In contemporary life, young people's identity development is a popular topic for investigation. This includes better understanding their development and their participation in outdoor adventure. From ancient times to modern days, literature conveys the benefits of outdoor adventure on their identity development and more recently there is a growing…

This paper presents an account of a research project that explored the experiences of adolescents struggling with behavioral and emotional issues, who participated in a 14-day adventure therapy program in Australia referred to by the pseudonym, "Onward Adventures". All participants of this program over the age of 16 who completed within…

Questionnaires were administered to 361 participants of a standard 26-day Australian Outward Bound Program to examine systematic change and stabiltiy in multiple dimensions of self-concept, to test hypothesized effects of Outward Bound participation on self-concept, and to explore methodological issues in such studies. The participants (aged…

Many outdoor educators and adventure therapists share the belief that adventure experiences improve participant self-esteem. Recently, researchers have begun to question this widespread belief, suggesting that a mismatch between the level of physical or psychological risk and the level of client readiness may produce negative outcomes. A study of…

Australian Outward Bound participants almost universally report their experience in the course as being significant in their lives. The relevance of Outward Bound to the normal progress of life enables it to make significant contributions to society and man's future. An Outward Bound course is designed to encourage students to take responsibility…

The development of Outward Bound, from the early beginnings in Britain through expansion in over 30 locations throughout the world, is outlined, and Outward Bound educational aspects are analyzed in terms of the Australian Outward Bound School. The concepts of experiential education, lifelong education, and the broader Australian educational scene…

Information related to selecting, training, and certifying outdoor leaders for high adventure pursuits, is provided by selected experts from five English-speaking nations (Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States). Patterns of differences and similarities among these nations regarding outdoor leadership components and…