2018 Volume 22 Issue 1 Pages 1-18
The study aims to elucidate the lasting impacts of organized camp on participants as they reached their adulthood through the viewpoint of autobiographical memory and autobiographical reasoning. Qualitative data were collected by semi-structured interviews with three male and four female research subjects (20 to 40-years age) who had participated in an organized camp during their childhood. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to analyze these seven case studies of organized camp experience. Through the IPA, 14 themes emerged which were categorized into two major domains. Domain of “impact on oneself” including seven themes ; “core of self,” “conception of nature,” “relationship to others,” “acquisition of sociability,” “improving confidence,” “interest and skill about outdoor education or outdoor activity,” “vitality,” and domain of “factor of impact on oneself” including seven themes ; “camper and adult staff,” “enjoyment,” “unusual situation,” “experience of severe situations,” “continuous participations,” “successful experience,” and “motivation for camp”. Results revealed that the duration of evaluation by participants about camp's significance is not confined within the immediate time frame of the occurrence. The camp's significance is reevaluated at different stages of one's life. This could be during the time when one goes to camp again, or when one is trying to figure out one's occupation, or even when one is facing an obstacle. Further, our analysis suggests that at each stage, the camp's experience is reassessed by the individuals and held a new meaning to them. This study confirms that the meaning-making process and lifelong benefits of camp experience during childhood to adulthood.
