Although researchers have suggested that wilderness therapy is a culturally appropriate mental health intervention for Native American youth, there have been no in-depth studies to support, contradict or modify this hypothesis. The proposed research is an ethnographic study of a wilderness therapy program of Navajo youth which seeks to fill this gap in the mental health services research literature.
The aim of the study is to examine the application of this purportedly appropriate mental health intervention within the context of Navajo culture by asking three interrelated questions: 1) How do program practitioners define and implement the therapeutic objectives of the program? 2) How do program participants experience, internalize, and incorporate the intervention into their lives? And 3) To what extent is wilderness therapy compatible with the cultural psychology of troubled youth coming of age in contemporary Navajo society? These questions will be addressed through semi-structured interviews with program participants and counselors, questionnaires with program counselors, and participant observation in a variety of settings. The groundwork for the proposed study has already been laid through three months of preliminary fieldwork. Findings from this research will have significance in a variety of fields including medical and psychological anthropology, human development, and wilderness therapy.
