IMPACT OF INVOLVEMENT IN INTERGENERATION EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES ON ATTITUDES AND PURPOSE IN LIFE HELD BY ADOLESCENTS AND THE ELDERLY.
Author(s)
DOLBY, STACY ENGLAND, JR.Keywords
Education, Adult and Continuing.
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Sorry, the full text of this article is not available in Huskie Commons. Please click on the alternative location to access it.177 p.
This study attempted to ascertain if participation in a series of structured intergeneration educational activities by adolescent and elderly subjects would impact their attitudes toward each other and/or their sense of a purpose in life.The interventions of the experiment consisted of five, approximately two-hour long programs involving the use of film, group conversation, and a series of "dialogue" sessions patterned after those of the Marriage Encounter Weekend (Gallagher, 1975).This study is apparently unique in that it attempted to effect attitudinal and/or a sense of purpose in life changes held by adolescents and the elderly simultaneously. It is also unique in that an instrument designed specifically for the measuring of attitudes of the elderly toward adolescents was developed.Subjects for the experimental and the control groups were drawn from the membership of the United Church of Christ, Dekalb, Illinois. Kogan's O. P. Scale, Dolby/Kogan's Y. P. Scale--Revised Version and Crumbaugh and Maholick's Purpose in Life Test--Part A were used in pre- and posttests to measure for attitude and/or a sense of a purpose in life change.The data collected were analyzed using t-test comparisons and analysis of co-variance of the mean scores of the experimental and control groups. The alpha point for rejecting the null hypotheses was .05.Of the null hypotheses formulated, there were no significant relationships found in any of the posttest analyses. A significant relationship was observed in only one of the 20 null hypotheses. This hypothesis compared the pretest mean scores of the adolescent subjects in the experimental and the control groups, as recorded on the Purpose in Life Test--Part A. All other null hypotheses were retained.Though significant change in the variables tested was not recorded, it was noted that for the experimental subjects, both the adolescents and the elderly, attitudes toward the other cohort improved, as did the sense of a purpose in life for the adolescent subjects. It was also observed that the responses of both the adolescent and the elderly subjects to participation in the structured intergeneration educational activities was quite enthusiastic.
Date
2011-06-22Identifier
oai:commons.lib.niu.edu:10843/8964http://commons.lib.niu.edu/handle/10843/8964
http://hdl.handle.net/10843/8964