Low ropes as an intervention for juveniles and their parents

Juvenile delinquency is a critical issue, and because of the social and personal costs of chronic offenses, it is in the best interests of the country to spend time and money providing opportunities for these teens to make significant positive changes. One promising approach to the treatment of chronic juvenile offenders is Adventure Based Therapy (ABT). ABT was developed in England by Dr. Kurt Hahn in the 1940s (Davis-Berman & Berman, 2000).

The purpose of this study was to explore the use of low ropes activities (a form of ABT) as interventions for incarcerated juveniles and their parents/guardians. Parents/guardians of juveniles in a long-term residential program were invited to participate in a series of 3 monthly low-ropes groups with their child. The study population included 28 male and 8 female juvenile delinquents. Parents were mandated by court order to participate in treatment. However, not all parents/guardians complied with this order. Thus, the study included all the residents of the program, but some of them did not have a parent participating in the program.

When the residents returned to their rooms, after the course, they were instructed to write a letter to their parents reflecting on the ropes experience. In addition, the juveniles were interviewed to assess their responses to the ropes course and the presence or absence of their parents. Then the interviews and letters were transcribed for content analysis. The researchers wanted to know, "How do residents describe their experience in the low-ropes course?" (with or without a parent present) and "What themes emerge in letters sent to parents after the low ropes course?" (with or without a parent). The juvenile participants expressed, in their interviews and letters, a strong response to parent attendance/absence. Juveniles with parents in attendance shared feelings of gratefulness, love, remorse for previous wrongdoings, and hope for their future. Juveniles without a parent in attendance shared feelings of disappointment, anger, and frustration. Both sets (with or without parent in attendance) pleaded with their parents (in their letters) for their parent to attend the next group. All participants reported the groups to be helpful and to help them "feel like a kid again." The study supported previous research of beneficial effects, but also extended previous findings with new ideas concerning the more immediate impact of ABT on juveniles in a residential treatment program.