H. L. Gillis

The Effectiveness of Project Adventure's Behavior Management Programs for Male Offenders in Residential Treatment

SUMMARY Recent studies analyzing juvenile delinquents participating in wilderness therapy programs have reported little statistical effectiveness. Interpretation of these findings may be unjustified due to definitional confusion more than a clear examination of program effectiveness. Using a research methodology similar to Jones, Lowe, and Risler (2004), this study demonstrates the statistically significant three-year effectiveness of an adventure-based behavior management program (BMtA) with juvenile re-arrest rates when compared to outdoor therapeutic camping programs and standard Youth Development Center (YDC) programs in the State of Georgia. The article also offers clarity concerning the range and types of adventure therapy programs and treatment differences. It further highlights the importance of understanding intervention/treatment fidelity in adventure therapy programs, particularly regarding program settings and key clinical factors.

Treating Juveniles in a Sex Offender Program Using Adventure-Based Programming: A Matched Group Design

Ninety-five male juvenile sex offenders in an adventure-based behavior management program (LEGACY) were matched with male juveniles in state treatment-as-usual and other specialized programs in the same state to determine program effectiveness (as measured by rearrest rates). The LEGACY program demonstrated significant treatment effectiveness on rearrest rates when compared with youth development centers and other specialized programs two and three years later. Overall, three-year rearrest rates for the most serious reoffenses for each of the placements were as follows: 34.8% for YDC, 32.6% for OSP, and 19% for LEGACY.

Changes: An Assessment Model Using Adventure Experiences

urrent efforts with therapeutic adventure programming generally focus on creating effective interventions for specific populations.1 Connected to the creation of such interventions, as well as the organization of other therapeutic processes, are assessment techniques. Assessment is a critical and ongoing component of all therapeutic processes, often used for diagnosing tude and the higher the stress, the more likely the client will ‘project’ unique and individual personality aspects into the ‘test’ situation. (p. 154)

Focusing on the “Solution” Rather than the “Problem”: Empowering Client Change in Adventure Experiences:

Father Sanchez: This way of consciously relating, in which everyone attempts to bring out the best in others rather than to have power over them, is a posture the entire human race will eventually adopt. Think of how everyones energy level… will increase at that point! (Redfield, 1993, p. 219).

The Adventure Therapy Experience Scale: The Psychometric Properties of a Scale to Measure the Unique Factors Moderating an Adventure Therapy Experience.

Adventure therapy (AT) is defined as “the prescriptive use of adventure experiences provided by mental health professionals, often conducted in natural settings, that kinesthetically engage clients on cognitive, affective, and behavioral levels”. Despite an increase in research and evaluation in recent years examining the relative effectiveness of AT for youth and young adults, little is known about the AT process. This study highlights the development and psychometric properties of the Adventure Therapy Experience Scale (ATES) for its potential use in identifying unique factors that are theoretically reasoned to be inherent in an AT experience. The results suggest the ATES is an appropriate instrument to use to assess how these four factors effectuate outcome, especially when used in conjunction with the routine outcome monitoring of treatment progress.

Process factors explaining psycho-social outcomes in adventure therapy.

The development and factor analysis of the Adventure Therapy Experience Scale (ATES) is the first attempt found in the literature to empirically and quantitatively identify therapeutic factors theorized to affect change in the adventure therapy experience (Russell & Gillis, 2017). This study utilizes the ATES to explore how its inherent factors may impact treatment outcome utilizing a routine outcome monitoring process to empirically test how these factors may contribute to treatment outcome over time. The sample of 168 males 21.5 years of age completed an average of 79.6 days in the 90-day adventure-based substance use disorder residential treatment program. In the model, adventure-based experiences are a primary treatment tool. For outcome monitoring, all clients were administered the Outcome Questionnaire (OQ-45.2) at intake, every 2 weeks, and at discharge. In addition, clients were administered the 18-item ATES every 2 weeks. The ATES contains 2 items measuring how helpful the adventure experience was as well as how mindful they were of their treatment process during the experience. Clients also answer 16 Likert items measuring responses on 4 subscales: group adventure, nature, challenge, and reflection. Results reveal that clients, on average, improved in their psycho-social functioning as measured by the OQ 45.2. Weeks with higher helpfulness, mindfulness, and group adventure scores than the client’s average helpfulness, mindfulness, and group adventure score, had greater decreases in OQ scores than weeks with lower helpfulness, mindfulness, and group adventure scores. Clients with higher aggregate helpfulness and group adventure scores, across all treatment weeks, had greater decreases in OQ scores than clients with lower aggregate helpfulness and group adventure scores. Implications for practice and future research are also discussed.