An integrated adventure recreation program : the effects on attitudes toward persons with disabilities

"Prejudice (unless deeply rooted in the character structure of the individual) may be reduced by equal status contact between majority and minority groups in the pursuit of common goals" (Allport, 1954, p. 281). Based on the preceding hypothesis, the problem of this study was to investigate the effects of integration on the attitudes of persons without disabilities toward individuals with disabilities. Utilizing an adventure recreation activity as the vehicle through which equal status contact and common goals were provided, the attitudes of persons without disabilities toward the presence of disabilities were assessed via a pretest/post-test format. Approximately one hundred twenty attitude measurements, the Attitude Toward Disabled Persons Scale (ATDP), were distributed to individuals without disabilities prior to their participation in an integrated white water rafting trip. Included with these assessments were short questionnaires which delineated such demographic variables as age, education, experience with persons with disabilities, gender, and race. Due to a variety of circumstances, only twentyone of the voluntarily completed assessment packets were usable. Once each trip was concluded, the participants were again administered the ATDP scale. By analyzing the pretest and post-test scores of each participant and comparing those scores to the score required for the definition of a positive attitude, the determination was made on whether or not the application of integration in adventure recreation resulted in a positive transformation of attitudes. The results of the study concluded that a positive transformation in attitudes did occur as a result of integration. While most of the participants scored on the positive side of the attitude scale during pretest administration, a significant increase in scoring was noted subsequent to the post-test administration. Of the the twenty-one participants, fifteen achieved a positive attitude prior to the integrated adventure. Yet, following integration on the rafting trip, sixteen of the twenty-one individual post-tests expressed a more positive attitude toward persons with disabilities through an increase in score. In conclusion, the recommendations, derived from the design, implementation, and evaluation of this thesis, include: (a) maintaining close physical proximity with the cooperating agency and the participants of the study, (b) utilizing the demographic information to establish a relationship between the effect of such variables on attitude transformation, (c) assessing the structure of adventure recreation agencies in order not only to reduce the typical "volunteer without a disability/participant with a disability" roles but also to ensure the provision of equal role risk activities to all participants, (d) developing attitude assessments which are acceptable in language, format, reliability, and validity, (e) designing attitude assessments specifically to target the domains of leisure and recreation, (f) utilizing the major assessment categories in therapeutic recreation as a basis for an assessment design, and (g) measuring both the self-perceptions and attitudes of persons with disabilities toward the presence of disabilities.