Abstract:
Recreation benefits are improved personal and social
conditions which are thought to occur as a result of recreation participation. If these improved conditions
can be adequately identified and measured, then they can be applied to recreation policy and planning decisions.
Little research has been done on recreation benefits.
Much of what has been done is descriptive and has focused on family relations and adolescent self-concept. This study examined these concepts and their relationship to adolescents who hunt in a causal framework.
Data for this study were collected using a survey method. Data were obtained from adult Oregon Roosevelt elk hunters and teenage children with whom they hunt,
and from young hunters and nonhunters attending high school in Corvallis, Oregon.
Results were written as two separate manuscripts. The first manuscript compared self-concept evaluations of adolescents who hunt with those who do not hunt, and examined responses of adults and related adolescents who hunt together. Results indicated adolescents who hunt may feel less comfortable in social relationships than nonhunters, and adults and adolescents who hunt together share positive feelings about the effect of hunting on family relations. The second manuscript investigated
causal relationships between the perceived effect of hunting on family relations, overall family relations, and adolescent self-concept. Path analysis results indicated causal influences for all three paths examined. Implications of results and recommendations for future research are discussed in the respective manuscripts.
