Wilderness Therapy, Interpersonal Skills and Accomplishment Motivation: Impact Analysis on Antisocial Behavior and Socio-Professional Status

Abstract

Wilderness therapy is an alternative to more traditional interventions for antisocial youth. It has the potential to broaden their existing, and often poor, repertoire of personal and social skills, heightening the possibilities of desistence from an antisocial path. In this study, the impact of participation in a wilderness therapy program for adjudicated youth was observed. An experimental and prospective design, with pre-test and post-tests at three and six months, was used to evaluate the influence of the length of the program on the antisocial behavior and socio-professional status of young offenders. The potential impact of interpersonal skills and accomplishment motivation as mediators was also observed. A sample of 220 young offenders was used, which was divided at random into two conditions; a program lasting between 8 to 10 days or one lasting between 17 and 20 days. Length of program had no direct and significant influence on participants’ antisocial behavior or socio-professional status. However, length had a positive indirect effect on lowering the level of participants’ antisociality, through the development of some interpersonal skills and accomplishment motivation.