The effects of an outdoor camp experience on the self-concept of selected disabled participants

This study studied the effect of an outdoor camping experience on the self-concept of selected disabled participants who are from Knoxville, and the surrounding area. The Fisher Self-Concept Test developed at the Pennsylvania State University in 1977 was the instrument used in this study. A pre-test was given to the participants prior to camp and the post-test was given to them again within the week after camp had concluded. There were 25 participants between the ages of 7 and 21 who have two or more mental and/or physical disabilities. The participants attended Camp Koinonia from April 17- 23,1995. The subjects were in one often cabin groups and attended a variety of planned recreational activities throughout the day, including special events in the evening. They subjects also went on an overnight camping experience in the wilderness in which they hike away from the main campground and hike back the next morning. The camp lasted an entire week. A nonindependent t-test with an alpha level set at p ≤ .05 was used to analyze the scores and determine if the there was a significant difference in scores of the disabled participants following a one week camp experience and the scores of the disabled participants prior to the camp experience. Based on the analysis and data, it was concluded that there was a significant difference in the scores of the post-test scores and the pre-test scores of the disabled participants.