit from being placed for treatment in community based settings (for example, community centers, YMCAs, and neighborhood settlement houses) in which most of the other children are considered prosocial. In the present study 5 antisocial boys were placed in a residential summer camp consisting of 81 boys and 75 girls. Comparisons are made among the frequencies of prosocial, nonsocial, and antisocial behavior observed for the antisocial children placed in four groups, prosocial children in these groups, and the prosocial children in four other groups. These comparisons yield no significant differences among the antisocial and prosocial children's behavior. Findings are discussed in terms of their relevance for the helping professions.

Camps as Social Work Interventions: Returning to Our Roots

“…Indeed, a literature search found a substantial body of social work literature discussing camp programs from the 1950s to the 1970s (Feldman, Wodarski, and Flax, 1975;Middleman and Seever, 1963;Ramsey, 1964;Schwartz, 1960a,b;Shalinsky, 1969a,b;1965;Vassil, 1978;Vinter, 1965). In contrast, relatively few articles have been published since the 1970s (Gentry, 1984;Kelk, 1994;Langdon and Kelk, 1994).…”

Inter-agency referrals and the establishment of a community-based treatment program

“…When diagnoses are based upon inferential data, they risk a high likelihood of error. Consequently, the most reliable diagnostic data and, similarly, the data most likely to result in consensual interpretation by respective referral agencies, will be derived from systematic time sampling observations by highly trained observers (cf., Feldman, & Wodarski, 1975). This procedure can be applied, however, only to high frequency problem behaviors that tend to occur in public and not to ones that occur either rarely or in private.…”

“…Instead, members were permitted to develop their own relationships without guidance. The group treatment methods utilized during the program are described elsewhere in a comprehensive fashion (Feldman & Wodarski, 1975 of a community-based treatment program is dependent upon the extent and nature of the host agency's relationships with other units of the larger community, including referral agencies. I n order to assure its viability, a community-based treatment program usually must draw upon clientele referred to it by collaborative agencies.…”