Recreation and Park Management Theses and Dissertations
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Item Open Access A Case Study of Selected Effects of an Organized Summer Residential Camp Upon Staff Members(University of Oregon, 1980-12) Glick, JeffreyThe purpose of this case study was threefold: to depict the environment of a summer residential camp serving individuals with disabilities; describe the operations of the camp, i.e., program activities procedures, and critical incidents; and investigate the relationships between staff members' perceptions of organizational climate, acceptance of self, acceptance of others, and cohesiveness. Camp Daddy Allen, operated by the Easter Seal Society of Pennsylvania, was studied during the 1980 summer camping season, June 15 through August 16. The camping season consisted of one week of pre-camp training and four two-week sessions. Forty-one staff served a total of 300 campers ranging in ages six through eighty-five. The depiction and description of Camp Daddy Allen were based on the camp director's report, camp director's daily log, evaluations of the assistant director and counseling coordinator, water safety instructor's log and the infirmary session summary. The instruments utilized in the examination of staff members' perceptions were the: Profile of Organizational Characteristics-Form SLM, Berger Questionnaire and the Profile of Conflict Characteristics. Each instrument was administered on a pre- to post-test basis. The following research questions were addressed: 1. Does the staff's perceptions of organizational climate change from pre- to post-testing period? 2. Does the staff members' acceptance of self change from pre-to post-testing period? 3. Does the staff members' acceptance of others change from pre-to post-testing period? 4. Does the staff members' perception of conflict characteristics change from pre- to post-testing period? 5. Are there relationships at the pre-testing period between staff members' perceptions of: organizational climate, acceptance of self, acceptance of others and conflict characteristics? 6. Are there relationships at the post-testing period between staff members' perceptions of: organizational climate, acceptance of self, acceptance of others, and conflict characteristics? 7. Do the relationships obtained between staff members' perceptions of organizational climate, acceptance of self, acceptance of others and conflict characteristics change from pre- to post-testing period? 8. Are there differences in staff members' real and ideal perceptions of organizational climate at pre- and post-testing periods? Results of the data analysis revealed the following: 1. Staff's perceptions of organizational climate and conflict characteristics decreased significantly from system 3 (consultative) at pre-testing to that of a hybrid of system 2 (benevolent authoritative)/system 3 at post-testing. 2. Staff's perceptions of acceptance of self and acceptance of others were within normative ranges, yet did not change significantly from pre- to post-testing periods. 3. Relationships of moderate strength were found to exist between staff's perception of organizational climate, acceptance of self, acceptance of others, and conflict characteristics at both testing periods as indicated by Pearson product moment correlations. 4. The difference between staff's perceptions of real and ideal organizational climate was significant at both periods. Staff members indicated that the camp's organizational climate should be participative, although in actuality it was perceived as consultative ·at pre-testing and a hybrid of "benevolent-authoritative/consultative" at post-testing. The data indicated high staff ideals at the beginning of camp, yet toward the completion of camp it would appear that resolution of staff differences had not reached closure. Based on these findings the following recommendations were made: 1. Similar studies should be conducted at a variety of camps with a follow-up testing period conducted after camp is over. 2. The development of a taxonomy of camp administrative practices that may be used for comparative purposes. 3. Implementation of specific camp administrative process strategies to test directionality of changes in conflict characteristics. 4. Relationships between organizational climate, conflict characteristics and staff effectiveness should· be studied.