Background: Psychological distress is highly noticeable among caregivers working in residential youth care (RYC). Maintaining and enhancing caregivers' professional mental health and quality of life is crucial to achieve effective outcomes in RYC. Nevertheless, trainings to protect caregivers' mental health are scarce. Considering the buffering…

Sail training is a non-formal residential educational experience manifesting in personal and social outcomes, contributing to participant well-being and character formation and development. The origins of modern-day sail training are found in the age of sail's culture and traditions, proposed here as a socio-cultural experience in a vessel-bound…

There is currently a lack of theoretically based research regarding positive youth development (PYD) and youth in recreational sport settings, including residential summer sport camps. This qualitative research study explored the ways in which positive developmental experiences are facilitated at a residential summer sport camp. Using a case study…

This paper is concerned with the rise of 'the boot camp' as a means of addressing "the problem of troubled youth" in contemporary industrialised nations such as Australia and the UK. Drawing on a corpus of publicly available material including press releases and policy documents, media reports, and programme websites, the paper explores…

The Nimkee NupiGawagan Healing Centre (NNHC) in Muncey, ON provides residential treatment to First Nations and Inuit youth who abuse solvents. As a complement to its culture-based programming, in 2008 the centre began offering weekly equine-assisted learning (EAL) curriculum to its clients in partnership with the Keystone Equine Centre and the…

This paper presents the findings of a recent preliminary study into the effects of a wilderness therapy program on the resilience of male youth at-risk. The study focused on participants who completed a wilderness therapy program at Typo Station. The residential program involved a five-week stay at the Typo Station property in north east Victoria,…

Summer Activities Initiatives is a U.K. program that uses outdoor adventure activities to prevent dropouts and help at-risk young people re-engage with services that offer them further education, training, or employment. This preliminary look at a program evaluation discusses the target group, recruitment, staffing, residential programming,…

Examines the current child welfare policy and practice in Canada with regard to homeless youths, especially those age 16 and older, and profiles a long-term residential program for homeless youths. Implications and recommendations for child welfare are discussed. (MDM)

In this applied research project, the tendency for Youth Workers to treat admissions as a sudden procedural event was problematic at a treatment program. Literature from (brief) constructivist therapies, youth care work, and interviews with administrators, youth workers, and youths at a treatment program were used to solve the problem. The Context…

This chapter outlines the research design including the nature of the research strategy, tools, respondents, and theoretical and methodological concerns in a child and youth care qualitative study. (Contains 3 figures and 9 notes.)

Introduces Port Camman Project (UK), a 31-day residential course exposing young offenders to various outdoor adventure activities. Results of pre- and postprogram administration of a self-esteem questionnaire show increases in self-esteem in 10 of 14 males surveyed; negative changes are interpreted based on behavior patterns during the full 31-day…

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the child and youth care field in Canada. It covers a spectrum of key concerns within the field of child and youth care, and presents an analysis that spans a variety of program areas. The 12 chapters in the book are: (1) "The Scope of Child and Youth Care in Canada" (Roy Ferguson and…

A British summer adventure education program aims to re-engage high risk secondary students into society. A qualitative evaluation found that although the participants had fun, there was not enough focus on transferring skills to daily life. Because of the many factors affecting the experience, any difference made in the lives of the youths was…

The author relates his experiences as a participant of Outward Bound in 1965 and discusses how these learning experiences influenced his later work as a special education teacher at a youth residential treatment center in The Netherlands. Describes experiential outdoor programs for Netherlands youth including Outward Bound, Elan-training, Centre…

Includes "Young Men Learning: Informal Education and Drug Abuse" (Ellis); "Young Women Learning: Participative Women-Only Group Work" (Gregory); "City Challenge and Capacity Building: Developing Communication Skills" (Smith); and "Social Education with Disaffected Young People: The Padstow Challenge and…