Building sense of community in youth vacation camps through staff training: a comparative case study

This study examines a sense of community developed by and among staff at two diverse youth vacation programmes. In-depth interviews and non-participant observations conducted with counselors and camp directors at each camp were the methods used by this study to collect data. Inclusion boundaries and episodic distinction are the two themes that emerged from the data. The findings reveal that both camps sought to establish a sense of community through the development and use of rituals and traditions established primarily over an intensive staff pre-camp training week that were integrally connected to the natural context in which the camps were located. However, the contemporary camp emphasized community and natural surrounds as a metaphor for life outside of camp, while the traditional camp tended to emphasize the natural context of community as a respite from life outside of camp.