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A Checklist Of Warning Signs That A Wilderness
Program May Be Unsafe Or Dangerous
By: Michael Conner, Psy.D
Mentor Research Institute:
E-mail:
Conner@OregonCounseling.Org
Revised: December 02, 2003
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Psychological trauma, physical injuries or death of
children in programs are invariably the result of trauma, abuse,
negligence and/or accidents. The following is a checklist of factors
that are necessary to insure that a wilderness program is safe.
The risk decreases as more of the following are
present.
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The program is licensed or regulated by a state
agency that is empowered to monitor, inspect and investigate
complaints.
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Staff who are responsible for the health and
well-being of children are screened, trained or certified as
competent to provide services within the standards of practice of
related intervention programs.
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The program's therapeutic activities were
developed by or approved by a licensed psychologist who is qualified
in behavioral health and safety.
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The safety and well-being of your child is the
direct responsibility of a qualified and licensed medical or mental
health professional.
The following is list of risk factors. The risk of
harm increases with each factor that is present.
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The program does not tell you the names of the
people who own the program or who has responsibility for the
activities within the program.
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Discipline in the program is based on
punishment that includes depravation, verbal threats and aggression,
physical restraint and corporal punishment.
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There are no licensed mental health
professionals directly involved and in frequent contact with
children.
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The owners and individuals responsible for
program decisions are not the people who are responsible for the
safety and well-being of children.
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Screening and admission of children in the
program is not supervised and the direct responsibility of a
licensed and qualified mental health professional.
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The total cost to operate the program is less
than $200 per day.
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The program admits children on medications for
psychiatric conditions without a screening and treatment plan
provided by a qualified mental health professional.
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The program uses physical force and restraint
for behavior that is not an immediate danger to self or others.
By: Michael Conner, Psy.D
Mentor Research Institute:
Revised: October 04, 2005
Parents can contact a program believing they are
enrolling their child in a wilderness therapy program when in fact they
are placing their child in a boot camp in the wilderness.
Outdoor intervention programs have been growing in
variety and popularity tremendously for the past 10 years. Terms like
wilderness programs, wilderness camps, boot camps and wilderness boot
camps are being used by programs, professionals and parents without
clear distinction, definition or meaning. Programs are essentially free
to call themselves whatever they want. The public's understanding of
these programs is becoming blurred and uncertain. Parents can contact a
program believing they are enrolling their child in a wilderness therapy
program when in fact they are enrolling their child in a boot camp in
the wilderness.
Wilderness Therapy Programs
Wilderness therapy programs trace their origins to
outdoor survival programs that placed children in a challenging
environment where determination, communication and team efforts were
outcomes. Children with low self-esteem, oppositional, defiant and
conduct problems discovered their potential as well as the individual
and group skills necessary to become successful in life. The top
wilderness therapy programs are viable alternative to traditional
therapy, residential treatment programs and psychiatric hospitals.
For the most part, wilderness therapy programs are
based on behavioral models and experiential education. Children are
referred to as students or patients. These approaches to working with
children are widely accepted forms of treatment and intervention for
both adults and children. Universities provide earned degree in
experiential education - a discipline that is becoming a cornerstone in
wilderness therapy programs.
The assurances and integrity of services offered by
programs can vary a great deal. Some programs are licensed and regulated
as wilderness and outdoor treatment programs. Others are state regulated
as mental health and chemical dependency treatment programs. Several
program are also accredited by the same institutions that over see
hospitals.
Wilderness therapy, in the purest form, is a
positive growth experience where children face natural challenges and
adversities that are designed to be therapeutic in nature. Children are
not merely thrown into the wilderness and made to suffer hardships. They
are removed from their environment, encouraged, challenged and give
every opportunity to succeed. Wilderness therapy programming is overseen
by licensed medical and mental health professionals who have experience
and training in experiential education, behaviorism as well as group and
interpersonal therapy. The wilderness is seen as a place of safety and
natural consequences and a place they can look at their life and
consider what they were doing, what they were thinking, how that made
them feel, what they want and what they are willing to do to make that
happen. The wilderness is a place to take action where initiative is
naturally rewarding.
Children begin to change naturally when they are
removed from environments filled with negative influences and triggering
events that produce self-defeating, reckless or self-destructive
behavior. They enter the wilderness on a journey of self-discovery. When
children become involved in routines that are logical and necessary in
nature, the natural result is to develop relationships, communicate,
reveal their problems, help each other, face the consequences of their
behavior and discover their hidden potential. They discover their true
feelings as well as more realistic hopes and dreams. It is a time of
reflection, discovery and building new skills. Rather than become angry,
children become assertive. Instead of hiding their feelings, they ask
for help and talk to people they trust. Instead of rushing around, they
learn to listen to others and be patient. In those moments when they are
alone watching a sunset (and not a television), children discover their
true self. When they are afraid of their feelings, they become
courageous instead of victims.
Wilderness Boot Camps
Boot Camp programs trace their origins to the
juvenile justice system where they were created as as an alternative to
jail. Children participated in an Army-like training program against
their will or as a voluntary alternative to jail. The Boot Camp was
embraced and funded by state and country criminal justice systems
primarily because of the cost efficiency and history of the U.S. Army
turning around the lives of young men. As the boot camp appeal grew,
boot camps were next used as an intervention for kids who were getting
into trouble and those who were coming to the attention of law
enforcement. More recently, a few boot camps are claiming to treat
children with behavioral, emotional and psychological problems.
Boot camps were initially implemented in training
facilities and buildings similar to military training compounds. Various
States and Counties around the country had funding for programs and were
seeking alternatives to jail. The private sector developed programs that
centered around stable funding sources. The original concept of a boot
camp changed when the private sector took the boot camp model and moved
it into outdoor settings. Moving outdoors cut costs, eliminated the
reliance on housing and incorporated the positive elements of wilderness
therapy. Boot camps moved from facilities into the wilderness.
When boot camps left their buildings and entered
the outdoors they became "wilderness boot camps". Boot camps have always
had some appeal to the public and juvenile justice system. Wilderness
boot camps not only retained the boot camp appeal but this blending of
program concepts advanced their market appeal by incorporating the
"healing power of the wilderness". However, at this point the wilderness
boot camp became a new entity that had very little in common with a
wilderness therapy program and some might argue that wilderness therapy
and a wilderness boot camp are separate and incompatible treatment
models.
The behavioral and psychological philosophy of a
boot camp should be understood and appreciated by any parent or
professional considering this intervention. Boot camps are designed to
rapidly gain control, compliance and obedience to authority. The tools
employed include subjecting people to severe physical adversity, as well
as emotional and psychological trauma that is intended to strengthen
resolve under pressure and break opposition and defiance. Boot camps use
psychological punishment including verbal abuse, intimidation, threats,
aggressive gesturing and challenges. Positive behavior is rewarded and
unwanted responses are punished. Physical punishment might include
depravation, work details, loss of privileges, isolation, strenuous
exercise and corporal punishment. Children in many programs are struck
or hazed in manner that is now forbidden in a military boot camp.
Whatever you might think about corporal punishment, these approaches
have been shown to produce rapid changes in outward behavior. Children
invariably change their behavior in some way when the alternative is
frightening or painful. However, the consequences of severe punishment
can also include long term psychological and behavioral problems.
Wilderness Therapy Programs Vs Wilderness Boot
Camps
The philosophical, structural and programmatic
differences between a wilderness therapy program and a boot camp program
can be worlds apart. The distinction is more clear between a wilderness
therapy program and a boot camp.
"Wilderness therapy should not be confused with a
juvenile boot camp program. The philosophy of wilderness therapy is to
allow children to experience the force of nature as their teacher and to
avoid staff use of force and restraint. Boot camp programs are designed
and run with a high degree of interpersonal confrontation as well as
physical and psychological aggression toward students. Wilderness
therapy programs are designed to create therapeutic opportunities and
choices when students are confronted with nature and inevitable
realities when living in a primitive environment. The fact that a
student must gather wood and build a fire in order to cook (i.e.
wilderness therapy) is different than screaming and intimidating a child
if they don't do what they are told (i.e. a boot camp). Obtaining
control and compliance through the use of intimidation and coercion is
characteristic of a boot camp program. Wilderness therapy and boot
camps are distinctly different and incompatible approaches to working
with youth."
From "The Use Of Force and Restraint In
Wilderness Therapy Programs: Issues."
www.Wilderness-Therapy.org/Wilderness/ForceRestraint.htm
A wilderness therapy program is based on a positive
growth model driven by the natural consequences of removing children
from their environment, placing them in nature, providing therapeutic
experiences and allowing a natural process of change to unfold. In
contrast, a wilderness boot camp relies heavily on punishment,
confrontation and depravation to gain compliance and obedience. Research
consistently demonstrates that punishment based intervention can change
behavior quickly, but those changes do not last once removed from that
environment. Military boot camps are very effective in changing and
maintaining behavior because recruits are required to remain in the
military for years. Follow-up is the key to maintaining any benefit
derived from any program.
The outcome research on wilderness therapy programs
and boot camps is rather poor and conflicting. There are wilderness and
boot camp programs that are clearly very safe and effective. As an
industry, both approaches vary so much that it is hard to say who is
doing a better job with any statistical certainty. The controversy over
which is better, wilderness therapy vs. wilderness boot camps, may be
the result of some poorly run programs hurting the collective
performance of programs.
In all fairness to wilderness boot camps, there are
wilderness therapy programs that are funded by the juvenile justice
system to provide interventions for youth. But they are not run like a
wilderness boot camp. However, there is also an emerging trend where
some wilderness therapy programs are changing their programs and
adopting boot camp philosophy. This blending of values and approaches
can present a real problem for parents and consumers. Parents should be
extremely cautious when considering a program that blends both
approaches.
The Dangers and Risks Associated with Wilderness
Therapy and Wilderness Boot Camps
In my opinion, boot camps may have a place in the
juvenile justice system but only if they are overseen and operated by
professionals who are qualified and licensed. The truth is that a
licensed mental health professional could lose their license if they
subjected a child to severe physical and psychological trauma.
Nearly 1 out of five children have a mental or
emotional problem in this country. The U.S. Surgeon General's office
suggests that one out of ten have severe problems and that only one out
of three receive any qualified mental health treatment. This would
suggest that children with behavioral problems end up in programs
without the program knowing the underlying problem. Punishment based
models carry an inherent risk when they are applied to children who may
have undiagnosed psychological or emotional problems.
Some kids break when you try to scare them
straight. There is no doubt that some children released from boot camps
look like P.O.W's, hostages or victims of domestic violence. While
they may stop their criminal behavior, they may now have new problems
including post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Children with PTSD may
experience painful flashbacks and they need therapy to work through
their fears, anger and nightmares.
A properly run wilderness boot camp is an powerful
and potentially damaging intervention. A boot camp is not a program
that a parent should voluntarily seek unless they have the benefit of an
experienced professional acting as a consultant. The consultant should
have experience with a particular program or at least be able to
interview and check that program out thoroughly. Anything less would
present an unacceptable risk.
Accidents and abuse can and does happen in
Wilderness Therapy Programs. But it also happen in hospitals,
residential treatment program and jails. While injuries and abuse can
occur, abuse in a wilderness therapy program is not allowed and
employees are terminated and reported to the authorities. Employee
screening, training and oversight are critical elements in a properly
run program whether it is a wilderness therapy program or a wilderness
boot camp.
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