Over 80 wilderness/adventure programs have emerged as a valuable alternative to traditional treatment for juvenile offenders, especially in combination with other services. Participants are referred from many points in the juvenile justice system by agents who should have a thorough understanding of wilderness programs so as to prepare the…

Past recidivism studies on adventure/wilderness programs for delinquent youth have suffered from several problems: lack of uniform definition and interpretation of recidivism; varying lengths of study time; different follow-up periods; provincial or state variance in returns to Training School or incarceration in an adult system and in the process…

The Wilderness Experience is an innovative, experiential program under New Mexico's Statewide Forensic Treatment System for mentally disordered first offenders and those soon to be released on parole or probation. Developed from the concepts of Outward Bound, criminal offenders undergo an intensive 17-21 day confrontation with their physical,…

A true experimental design with 60 male probationers, ages 13-16, was used to evaluate the viability of an Ontario-based 21-day wilderness adventure program as an alternative for adjudicated juveniles placed on probation. Participants were randomly assigned to a control group and an experimental group. The experimental group was subdivided into 3…