2001 Evaluation Summary
In 2001, the South Australian Attorney General funded an evaluation of the Operation Flinders Foundation Wilderness Adventure Program for youth-at-risk. Conducted by the Forensic and Applied Psychology Research Group from the University of South Australia, this evaluation reviewed the literature on the use of wilderness and adventure programs with at-risk youth, conducted a study of psychological and behavioural outcomes for program participants against control groups and developed and measured the Foundation against wilderness adventure program best practice criteria.
The literature review uncovered significant variation in the scope, methodology and scientific rigour of the evaluation of similar programs. The research team concluded however that the key theoretical elements for wilderness adventure programs included removal from a possibly dysfunctional environment, the challenging of established beliefs and behaviour patterns through exposure to different environmental demands and provision of a supportive group setting and models of appropriate behaviour. These are all identified as central themes in the Operation Flinders Program.
The study revealed that participants at higher levels of risk demonstrated significant improvement on self-reported measures of self-esteem and criminogenic needs (angry feelings, attitudes toward police, neutralisation and identification with criminal others). Those participants still in the education system recorded significantly improved teacher behavioural ratings in the areas of initiative, social attention, coping with success and failure, social attractiveness, and self-confidence.
The research also demonstrated that these patterns of improvement were largely maintained at follow-up analyses, three weeks & fourteen weeks after the completion of the program by the participants. One-on-one interviews with past participants and stakeholders also revealed a high level of sustained goodwill for the program. Participants in particular reported having enjoyed the experience and endorsed the view that the program had subsequently helped them stay out of trouble.
The best practice analysis provided the Operation Flinders Program with a creditably high level of performance against benchmarks developed from both the wilderness adventure program literature and accepted models of criminogenic need.
While the research team has provided the Board of Management with recommendations to ensure the Foundation's policy of continuous improvement is able to be maintained and client's needs fulfilled, the 2001 evaluation concluded that participation in an Operation Flinders Wilderness Adventure Program in the Northern Flinders Ranges was likely to act as a catalyst for pro-social change in at-risk youth.
To download a copy of a summary of the 2001 evaluation, click here
Operation Flinders Foundation Board of Management
September 2001
2003 Evaluation Summary
Between June and August 2003, a research evaluation was conducted on the Operation Flinders wilderness therapy program. The research was based upon a forensic psychological framework, and, along with the use of a pretest-posttest design, can be considered the most robust research design of its type.
The aim of the research was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Operation Flinders program for young people exhibiting different levels of at-risk behaviour. The research also attempted to identify a typology of young people who gained the most benefits from the program.
The results found that young people who attended the Operation Flinders program gained differential benefits in self-esteem, anger, criminal cognitions and, most notably, classroom behaviour.
In the next phase of the research, participants at risk of school marginalisation, that is, young people whose truancy and suspension profile put them at severe risk of falling out of the school system, were isolated. The study found that young people who attended the Operation Flinders program were at reduced risk of being marginalised from the school system. The mechanism for this would appear to be linked to the reduction of anger and improved classroom behaviour. This result has obvious implications for improving the rate of school retention for young people most risk of falling out of the school system, and, as such, is a strong protective factor in minimising the development of criminal behaviour.
Descriptive analysis indicated that young people who attended the Operation Flinders program also gained benefits in a range of domains, including: life skills, parent/teacher inter-relationships, and the ability to understand themselves and others better. Of further interest, over two-thirds of the participants reported that the Operation Flinders program had been one of the best experiences of their life. Considering many youth at-risk are traditionally unresponsive to intervention, strong support is provided that the Operation Flinders program is providing an environment conducive to positive change in young people.
Overall, the research concludes that the Operation Flinders program is delivering the following outcomes: (1) having a positive impact on both the psychological and behavioural outcomes for at-risk youth, (2) lowering a youths risk for future criminal behaviour or risk of marginalisation from the school system and (3) providing a medium by which youth can be engaged in a manner and style that is conducive to future positive outcomes.
