Efficacy of a Horticultural Therapy Program Designed for Emotional Stability and Career Exploration among Adolescents in Juvenile Detention Centers

Abstract

We aimed to develop a horticultural therapy program to prepare adolescents at the Dae san juvenile detention center (D-JDC) for their return to society. The effects of the program on emotional stability and career exploration were investigated. Adolescents who wished to participate in the horticultural therapy program were recruited from the D-JDC. Data were collected using various questionnaires before and after the program was implemented. Thirty-five (mean age, 15.74 ± 1.65 years; 11 males, 24 females) students were enrolled. The program mainly consisted of plant cultivation activities, such as seeding, transplanting plants, cutting, harvesting, and post-harvest utilization. To evaluate emotional health, the ego-resiliency scale was used. To evaluate social behavior, the inventory of parent and peer attachment, peer attachment scale, and social skills scale were used. Career exploration was assessed using the career preparation behavior scale and the career decision-making self-efficacy-short form. Peer attachment, social skills, and career preparation behavior showed significant improvements after the program, with the students responding positively in the post-program surveys. Our horticultural therapy program helped improve the career exploration and social skills of D-JDC students and positively affected their emotional stability. Based on our findings, horticultural therapy can be used as a correctional program for adolescents in D-JDC to help them return to society.

Perception of health professionals regarding the use of horticultural therapy

“…HT can be applied to all age groups, from preschool children (Flick, 2012), elementary school students (Oh et al, 2020) and college students (Li et al, 2022) to the elderly (Wang et al, 2022) and for various social groups such as children with difficulties and people with disabilities, veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (Detweiler et al, 2015;Mottershead and Ghisoni, 2021), prisoners (Mattson et al, 2004) and youth in correctional facilities or juvenile detention centers (Park et al, 2022).…”

Electromyographic Analysis of Upper- and Lower-extremity Muscles in Adults during Agro-healing Activities

“…Horticulture is an agricultural activity involving cultivation of fruits, vegetables, and flowers (Ferrini 2003;Park et al 2022). Horticultural activities can serve as weight-bearing exercises that use all muscles of the hand, upper extremities, and lower extremities and can be applied as treatment for patients with physical disabilities, such as the elderly and hemiplegic patients with disabilities (Park et al 2014a(Park et al , 2015.…”