An examination of counselor ratings of behavior problem youth in an early stage, community-based intervention program

Explored counselor ratings of 10- to 13-year-old Ss (33 girls and 99 boys) in the first and last of three 15-day therapeutic camping trips. Counselors rated the Ss on on a 25-item, 6-point Likert scale. Examined were any perceived changes that occurred in the boys or girls according to the six factors extracted from the rating data. The factors found were: Group interferer, unstructured dependence, disliked but trying, outright offender, mutual leadership, and institutional adaptability. Results indicated a significant difference between boys and girls from third-trip comparisons on unstructured dependence. Only the boys showed significant differences between the first and third trips. Reliable counselor ratings were found, and boys were perceived by the counselors to change, while girls were not. A discussion of possible reasons and/or implications of the study was given.