Article Critique for Leisure and Family Functioning in Adoptive Families
Implications for Therapeutic Recreation
Spencer Lowe
Brigham Young University
Article Critique for Leisure and Family
Functioning in Adoptive Families:
Implications for Therapeutic Recreation
I will be analyzing the article entitled Leisure
and Family Functioning in Adoptive Families: Implications for Therapeutic
Recreation by Patti Freeman, Ph.D. and Reelin’ Ramon Zabriskie, Ph.D. CTRS.
In this analysis I will 1. Give a brief summary of the article 2. Discuss some
of the strengths of the article 3. Discuss apparent weaknesses of the article
4. Talk about ways that the information provided in the article can be utilized
by practicing Recreational Therapists and 5. Discuss some personal reactions to
the article and give reasons for my interest in the article.
Brief
Summary
This
article is a report on a research study done studying the role of recreation in
families who have adopted children of color. The article begins by describing
some of the problems that led to the need for this study to be done. One of the
problems is that practitioners often try implementing recreational
interventions with their clients and their families while having very little
theoretical data to support their methods, which often leads to these practices
being short-lived, as well as making outcomes from such programs hard to
measure.
The purpose that the authors state for conducting this research is to give
information on the relationship between “disabled” adopted persons success and
family recreation. Their hypothesis was that there would be a positive
correlation between the families’ success and their involvement in both core
and balance recreation.
The authors then wrote into the article a brief explanation of the Core and
Balance Model of Family Leisure Functioning. The Core and Balance Model was
discussed in relation to other models of leisure, how it was similar and
combined some previous models. It was explained that “Core” leisure activities
are activities that family engage in often, are not usually costly, don’t
require much planning, and are often home-based. “Balance” leisure activities
are all activities that are less frequent, are usually anticipated and planned
for longer, can be more costly, and often occur away from the home.
The methods of the study were then explained, the study was done through a
mailed survey to the homes of families who have adopted children of color. The
survey was intended to be filled out by one parent, and one child in the family
between the ages of 11 and 14. The questions asked about the demographics of
the individuals, as well as their family’s participation in various types of
recreation (Core and Balance) and their feelings about their family’s cohesion
and adaptability.
The study found that parent age, both core and balance leisure activities, and
total leisure were positively correlated with family functioning. The
stated hypotheses were supported, but it was found that core leisure activities
were more important among the youth and family in families with adopted
children of color. It was also found in the study that family leisure involvement
was the strongest predictor of family functioning, trumping any
socio-demographic trends.
The article concludes by naming some ways that the findings of this research
can be used by practicing recreational therapists which will be discussed later
in this analysis, and by giving suggestions for further research.
Strengths
I will now discuss some of the strengths that I saw in this article and in this
study. The first strength that I noticed was the background information
provided was perfect to both inform the reader of the context in which this
study was being informed, as well as provide the reader with a convincing
explanation of why the study should be done.
The next strength that I
noticed was that the study performed was focused on families that have adopted
children of color, a population that has a high likelihood of being in therapy.
Because of this target population, it can be implied that therapeutic
recreation can be used as a modality to treat individuals who fit these criteria.
The study shows that family leisure activities have powerful effects upon
family cohesion and adaptability, regardless of race, or other demographics.
Weaknesses
I
will now discuss some of the weaknesses of this study. The first weakness is
that the method of gathering data for the study allowed for a certain amount of
sampling bias. The surveys were handed out through the mail, and only a small
portion of those sent were received back. It seems likely that families who are
less than proud of their family’s recreation and leisure patterns might not be
comfortable completing and returning the survey. This would lead to a
disproportionate amount of responses from families that were practicing good
recreation with their families, while other well-functioning families didn’t
respond.
The second weakness is one that was noted in the text of the article itself,
and that is that because the research was purely correlational, there is no way
to determine directionality of the factors being tested. The findings show
correlations between family leisure involvement and family functioning, but
these findings don’t necessarily mean that the leisure involvement led to the
better family functioning. The case could in fact be that better functioning
families naturally participate in more recreation together. If this was indeed
the case, it would take away from the usefulness of this study in providing
recreational therapy.
Uses of This
Article in Practice
The
findings of this article can potentially be beneficial to Recreational
Therapists in many different ways; I will discuss a few that I saw. The first
one is that in the study, it was shown that family leisure involvement was a
great predictor of family functioning. One of the great trials faced by any therapist
nowadays is that of maintaining change in the clients that they work with.
Often when clients, be they adults or youth, return from receiving treatment to
their families and to their previous environments, they can slip back into
their old habits largely because their home environment hasn’t changed at all.
The findings of this study give therapists reason to implement family
recreation education and practice into their work as a means of improving the
environments their clients will be returning to.
One important thing that was found with the sample families in this study is
the importance of core leisure activities. As previously mentioned, core
activities seemed to be more important than balance activities in the minds of
the youth in families with adopted children of color. This both reminds
therapists of the value of the everyday bonding activities in a family as well
as shows us that this can be a main focus when working specifically with
families who have adopted children of color. Much of family based recreational
therapy that is practiced today focuses on what would be “balance” activities
for a family. This study shows us that in many circumstances that it is the
core leisure activities that make a big difference to the children.
Personal Reactions
When I saw the title of this article, I knew that it would be interesting
because I know one of the authors, Dr. Zabriskie, to be a very fun and
interesting person. I also saw that the study focused on a particular
population of families that are at a seemingly higher risk for dysfunction,
this is interesting to me because I feel that it is easier to apply the
findings of such research into recreational therapy, since most recreational
therapists don’t usually get to work with those families that are functionally
optimally or are your “typical” families. Other research is done more with
families that are not facing the challenges that adopting a child with special
needs brings, and therefore their findings cannot be automatically assumed to
work the same way with many families in treatment.
Another thing that really interested me about the article was it’s use of the
Core and Balance Model for Family Leisure. I have been somewhat familiar with
this theory in the past, but had never seen its application in research, or any
proof to the validity of it, and this article provided me with plenty of both.
Perhaps the most interesting thing that I learned in this article was the value
of core activities and the possibility of teaching them as a recreational
therapist. I, like probably many people think of rock climbing and mountain
biking and river rafting when I think of recreational therapy, but the idea had
never occurred to me to teach families how to have fun right there in their own
homes. This will in no doubt affect the way that I raise my family and in my
practice as a therapist one day. Things that don’t require much planning and
seem to happen spontaneously in some families, actually do have a remarkable
affect upon the success of that family, this article reminded me of that and
that it is not outside the realm of a hired recreational therapist to teach and
practice with families things that they can compute on a day-to-day basis in
their own homes.
References
Zabriskie, R,
Freeman, P (2003) Leisure and Family Functioning in Adoptive Families:
Implications for Therapeutic Recreation. Therapeutic Recreation Journal. Retrieved
from http://sfx.lib.byu.edu/sfxlcl3?genre=article;atitle=Leisure%20and%20family%20functioning%20in%20adoptive%20families%3A%20implications%20for%20therapeutic%20recreation.;sid=cabi%3Acabdirect;title=Therapeutic%20Recreation%20Journal;issn=0040-5914;pages=73-93;issue=1;volume=37;auinit=P.;date=2003;aulast=Freeman
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