| The purpose of this study was to ascertain the extent to which an asset-based recreation curriculum could influence asset development of court-supervised youth. An adaptation of the Asset Development Inventory developed by the Search Institute of Minnesota was utilized in this study. The assessment took the form of an evaluation protocol utilizing youth, parent and probation officer appraisal. Participants were 57 court-adjudicated males between the ages of 14 and 18. Participants were nominated and referred by Salt Lake City's 3 rd District Juvenile Court System. Two experimental groups participated in a 10-week asset-based recreation curriculum designed to foster asset internalization, development, and adoption. In addition, a nonparticipating control group ( N = 28), from the same population, was used for purposes of comparison. Significant correlations were found for the three asset development inventories (youth, parent, and Probation Officer appraisals). Youth within the experimental groups increased in overall developmental assets from pretest to posttest. Evidence also suggests that the experimental groups demonstrated higher levels of asset attainment than a control group of their peers. The results of this study suggest the efficacy of delivering a recreation asset-based curriculum to court supervised youth. In addition, this study has proposed that a multifaceted approach to program evaluation is an effective strategy for documenting program efficacy. |
