An Exploratory Study on the Impact of Applied Ancestry on At-Risk Youth in a Wilderness Therapy Program Setting

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the Applied Ancestry program meets its objectives of assisting at-risk youth with regard to character development. The sample consisted of 40 youth (12-17 yrs) enrolled in the Anasazi Foundation Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare program. These teens were randomly assigned to either the control (n = 22) or treatment (n = 18) group. To measure the impact of Applied Ancestry on character development the VIA Signature Strengths Survey, developed by the VIA Institute, was used. A pre-post test comparison found no difference between the two groups, however the overall negative changes in survey scores for the entire sample (N = 40) were found to be statistically significant. The negative change in scores was attributed, in large part, to participants' self-concept at the time they took the survey, with lack of humility being a key factor in pre test scores.

Name thesis:degree_name

MS

Grantor dc:publisher

Brigham Young University - Provo

Author dc:creator

• Rancie, Elisa M.

• Applied Ancestry
• at-risk youth
• genealogy
• family history
• wilderness therapy
• character development
• Recreation Business

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/682

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarsarchive.byu.edu:etd-1681