Difference: Wilderness Therapy and Boot Camp Programs
Before exploring the use of force in detail, a distinction must be drawn between a “wilderness therapy program” and a “juvenile boot camp program”.
Wilderness therapy should not be confused with a juvenile boot camp program. The philosophy of wilderness therapy is to allow children to experience the force of nature as their teacher and to avoid staff use of force and restraint.
Boot camp programs are designed and run with a high degree of interpersonal confrontation as well as physical and psychological aggression toward students. Wilderness therapy programs are designed to create therapeutic opportunities and choices when students are confronted with nature and inevitable realities when living in a primitive environment.
The fact that a student must gather wood and build a fire in order to cook (i.e. wilderness therapy) is different than screaming and intimidating a child if they don’t do what they are told (i.e. a boot camp).
Obtaining control and compliance through the use of intimidation and coercion is characteristic of a boot camp program. Wilderness therapy and boot camps are distinctly different and incompatible approaches to working with youth.
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