The Case for a New Classification System for Summer Camps Based on Variation in Their Physical, Social, and Activity Structuring
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18666/JOREL-2021-V13-I2-10554Keywords:
classification system, challenge commentary, physical setting, social milieu, activity profilesAbstract
The camp community understands that participation in camp produces a variety of impacts; what is less understood are the causal mechanisms leading to outcomes. In the past, research on the camp experience treated causal mechanisms as monolithic; this commentary argues that a weakness in existing camp research is the assumption that “camp” is “camp” and that there is a lack of attention to how components of camp interact to produce valued developmental outcomes. Using two indices from complementary fields (Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment [HOME] and Healthy Sports Index [HSI]) as exemplars, a framework exploring variation in the elements of tri-dimensional offerings between camps is proposed. What the HOME index and HSI have established in other fields is what the camp community could have: a tool that initially helps researchers examine how the structural variations within and between individual camps may eventually help explain the quality and strength of outcomes for campers and counselors.
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