Camp Ophelia: a relationship camp for middle school girls

Camping Magazine, March-April, 2005 by Cheryl Dellasega

Camp Program

The one-week Camp Ophelia program, started in 2001, has been attended by approximately threehundred girls. Campers are in grades sixth through eighth, come from a broad geographic area, and play a mix of RA roles. They may self refer to camp (the majority) or be recommended by a counselor, teacher, or the juvenile justice system. The camp curriculum is structured on a model of Educate, Relate, Integrate (ERI).

During the beginning of camp, the goal is to educate girls about RA: what it is, who is involved, and why it might happen. Campers watch and participate in "RA role plays" from the real lives of adolescent girls and discuss the actions of bullies, victims, and bystanders. Another educational component involves examining the "friendship face" each camper presents to others by creating and sharing various pieces of intentional art.

During the next phase of camp, campers are encouraged to relate new information on RA to their own lives by exploring what roles they have played and how their behavior or the behavior of others has been hurtful. Realistic alternatives to RA are synthesized by campers and use of "powerful" behaviors instantly rewarded. One favorite activity is a game that gets campers to quickly brainstorm a list of realistic non-RA choices available in various RA situations.

In the final part of camp, campers develop a plan to integrate their new knowledge into their lives and to create an action plan for the future. As a celebratory event to close the week, campers present their art projects and role plays to family, friends, and other concerned adults.

Evaluation

To evaluate the impact of camp, a demographic sheet and The Girls Relationship Scale (GRS) were used. The GRS (Dellasega 2001) is a 25-item scale synthesized from a review of scholarly literature on relational aggression and designed to evaluate whether the program was effective in changing girls' relationship skills. Reliability of the GRS has been established as 88 on repeated occasions.

Results

In summer 2004, complete data were available for forty-five campers, which represented approximately 50 percent of those attending. Girls who did not complete both evaluations were either not in attendance at the final reception or chose not to participate in both the pre and post tests.

The average age of campers was 11.9 (range of 10-15) and grade level was eight (range of 5-8). Ethnicity was 41 percent Caucasian, 19 percent African American, 2 percent Latina, 2 percent Asian American, and 27 percent Biracial or Multiracial. Girls were asked whether they thought RA was most likely to occur in or out of school. At both the pre and post test, half of girls (56 and 53 percent respectively) felt RA occurred most often in school. However, 40 percent felt RA occurred in school and non-school settings equally.

Another item asked girls to identify their RA role (victim, aggressor, bystander, or none) at both the beginning and end of camp. Table One contains the results of their responses, which changed in a predictable direction.