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ABSTRACT
In contemporary life, young people’s identity development is a popular topic for investigation. This includes better understanding their development and their participation in outdoor adventure. From ancient times to modern days, literature conveys the benefits of outdoor adventure on their identity development and more recently there is a growing focus on understanding how and why it occurs. This article discusses the author’s doctoral research conducted on the Western Australian Leeuwin II tall ship that explored the relationship between trainees’ personal development and their participation on this ocean-bound vessel in light of an individualised contemporary life. The study recognised the Leeuwin II tall ship as communitas contributing to trainees’ personal development. The article considers communitas explaining how and why outdoor adventure benefits young people’s personal development, which has implications for young people’s development in the twenty-first century.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
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Dianne Ashworth
Dr Dianne Ashworth lectures in the Social Work Department at Deakin University, Geelong, Australia. She graduated in 2006 with Honours in the Bachelor of Social Work and completed a PhD on youth development and outdoor adventure in 2013. Her areas of interest include youth development, community development and disability.