File Copy-Co Not Remove

File C o p y - C o Not Remove BROWNIES IN TROOPS AND CAMPS

Survey Research Center University of Michigan

July 1958

TABLE OF CONTENTS

BROWNIE TROOPS

Chapter 1: The Girls Themselves Age and Camping Experience . . Brownies1 Personal Finances Non-economic Family Variables , Family Variables Related to Socio-economic Status

Chapter 2: The Program Activities of Brownie Troops What Brownies Like Best • Program Expectations , Brownies' Dislikes The Feeling of Hurry Brownie Learning • Awareness of Program Progression Service I f I had my way What is Special about Brownies

Chapter 3: The Organization and Administration of Brownie Troops Troop Size Age Range The Troop's Meeting Place Racial Integration Religious Integration Girls* Attitudes toward Each Other and the Troop The Costs of Being a Brownie Maturity and Responsibility

Chapter hi The Impact of Scouting The Brownie Promise Motivation to Join and Stay I n the Organization . Pride i n Brownie Membership

Chapter 5: Leader-Girl Relationships

Chapter 6: Specific Items of Miscellaneous Interest Brownie Uniform Brownie Handbooks Do Brownies lik e to have th e i r pictures taken Transferring to a New Brownie Troop Ten Year Old Brownies

TABLE OF CONTENTS

BROWNIE CAMPERS

Introduction to Brownies at Camp 1

Chapter 1: The Girls Themselves 3 Camping Experience 3 Program Level and Age k Non-economic Family Variables 5 Family Variables Related to Socio-economic Status ...... 8

Chapter 2: Brownies' Camp Activities 12

Favorite Activities 12 The Camp Activities L i s t l l i Disliked Aspects of Camp IB The Feeling of Hurry 19 Learning at Camp • • 20 Camp Unit Observations of Activities 22

Chapter 3: The Organization and Administration of Brownie Camp Units 23

Size of Units 23 Unit Age Range 2k Girls' Attitudes toward Each Other and the Unit 26 Maturity and Responsibility .» 28

Chapter k: The Impact of Scouting 29 The Brownie Promise 29 Motivations to Come and Return to Camp 30

Chapter 5: Leader-Girl Relationships 32

Chapter 6: Specific Items of Miscellaneous Interest 38

Comic Books • 38 Racial Integration 38 Handicapped Girls 39

Chapter 1: BKJWNIE TROOPS

THE GIRLS THEMSELVES

Age and Camping Experience

The Age of our Respondents The time schedule of the Program Study involved the selection of troops i n the spring of 1957 and their direct study early i n the f a l l of that same year. A l l Brownie troops that f e l l into the study, therefore, had troop identifications of troops that were i n existence before the summer- These Brownies responded to two research instruments to be reported i n this section, but they need to be further defined as follows:

Questionnaire Brownies: Troop members attending a sampled f a l l meeting of a troop which had been i n existence as a Brownie troop during the spring and s t i l l existed i n the f a l l (whether or not the troop had "flown up" during the interval)-Interview Brownies: Current or ex-Brownies who had been registered i n Brownie troops during the spring, regardless of whether the g i r l s were s t i l l i n the organization, the troop was s t i l l i n existence, or had "flown up" i n the interval.

Girls who had been Erownies i n the spring but had "flown up" to the Intermediate age level during the summer are s t i l l reported i n this "Brownie" section. The over-all age distribution of Brownie respondents, therefore, is higher than that found i n G i r l Scout Brownie troops at any single moment i n time:

Table 1

Age of Brownie Respondents Questionnaire Interview

Age seven or below 6% 2% eight nine ten or above

28 35 31

16 i a ia

10055 10056

N (1280) (iao)

Brownie Troops 2

Most of the g i r l s who were aged ten or above at the time of our f i e l d work responded to special " f l y up" forms of our instruments, reporting facts and attitudes i n terms of their last year's Brownie experience. Only h percent of the gir l s found i n those troops which were s t i l l o f f i c i a l l y Brownie troops during the f a l l were as old as ten, as of December 31 of that year* Length of Time i n Scouting

More than four out of ten Brownies of any given age are found to have joined the organization when they f i r s t became eligible, at the age of seven. Our data from Intermediates and Seniors, to be reported i n later sections, repeat . the same finding: almost one-half of a l l Scouts at a l l ages have been members of the organization from the age of seven. Even among a population of Brownies, then, only 15 percent were in only their f i r s t year of Scouting at the time of our f i e l d work (interviewers' v i s i t s were timed to occur no earlier than the troop's f i f t h meeting of the f a l l ) . Comparable figures for Intermediates and Seniors are k percent and 1 percent, respectively.

Table 2

Age at Joining Browniesj by Age 7 & Total

Joined at: younger Age 8 Age 9 10 & older Quest. Interview Seven 99% 82* U6% U6% 60# 52% Eight 18 h6 3U 32 hi Nine 7 12 6 6 Ten or older 5 1 1 No answer 1 - 1 3 1 -

100# 100% 100g 100% 100% 10(#

N = (83) (352) (M6) 099) (1280) (IOO)

Summer Camping The G i r l Scout summer camping experience of g i r l s i n our Brownie sample i s most l i k e l y to have occurred at a G i r l Scout Day camp. Our Brownie and Fly-up Questionnaire questions did not attempt to distinguish between Day and Established camp experience, but we can make this statement from our findings during the summer camping phase of the Program Study. Girls who had been Brownies during the spring of the year were found at Day camps nine times as often as at Established camps.

Brownie Troops 3-

Table 3

G i r l Scout Summer Camping (Brownies) Were at camp, summer 1957 32$

Were at camp, summer 1957, and previously 12% Were NOT at camp summer 1957, but previously 9 Were NEVER at Girl Scout summer camp 59

100$

N * (1280)

Fifty-nine percent of our Brownie respondents had not yet had a summer at any type of G i r l Scout camp, 20 percent had just completed their f i r s t such experience, and about one out of three of a l l Brownies had been at a Day or Established camp during the summer of 1957-

Accumulated experience at G i r l Scout summer camps does show, as we would expect, a continuing increase with age (within any given program level as well as from Brownies to Intermediates to Seniors). But i t i s interesting to note that we found no significant variation between Brownies of different ages on their camping experience during the most recent summer.

Table k

G i r l Scout Summer Camping; by Age 7 & Total

younger Age 8 Age 9 10 & older Questionnaire Summer, 1957 12% 32% 35% 32% 33% Any previous summer U% 9% 2k% 32% 21%

N - (83) (352) (hh6) (399) (1280)

Other Camping .Experience Summer camping at non-Scout camps also shows an expected rise with increasing age. Camping with one's own family evidences a prominent spurt between the

• ages of eight and nine, which is s t a t i s t i c a l l y significant. The age trend i n the f i r s t item and the seeming lack of such a continuing general age trend with regard to family camping are replicated i n our data on Intermediates and Seniors.

Table 5

Other Camping Experience; by Age 7 & Total

younger Age 8 Age 9 10 &. older Questionnaire Non-Scout camps 12% 21% 26%. 2ft% 2h% Family camping 23% 30$ lj2# hl% 31%

Brownie Troops Brownies1 Personal Finances

Allowances Seventy-three percent of a l l Brownies report receiving allowances, and no age variation occurs i n this report. On the other hand, the amount of a gir l ' s allowance does, of course, rise with her age, although fewer than 30 percent of Brownies of any age receive as much as one dollar per week. The fact that reported ages at which an allowance was f i r s t received does vary with age ( i . e . , the younger gi r l s started getting an allowance earlier than the older g i r l s ) might indicate that the very Brownie status of a g i r l i n our sample raises the probability of her receiving an allowance.

Table 6 Do you have an allowance?; by Age

Yes No No answer

N =

Total 7 & younger Age 8 Age 9 10 & older Quest.

70$ 68$ 73$ 77$ 73$ 29 31 26 22 26

1 1 1 1 1

100$ 100$ 100$ 100$ 100$

(83) (352) (hh6) (399) (1280)

Table 7 Amount of Weekly Allowance; by Age

2li£ or less 25* - hH 500 exactly 51* - 99* $1 exactly $1,01 - $1.99 $2 exactly *2.01 - ftU.99 $5 exactly $5.01 or more No answer

N

younger Age 8 Age 9 10 & older Total Quest.

31$ 20$ 10$ 7$ 13$ 22 35 31 23 29 lU 19 35 32 29 7 k ii 9 6 3 7 10 16 11 - 5 6 7 5 3 # •it- 2 l 5 2 1 3 2 2 - # - # 2 - •M- -

11 8 2 1 _h

100$ 100$ 100$ 100$ 100$

(58) (239) (321*) (309) (930)

Brownie Troops 5-

Table 8 Age at First Allowance; by Age

Total 7 & younger Age 8 Age 9 10 & older Quest.

5 or younger 31$ 27$ 21$ 9$ 19$ 6 ho 23 15 12 17 7 28 33 30 . 19 26 8 13 2ii 27 21 9 9 17 9 10 13 5 Ho answer 1 __h 1 3 3

100$ 100$ 100$ 100$ 100$ N = (58) (239) (321;) (309) (930)

We suspect that a sizeable proportion of g i r l s who do not currently receive an allowance had done so i n the past. Our questionnaires, therefore, contained a probe for those who reported no current allowance: "Did you used to have an allowance?" Fifty-three percent of those Brownies who have no current allowance answered "Yes" to this question, as did comparable proportions of Intermediates and Seniors. When these numbers are re-calculated as percentages of the t o t a l population, we find Ih percent of a l l Brownies who do not now, but used to, receive an allowance. At the Senior age this proportion rises to 20 percent, exactly comparable to the result obtained i n the Adolescent G i r l Study on a t o t a l U.S. (rather than specifically G i r l Scout) population. I t would seem, therefore, that some g i r l s lose their allowance as their own earning power increases. But there i s also a not negligible phenomenon of allowances which are i n i t i a t e d i n some families and dropped over time, either because the g i r l s don't liv e up to their parents 1 expectations i n handling money or because parents find i t easier to hand out funds as required. Earnings Even a larger proportion of Brownies than those who report receiving allowances say that they earn some of their own spending money. Our tables make i t clear that most of this "earning" is done inside the family. Furthermore, within the Brownie population, the g i r l s who receive allowances are more l i k e l y to report "earnings" than those who do not receive allowances. There does not appear to be much reduction of work-for-pay i n the home as the g i r l s become older, at least within the Brownie age range. Baby s i t t i n g outside the home, of course, shows a small but steady increase, which we shall f i n d continuing over the Intermediate and part of the Senior age range, u n t i l i t takes a large and significant downward swing between the ages of fifteen and sixteen.

Brownie Troops 6

Table 9 Brownies1 Earnings j by Age

7 & Total younger Age 8 Age 9 10 & older Quest,

Do you earn spending money? younger Age 8

Yes 6h% 76$ 8l# 80$ 78$ No 3h 23 16 19 20 No answer 2 1 3 1 2

Tffi% To5*$ 100$ ToS$ Too*

N " (83) (352) W ) (399) (1280)

What work do you do? Baby s i t - outside home 13% lii$ 23% 25$ 21$ Baby s i t - own home 2 1 3 2 2 Chores, errands, own home 62 Sh 59 57 57 Work outside home - 1 2 • l 1 Business i n i t i a t i v e ( s e l l cards, make things, e t c ) - •» #• 2 1

Other - 1 3 2 2 No answer 23 29 10 11 17

100$ 100$ 100$ 100$ 100$

N « (53) (268) (360) (321) (1002)

Number of hours per week Less than 2 hours k9% 36$ 23$ 15$ 26$ 2 hours to less than h 11 17 21 23 20 h " " 6 h 7 12 I i i 11 6 " » 9 _ 6 7 10 7 9 " " 13 h 3 h 8 5 13 or more hours 2 2 7 7 6 No answer 30 29 26 23 25

Too* Toc5$ Too£ 100$ Too$

N ° (53) (268) (360) (321) (1002)

Table 10 Brownies' Earnings; by Allowance

Do you earn spending money? Has Allowance Has no Allowance Yes 85$ 62$ No Ih 37 No answer 1 1

100$ 100$ N « (930) (336)

Brownie Troops 7

Non-economic Family Variables

School Grade More than 80 percent of Brownies over the age of eight are found i n their expected school grade, with a l i t t l e b i t of normal variation i n both d i rections. The seven-year-old Brownies are more notable i n the large proportion who are one grade ahead of their age group. Before further Interpretations of this finding are made, i t should be noted that we coded ages as of December 31, 1957; g i r l s reported their school grades as of the date of interview, during the f a l l semester of 1957.

Table 11

School Grade; by Age Total

7 & younger Age 8 Age 9 10 & older Questionnaire Grade 2 53$ 1$ # h%

3 1*3 81* U 1 28 h 11* 85 6 35 5 8 88 30 6 5 2 7 •a

No answer _ U 1 2 1

100$ 100$ 100$ 100$ 100$

N - (83) (352) (1*1*6) (399) (1280)

Religion and Church Attendance On the paper-and-pencil Questionnaire i n which Brownies had to spell out each of their answers, we did not attempt to inquire into religious groups or denominations. We asked simply: "Do you go to a church or synagogue?" One percent of a l l the Brownies gave no response, 5 percent said "No," and 9l* percent checked the "Yes" answer. There was no variation i n these results by age, economic status, or rural-urban residence.

Church attendance was, however, found to vary among Brownies i n different parts of the country. The proportion of girls who said they go to a church or synagogue was highest i n the southern regions, and lowest i n New England and Fast North Central states. I t should be noted, however, that even the lowest proportions of church attenders account for nine out of ten g i r l s .

Brownie Troops 8.

Table 12 Church Attendance; by Geographic Region

Do you go to a church or synagogue? New England: Maine, New Hampshire,

Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut

Middle Atlantic: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania

East North Central: Ohio, Indiana, I l l i n o i s , Michigan, Wisconsin

West North Central: Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas

South Atlantic: Delaware, Maryland, D.C, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida

East South Central: Kentucky, Tennessee Alabama, Mississippi

West South Central: Arkansas, Louisiana Oklahoma, Texas

Mountain: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada

Pacific: Washington, Oregon, California

Total Brownie Sample

Yes No No Answer Total Number

89* 7$ h% 100$ on.) 95 k 1 100$ (183)

90 9 1 100$ OOU)

97 3 - 100$ (158)

98 2 — 100$ (131)

98 2 - 100$ (U)

97 3 - 100$ (lilt)

91 9 - 100$ (58)

92 6 2 100$ (177)

9h% 5 1 100$ (1260)

In the personal interview situation we were able to question even the youngest gir l s more specifically as to their church membership and attendance. We present the religious a f f i l i a t i o n data for a l l three program levels, since there are some significant differences between the proportions of Catholic and Protestant members of Brownie and Intermediate troops.

Table 13

What is your family's religion?; by Program Level Total

Brownies Intermediates Seniors Interview Sample Protestant 71$ 62$ 69$ 67$ Catholic 23 32 29 27 Jewish k 3 2 1* Other and none 1 3 -* 2 Don't know and no answer 1 i i

•»

100$ 100$ 100$ 100$

N «= (lao) (U93) (295) (1198)

Brownie Troops 9

The interviewed Brownies were also asked how often they attended church, synagogue and Sunday school- Answers, here, were of the check-list type, and yielded the following results s

Table l l * Regularity of Attendance; by Religion

Other & -end church: Protestant Catholic Jewish no answer Total Regularly 78* 93* Ui* 72* 7fl* Often 12 5 - - 10 Seldom 7 2 39 - 7 Never 1 - 17 lU 2 No answer 2 2 - Hi 3

100* 100* 100* 100* 100*

N - (290) (95) (18) (7) (too)

The church attendance of the t o t a l Brownie population looks much like that of the Protestant group because the majority of Brownies belong to Protestant denominations. These church attendance results are almost exactly duplicated by the data obtained from Intermediates and Seniors, to be reported later. At a l l three age levels more than 90 percent of the Catholic g i r l s , about 80 percent of the Protestant g i r l s and between one-third and one-half of the Jewish girls report regular church attendance.

Other Extra-curricular Activities We asked g i r l s about their other club memberships and their involvement i n private lessons. Since the Brownies represent one of the few organizations which accept girlB as young as seven, i t would be expected that for many of them this represents the only group to which they belong. Forty-six percent of a l l our Brownie population report no bther memberships, either at school, at church or elsewhere. Participation i n a l l three of these categories rises with age throughout the Brownie age range, and continues to rise through the Intermediate and Senior ages too. The t o t a l number of groups to which g i r l s belong also rises steadily with increasing age.

Brownie Troops 10

Table 15

Other Group Memberships; by Age Total

7 & younger Age 8 Age 9 10 & older Quest, Belong to school clubs 18$ 15$ 28$ 1*0$ 28$ Church clubs 12 31* 35 1*1 35 Both school and church 2 5 10 19 l l Neither school nor church 69 56 hh 37 1*6

School clubs only 16 10 18 21 17 Church clubs only 10 29 ji 22

## *# ## •H-a Number of school & church clubs None 67$ 55$ us 36$ 1*6$ One 25 • 35 39 39 37 Two 1 6 13 19 12 Three l 1 k 2 Four or more 1 2 1 No answer 7 3 2 - 2

100$ 1006 100$ 100$ 100$

Other clubs 17$ 22$ 29$ 32$ 27$

N - (83) (352) (1*1*6) (399) (1280)

To the question: "Do you take paid lessons i n anything outside of school time?" 1*5 percent of the Brownies answered "Yes." This item i s , of course, strongly related to the family's economic standing. Our rough economic index showed about one-third of the lowest income group, one-half of the middle group and two-thirds of the highest income group who report private lessons. More than half of the daughters of professional men, business or farm managers or proprietors, and sales personnel take private lessons; but fewer than U-0 percent of the daughters of clerical or manual workers report such lessons.

Regardless of economic differences, the seven-year-olds report private lessons (63$) significantly more often than a l l the other age groups. We have already had one indication that g i r l s who manage to get into a Brownie troop at the age of seven seem to have some age-in-school advantage over the general population of Brownies (cf., school grade by age, Table 11). This greater likelihood of following another outside-school Interest (whether i n the arts or sports) points i n the same direction.

Brownie Troops 11.

Family Size and Brownies' Place l n Family Structure More than nine out of ten Brownies, i n the Questionnaire as well as the Inter view sample, liv e with both their mother and their father. This proportion does not vary significantly with age within the Brownie age range, and, perhaps surprisingly, does not drop below °0 percent for either Intermediates or Seniors. (The Adolescent G i r l study, whose age range most closely approxi mates that of our Senior sample, found only 8$ percent l i v i n g with both parents. The large number upon which the former study was based makes this 5 percent difference s t a t i s t i c a l l y significant.)

Eighty percent of the Brownies report their parents as the only adults i n the home.

Table 16 Adults i n the Home

Both parents at home 93% Mother only 5 Father only 1 Neither parent at home # No answer 1

100$ Other adult i n the home 18$ Parents only 80 No answer 2

100$ N = (1280)

Table 17 presents data gathered on age and sex of siblings i n both the i n t e r view and questionnaire situations. The information i s presented i n six separate tables, summarizing the Brownies1 place i n the family structure from several different points of view. These findings on Brownies are very similar to those obtained i n the Adolescent Girls Study, i n which comparable data were collected from school gir l s who were not selected as G i r l Scout members.

Brownie Troops 12.

Table 17 Brownies1 Sibling Relationships

a) Sex of Siblings b) Place i n Family Structure Only child 11$ Only child 11$ Brothers only 20 Oldest child 33 Sisters only 19 Youngest child 21 Both brothers k sisters h5 Middle child 30 Twin 2 Twin 2 No answer 3 No answer 3

100$ 100$

N * (lllO) N * (lao)

c) Number of Siblings None 10$ One 27 Two 30 Three 17 Four 6 Five 3 Six or more 3 R has sibs., NA how many 2 No answer 2

100$ N - (1280)

d) Number of Brothers None 32$ One hO Two 16 Three 5 Four 2 Five 1 Six or more # R has brothers, NA how many 2 No answer 1

100$ N « (1280)

e) Number of Sisters f ) Sex and Age of Siblings None 36$ Only child 11$ One 35 Brothers only, a l l older 8 Two 16 Brothers only, a l l younger 12 Three 5 Sisters only, a l l older 9 Four 2 Sisters only, a l l younger 10 Five 1 Brothers & sisters, a l l Six or more # older h R has sisters, NA how many 1 Brothers & sisters, a l l No answer 2 younger 11

Brothers older, sisters 100$ younger u

Sisters older, brothers N = (1280) younger 3

Older & younger brothers and sisters 23

R i s twin 2 No answer 3

100$ N « (hlO)

Brownie Troops 13

Race The information on the racial distribution of the Brownie population comes from our personal interviews with g i r l s i n their homes. Interviewers checked this information themselves. The proportion of white, Negro and "other" members i s completely consistent across age levels.

Table 18

Race White 9$% Negro 2 Other 1 No answer 2

100$ N =- (iilO)

Residential Mobility About three-quarters of the Brownies are now l i v i n g i n communities i n which they have been for five years or more. This length of time probably covers most Brownies' memory span, and the code category actually includes a large number who are l i v i n g i n the communities i n which they were born. The time elapsed since the last move of the families of the other one-quarter of the population can be read i n Table 19, below.

Table 19

Length of Residence i n Current Ccanmunity

Less than one year 2$ One up to two years h Two up to three years 7 Three up to four years 7 Four up to five years 6 Five years or more Jh

100$ N = (1*10) .

Brownie Troops

Family Variables Related to Socio-economic Status

Income The most straightforward of our economic measures was one item of a "Census-Data-Questionnaire for Parents" used at the time of the personal interviews with g i r l s i n their homes. This asked, of the adult i n the home, "What is the family's approximate income?" and provided a check-list of the categories i n Table 20, below. In this table, also, we present comparable statistics gathered by the Survey Research Center at about the same time from a sample representative of a l l families i n the nation.

Table 20

Family Income; to Compare with U. S. 1957 Data Brownie Families A l l U.S. Families

$2,999 or less $3,000 - ii,999 $5,000 - 7,ii99 $7,500 - 9,999 $10,000 - Hi, 999 $15,000 and above No answer

N

i i * 26* 25 26 ii3 29 11 9 8 5 t

_ J i

100* 100*

(i l lO) (Hi65)

The most t e l l i n g differences between these Brownie family incomes and those of the t o t a l population l i e i n the proportion of incomes of $5,000 and more: two-thirds of the parents of Brownies reported this financial status, compared to fewer than one-half of the t o t a l family population. The dearth of very low incomes i n this parents-of-Brownies group i s somewhat, but not entirely, explained by the absence of very young and very old breadwinners. (Cf., Table 22, for "retired" category.) But the fact is s t i l l clear that few Brownies come from very low income families, and more Brownie -families than families across the nation enjoy the very highest incomes.

In the questionnaires administered to the g i r l s we were able to attempt only rough estimates of economic conditions. We asked the g i r l s , among many other items of information about their family and home: "How many bedrooms are there i n your home? How many cars does your family have? How many telephones are there i n your home?"

Brownie Troops 15.

Table 21 Number of Bedrooms, Cars, Telephones

Bedrooms Cars Telephones None it* 5* One 2 63 67 Two 27 29 23 Three k9 3 Four or more 21 •* # No answer 1 1 1

100* 100* 10$ N = (1280) (1280) (1280)

Father's Occupation Asking Prownies to give a satisfactory answer about their father's occupation was d i f f i c u l t . The interviewer who administered the troop questionnaire said:

"The question asks: What does your father do for a living? What is his job? I f he works i n a large place, write down what job he does there, li k e sweeper, or bookkeeper, or drill-press operator, or vice-president. I f you don't know the one word that t e l l s what he does, you can write a sentence; that's why there are two lines there."

The g i r l s ' answers were then classified by the Survey Research Center's trained coding staff. Coders were warned that many answers would be too vague to classify, and were instructed to place a l l uncertain responses i n the "uncodable" class. About 30 percent of the answers of Brownies at a l l age levels f e l l into this category. But the remaining 70 percent gi-ve us a chance to compare the reports of those Brownies who adequately answered the item i n the troop questionnaire with the answers of mothers of Brownies who were interviewed at home. Reports of the household head's occupation i n the 1957 Survey of Consumer Finances are also given.

The income advantage of Brownie families observed i n Table 22 can now be clearly identified with the proportion of white collar workers among them. An addition of the f i r s t three occupational categories yields U8 percent for Brownies (on both instruments) and 33 percent for the general population. This t o t a l white-collar difference, as well as the smaller differences between professional Brownie fathers and professional heads of households across the nation, are very significant s t a t i s t i c a l l y . I t might be mentioned at this point, that both income and occupation data show no variation between program levels. This means that the difference between Brownies and the general U.S. population holds for members of the G i r l Scout organization at a l l levels.

Brownie Troops 16

Table 22

Father's Occupation; to Compare with Total U.S. 1957 Data Questionnaire Interview Total U.S.

Professional, technical and kindred Self-employed and managers

16% 17$ 9$ Professional, technical and kindred Self-employed and managers 16 16 13 Clerical and sales 16 15 11 Craftsmen, foremen, operatives 29 3k 28 Laborers, service workers, farm labor Unemployed^

7 10 11 Laborers, service workers, farm labor Unemployed^ # # 5 Farm operators 1 1 7 Protective: servicemen, police, firemen 8 i i r Others and students 1 1 h

Inapplicable; father not at home (widow) 6 2 L Retired and not ascertained (U.S. only) • • 12

100$ 100% 100$

N = (898) (385) (301*1)

Mother's Occupation More than one-quarter of the Brownies' mothers "go to work" or "have a job outside the home." These were the phrases used i n the questions put to the Brownies themselves i n the Questionnaire, and to their mothers i n the home interview. The largest proportion of the working mothers i s found i n the clerical and sales category.

Table 23

Mother's Occupation

Professional, technical and kindred workers 5$ Self-employed businesswomen and artisans; managers, off i c i a l s 2 Clerical and sales workers 10 Craftsmen, foremen, operatives and kindred workers k Laborers, service workers; farm laborers 6

Housewives 69

No answer k

100$

N » (iO-0)

Brownie Troops 17.

Parents1 Education Brownies' mothers are more l i k e l y to have finished High School than are their fathers, but among the parents who went to college, more fathers are l i k e l y to have graduated or to have taken post-graduate work.

Table 2h Parents' Education (Brownies)

Father Mother Pure Cumulative Pure Cumulative

Post-graduate education 8$ 8$ 2% 2$ Graduated from college 12 20 9 i i Went to college 16 36 17 28 Graduated from high school 26 62 1*2 70 Went to high school 23 85 21 91 Went to grade school 12 97 8 99

Inap., no such parent 2 •*

No answer 1 1

100$ 100$

N = (1*10) (iao)

The same trends are found i n the d i f f e r e n t i a l education of the parents of Intermediates and Seniors i n the sample.

Chapter 2: BROWNIE TROOPS

THE PROGRAM ACTIVITIES OF BROWNIE TROOPS

What Brownies Like Best

In the questionnaires administered to Brownies the question of what they do in their troops and how they lik e i t was approached i n several ways. The f i r s t approach was the question: "What do you like BEST about Brownie meetings?" and i t allowed free reign to the g i r l s ' original responses. A l l but k percent of the Brownies i n this large sample had completed the second grade at the time they f i l l e d out our questionnaire, the majority had acquired a t h i r d grade education. This question posed a task not impossible for them, but .nevertheless d i f f i c u l t . The f i r s t broad generalization to be drawn from Tables 25 and 26, i s that 97 percent of the Brownies could think of something about their organization that they liked very much and were w i l l i n g to take the trouble to write i t out. Further, the g i r l s ' answers show considerable variation. That i s , the aspects of Brownie membership which g i r l s chose as the most satisfying spread over a very wide range of program content and ideas.

Table 25 presents the proportions of Brownies who gave "like best" responses i n each of twelve summary categories, and compares these proportions with those obtained from Intermediates and Seniors on a comparable question. More than three-quarters of the entire Brownie sample made their response or one of their responses to this question i n the general areas of indoor play or "making things." Fourteen percent gave only a very generalized answer indicating that they liked everything they do i n their Brownie troops, and another Ik percent made "interpersonal satisfaction" responses. The in d i vidual types of answers which make up each of these more generalized categories can be read i n Table 26, where responses are also presented with a further break-down of Brownie age groups.

The most striking difference between Brownies on the one hand and the upper age levels on the other i s found i n the comparatively small proportion of the younger g i r l s who make their "favorite" response i n the "Outdoor Activities" area. The great increase i n the proportion of such responses among Intermediates and Seniors i s largely made up of "camping" responses, which w i l l be seen i n later sections of the report.

The single area which shows a continuous age trend i n Table 26 i s the "Indoor Play" category, i n which the proportion of "liked best" responses drops with increasing age. This would indicate that Erownies at f i r s t

Brownie Troops 19.

start out playing games, "having fun" and throwing parties for themselves (see also the "refreshment" entries under "Meeting Routines"), and, as their program progresses, begin to take more of their satisfaction i n more substantive areas of program content. As a sidelight interesting to the reader who notes that no Brownies gave a response classified i n the satisfaction category of "being part of a nationwide organization" or of an international one, i t should be added that only two such responses were obtained i n the entire study, and these both came from sixteen-year-old Seniors.

For further comparisons between Brownies and the two upper program levels on the specific sub-headings i n Table 26, the reader i s referred to Table 1 i n the Appendix.

Table 25

Of a l l the things i n Scouting, what do you LIKE BEST? (What do you like best about Brownie meetings?)

Number of Responses Brownies Intermediates Seniors At least one 97* 99* 99% Two or more hl% 63* 67* Three 12* 30* 30*

ummary Categories A l l Three Responses Interpersonal satisfactions Hi* 8* 22* Indoor play 38 28 17 Creative activities (making things) 39 38 11 Out-of-door activities 17 90 97 Learning 10 3 h Standards and ideals 5 3 15 Organizational opportunities 2 6 13 •Meeting-routines 13 9 9 Miscellaneous h 2 3 Everything Hi 3 1 Nothing - •* -No answer 3 1 1

•ft-*

N = (1280) (1016) (611)

Brownie troops 20.

Table 26

What do you l i k e BEST about Brownie meetings?

Age 10 Total Number of Responses Age 7 Age 8 Age 9 & over Quest.

At l e a s t one 96$ 99$ 98$ 9l*$ 97$ Two 39 1*5 k6 53 1*7 Three 17 8 11 16 12

Categories of Responses A l l Three Responses

Total Interpersonal Satisfactions 8$ il*$ 13$ 15$ lli$

Like the g i r l s 2 6 5 k 5 Like leaders, mothers, adults 6 6 k 5 5 Group belongingness - 1 1 l i Working together; other together responses - 1 2 h 2

Other interpersonal responses - # 1 l 1

Total Indoor Play kia 38$ 31$ 38$

Playing games 22 23 20 15 19 Singing, music, dancing 6 8 8 6 8 Dramatic play; s k i t s , plays 1 1 # 2 1 Li t e r a t u r e ; s t o r i e s , poems, books k 1 1 # 1 Indoor sports - - - - -Parties 8 5 3 3 k Other indoor play - - - 1 Playing, having fun 10 6 6 k 5

Total Creative A c t i v i t i e s 27$ 39$ 10$ 39$ 39$

Homf! -making s k i l l s 2 2 2 1 2 Arts and c r a f t s ; making things, painting lk 27 28 28 27

Other s p e c i f i c indoor creative a c t i v i t i e s 1 1 1 1

Work, a c t i v i t i e s , doing things 10 10 10 9 9

Total Outdoor A c t i v i t i e s 13$ 11$ 15$ 26$ 17$

Pic n i c s 1 1 2 2 2 Hikes 9 k k 10 6 Trips, seeing places - 2 3 5 3 Cook-outs, fi r e - b u i l d i n g , campcrafts 1 3 3 3 3 Water a c t i v i t i e s : swimming, boating, diving - - - •*

Winter sports: sledding, skating, s k i i n g - - - 1

Other outdoor sports, wide games etc. - - 2 1 Nature study - # 1 Other outdoor a c t i v i t i e s 1 1 1 1 Out-of-doors - general 1 1 1 1

(continued)

Brownie Troops 21

Table 26 continued. Age : 10 Total Age 7 Age 8 Age 9 & over Quest.

Total Learning 6$ 7$ 11$ 12$ 10$

Learning how to get along with people mm 1 1 # 1 Learning games, songs, poems 1 1 2 1 1 Learning to cook, sew, make things - - 1 1 1 Outdoor s k i l l s and sports, fire-building - - * 1 •* To be a good Brownie, the Promise 1 1 1 * 1 Learning about Scouting, history- - 1 1 1 1 How to be a leader; to run a meeting - - - 1 # Other specified learning not covered above 1 •* 2 1

Learning things, general, undefined h 3 5 5 h

Total Standards and Ideals - 6% 5$ 7$ 5$

Being a good Brownie, good sport 1 _ 1 •* The Promise, ideals to live up to Doing good turns, helping others

- 2 2 2 2 The Promise, ideals to live up to Doing good turns, helping others - 3 3 h 3 Being trusted, respected as a Brownie - - - .- -Other Good Brownie responses - - •}(• • f t •*

Total Organizational Opportunities 1* 2% 2$ h% 2$

Going to camp 1 2 1 3 2 Being part of national organi-zatjon, future Scout - - - - -

Being part of international organization - - - - -

The uniform, hand-book, Brownie knife Cookie sales, other public functions

- - - * The uniform, hand-book, Brownie knife Cookie sales, other public functions - -Other benefits of membership - - 1

Total Meeting Routines 12% 12$ 13$ 13$ Roll-call, paying dues •* -Being an officer, taking some re sp onsi b i l i t y - • f t 1 1 1 Ceremonies, flag-raising - 2 h 2 2 Special G i r l Scout songs, Brownie songs - 1 - - •* Refreshments, food, snacks Other meeting routines

22 8 6 7 8 Refreshments, food, snacks Other meeting routines 2. 1 1 3 2

" I l i k e everything; I l i k e the meetings" 22$ 12% 15$ 13$ lk%

Miscellaneous, not codable above 1$ 5% 3$ h% W

No answer _1$ _ 2 $ __6$ _J$

•ft* •** •ft* •it-* -**

N « (83) (352) (Ui6) (399) (1280)

Brownie Troops 22

The Troop Activities List Our second approach to what Brownies do, l i k e , and would like to do was the presentation of sixteen activities i n regard to each of which the girls were asked to answer two questions: 1) "Is this something you have ever done i n your Brownie troop?" and 2) "Is i t something you liked doing ( i f done) or would like to do ( i f not done)?"

Table 27, the Brownie Troop Activities L i s t , i s the f i r s t of a series of tables to be presented i n this report which present parallel s t a t i s t i c a l summaries of three ways of looking at program i n G i r l Scout troops and camps. This, and a l l of the subsequent "a c t i v i t i e s l i s t s , " are tremendously rich i n information and deserve very careful study. They contain a s t a t i s t i c a l l y reliable description of program as i t exists and the assessment of i t in terms of g i r l s ' enjoyment. I n addition, they point out g i r l s ' interests i n areas to which their particular troop's program has not yet exposed them. The three columns of Table 27 bear the headings: Participation, Enjoyment and Anticipated Enjoyment Program Content The percentage figure i n the f i r s t column represents the proportion of a l l Brownies who say that they have participated i n the given a c t i v i t y with their Brownie troop. This provides a direct description of what troop program actually i s : More than nine out of ten of a l l Brownies have played games and sung songs. These two activities come close to representing universality i n Brownie program across the country. The arts and crafts category, with 83 percent participation, i s close i n describing the typical things that Brownies get to do i n their troops.

This l i s t of activities for the Brownie questionnaire was worked out with the assistance of program level advisors at National Headquarters, and represented the suggested program content for Brownie troops everywhere. The results i n the Participation column would seem to indicate that these generalized expectations are substantially met. The two activities showing the lowest participation index s t i l l f i n d one-half of a l l the Brownies reporting.

Enjoyment The second column, headed Enjoyment, reports the proportion of those g i r l s who answered "Yes" to the f i r s t question ( i . e . , who reported participation) and also answered-. "Yes" to the second question. I t represents program "success" insofar as judgement of success i s based on Brownies' stated enjoyment. A l l of these figures indicate that over three-quarters enjoy their program, the lowest proportion reading 79 percent for "practice or talk about how to help at home." Hikes and t r i p s f i n d the highest endorsement from Brownies who have had them.

Brownie Troops 23

Table 27 Brownie Troop Activities l i s t

Participation Anticipated % who have Enjoyment .Enjoyment

participated i n % of % of each a c t i v i t y participators non-participators during a year who enjoyed who think they'd

Ac t i v i t y of Scouting the a c t i v i t y l i k e the a c t i v i t y Help run the troop 60* 91* 76* Practice or talk about how

to help at home 75 79 51 Learn about g i r l s different

from you 50 88 71 Learn about your country,

c i t y or town 50 88 63 Singing 92 92 65 Dancing 51* 93 70 Listening to stories 72 88 62 Making up stories, plays or

skits 58 91 70 Painting, making things (arts

and crafts) 83 93 71* Learn about nature 52 88 62 Play games 9k 93 63 Go on hikes 68 95 87 Learn health and safety rules 6k 92 66 Special Brownie ceremonies 78 91 65 Take trips to see special

things 61* 95 83 Have meetings to do things

with other Brownie troops 66 89 ?2

N = (1280) 1/ V

1/ The number bases of these percentages vary and may, where desired, be ~* reconstructed from the percentages i n the f i r s t column. Example: The

number of participators and non-participators i n "learn about your country, c i t y or town" are equal. F i f t y percent have done this i n their Brownie troop, and 50 percent, therefore, have not done i t . The percentages of participation enjoyment and anticipated enjoyment are thus based on equal numbers, 61*0 i n each case. Eighty-eight percent of the 61*0 who have studied their communities liked doing so, and 63 percent of the other 61*0 would l i k e to t r y i t .

The largest participation a c t i v i t y (playing games -. 9l**) leaves the smallest base upon which to base anticipated enjoyment: 6 percent of 1280, or 77 g i r l s . I t i s 63 percent of these 77 who think they'd like to play games.

Brownie Troops 2k

Although a l l of these enjoyment index figures read i n the 80*s and 90 T s , i t w i l l s t i l l be meaningful to make rough rank-orderirigs of them. Since these percentages are s t i l l based on f a i r l y large numbers (the smallest "base" i n th i s column i s 61*0, c f . , footnote to Table 27) differences of four or f i v e percentage points, i n t h i s case, represent s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t v a r i a t i o n s . That i s to say, for instance: nine out of ten Brownies enjoy t h e i r ceremonies, but even more of them l i k e to go on a hike.

Anticipated Enjoyment

The t h i r d column i n t h i s , and subsequent A c t i v i t i e s L i s t s , i s headed " a n t i c i pated enjoyment." This represents the proportion of those g i r l s who have not participated i n a given a c t i v i t y ( i . e . , s a i d "No" to the f i r s t question) but who think they would enjoy i t i f given a chance.

Here we find, i n general, that the rank-ordering of a c t i v i t i e s follows, f a i r l y c l o s e l y , that obtained from the group of g i r l s who have a c t u a l l y had experience with the a c t i v i t i e s . The figures range from a low of 51 percent to a high of 87 percent, both representing the same a c t i v i t i e s which produced high and low enjoyment figures. I n other words, i t would seem that the l i s t e d a c t i v i t i e s do, on the whole, contain inherent "fun potential," which does not change i n rank order, with p a r t i c i p a t i o n .

What does change, and with very impressive consistency, i s the l e v e l of enjoyment. Every single a c t i v i t y l i s t e d , both here and i n the a c t i v i t i e s l i s t s presented to Intermediates and Seniors, shows an upward spurt from a basic "anticipated enjoyment" l e v e l to a higher "participation enjoyment." We might state t h i s another way: More than half of the Brownies expect to have fun at anything they might possibly do i n t h e i r troops. But a f t e r they have a c t u a l l y done i t , t h i s proportion i n v a r i a b l y r i s e s : "The proof of the a c t i v i t y i s c e r t a i n l y i n the doing."

There i s one further generalization that can be stated here. The longer troop a c t i v i t i e s l i s t s given to Intermediates and Seniors ( c f . , l a t e r sections) yielded the same r e s u l t s of increased p a r t i c i p a t i o n enjoyment over anticipated enjoyment. Furthermore, comparison of the o v e r - a l l figures showed another almost universal phenomenon: The absolute le v e l s of both anticipated and p a r t i c i p a t i o n enjoyment yielded by Brownies are higher than those obtained from Intermediates, which are higher than those found among Seniors. Brownies simply have a higher l e v e l of enthusiasm, whatever i t i s they are doing. They expect to have fun i n higher proportions, and they f i n d they do have fun i n even larger numbers. To state t h i s i n reverse: enthusiasms seem to wane.

Table 28 presents these findings i n abbreviated form. Only some of the s p e c i f i c a c t i v i t i e s of Intermediate and Senior program were found to have duplicates or close p a r a l l e l s i n the Brownies' l i s t . Those that possess some correspondence are presented i n t h i s table with t h e i r accompanying three indices f o r each of the program l e v e l s . The bubbling enthusiasm of the Brownies, i n comparison to t h e i r older s i s t e r s , i s immediately apparent i n the Enjoyment Index column. And i t w i l l be seen, further, that on only a single one of the a c t i v i t i e s l i s t e d here does the Anticipated Enjoyment Index f a i l to drop consistently with r i s i n g program l e v e l .

Brownie Troops 25

Table 28 Comparative Troop Activities List

Using approximately equivalent activities from Brownie and Intermediate-Senior Questionnaires, for purposes of comparison.

Anticipated Participation Enjoyment Enjoyment

Index Index Index Activity Br. I n t . Sr. Br. I n t . Sr. Br. In t . Sr. Help run troop (B) and Planning and making rules (I-S) 60* 68* 72* 91% 69% 6k% 76% 39* 2k%

Learn about g i r l s different from you (B) and Learn about different g i r l s i n this country and i n other countries (I-S) 50 51 U2 88 72 66 71 56 k9

Singing (B) and Singing or listening to music (I-S) 92 80 83 92 76 75 65 kl 38

Dancing (B and I-S) 5a 65 71 93 88 80 70 61 US

Arts and crafts (B and I-S) 83 82 Ik 93 82 Ik Ik 57 k2

Learn about nature (B) and Find names of trees.. and take care of plants

52 71 5ii 88 70 57 62 k6 28

Go on hikes (B and I-S) 68 85 87 95 89 86 87 Bl 67

Trips to special places (B and IS) 61* 69 76 95 87 88 83 67 Ih

Brownie Troops 26.

Program Expectations

In the personal interview administered to some g i r l s at a l l program levels we asked several questions which asked them to remember back to the time at which they f i r s t joined the Brownies or Scouts. Two of these questions dealt with their program expectations and experience:

1) "At the time when you f i r s t thought of joining, what sorts of things did you hope to be doing?"

2) "And then when you got into the troop, did i t turn out that you really did those things you were hoping to do?"

Table 29 presents Brownies' answers to the f i r s t of these questions i n terms of the proportion of a l l the g i r l s i n the interview sample who made a response i n each category as one of her f i r s t three mentions. Comparison of this table with the description of Brownie program as found i n the Participation Index of Table 27, w i l l show a good correspondence between what most Brownies expect and what they find. More than half of the Browni.es hoped to be participating i n creative and outdoor activities. (The l a t t e r category, as defined for Table 29, includes hikes and trips.)

I t might also be noted that the 15 percent entry under expectations of "learning" something by joining is significantly higher than the comparable figures for Intermediates and Seniors, which were 11 percent and 9 percent respectively.

Table 29 Brownies* Program Expectations

(Sum of three responses) Interpersonal: make friends, work, play together 10$ Indoor play: games, singing, dramatics, parties, fun 3k Creative activities: making things, arts and crafts, home-making

( a l l indoor activities not covered under play above) 63

Outdoor- activitiesr-npicniasy^hikes^ "trips, camping, outdoor sports, nature study 52

Learning (emphasis on learning any of the above) 15 Scouting ideals: Promise and Laws, character improvement 2 Organizational opportunities: go to camp, being part of larger

organization, wear uniforms, s e l l cookies 6

Meeting routines: being an officer, ceremonies, friendship circle 3 General: lots of things, everything 1 Service and other 10 Nothing i n particular # No answer 2

N = (lilO)

http://Browni.es

Brownie Troops 27

Table 30 f i r s t reports the proportions of a l l Brownies, regardless of t h e i r p a r t i c u l a r program expectations, who said t h a t t h e i r experience d i d or did not correspond to t h e i r expectations. As the comparison with the eventually-obtained program description has already anticipated, the large majority of Brownies were found to report that t h e i r troops' program did l i v e ' up to t h e i r expectations.

The second portion of Table 30 presents the degree to which expectations were confirmed among g i r l s who expressed p a r t i c u l a r program expectations. A comparison o f these proportions w i t h those i n Table 30a reveals the tendencies of Brownies who had been looking forward to interpersonal satisfactions and to have t h e i r expectations f u l f i l l e d most completely and of those who had hoped mainly f o r outdoor a c t i v i t y to be s l i g h t l y more disappointed. I n terms of s t a t i s t i c a l significance, however, only the more s a t i s f i e d responses of the g i r l s expecting interpersonal satisfactions show a large enough difference to warrant searching i n t e r p r e t a t i o n .

Table 30

Did i t turn out that you r e a l l y did those things you were hoping t o do?

a) A l l Brownies

Yes 71* Yes, q u a l i f i e d 16 Pro-con h No, q u a l i f i e d 3 No 5 Inapplicable, no expectations No answer 1

100*

N--(iao)

b) By D i f f e r e n t i a l Program Expectations ( i n any of three responses)

Pro-con, No Yes q u a l i f i e d

Yes q u a l i f i e d and No N=<L00*

Interpersonal satisfactions 83* 15* 2* (liO) Indoor play 77 15 8 (lUo) Creative a c t i v i t i e s 73 16 11 (258) Outdoor a c t i v i t i e s 66 19 15 (212) Learning 78 10 12 (60) Organizational opportunities 70 17 13 (2ii) A l l other categories 80 13 7 (68)

Brownie Troops 26

Brownies1 Dislikes

The large sample of g i r l s who took the Brownie questionnaire were also asked to give us the aspects of t h e i r membership which they most d i s l i k e d . As Table 31 w i l l show only about two out o f ten Brownies were able to come up wit h any sort of answer to t h i s question. Seventy percent s p e c i f i c a l l y stated " I l i k e everything," "there i s nothing I don't l i k e , " etc. Another 7 percent d i d not care t o honor the question w i t h any type of response, and 2 percent said " I don't l i k e i t t o end; I don't l i k e t o go home."

The responses of Brownies who f i l l e d i n anything on t h i s question were found scattered over a very wide range of areas of complaint. Objections to actual program a c t i v i t i e s were made by k percent of the entire sample and covered such dislikes as: singing, games, w r i t i n g and saying the Promise, making scrap books, going places where you s i t quiet or j u s t walk around, we don't play outdoors, we don't go swimming, etc. No single one of these specific objections t o program were given by more than four-tenths of a percent of the Brownie sample.

Table 31

What do you d i s l i k e about Brownies?

Not doing enough: not allowed to do things, we're too young, boring 2%

Don't l i k e g i r l s : one, several or a l l of them 1 When the g i r l s t a l k : noise, disorganization, they don't pay

attention h When g i r l s f i g h t : argue 1 Don't l i k e leaders: the leader's dog, her son 1 Special l o c a l problems: meeting place, f l i e s i n room, no t o i l e t s 2 Routine necessities: clean-up, work 1 Too expensive: dues, have to buy uniform, etc. 1 Specific a c t i v i t i e s h Other U

I don't l i k e to leave: t o stop, t o go home, when i t ' s over, etc, 2 Nothing: I l i k e everything 70 No answer 7

100$

N = (1280)

Brownie Troops 29

The Feeling of Hurry

Where many g i r l s are lead through a c t i v i t i e s as a group i t may often become necessary to hurry along those individuals who take more time i n order to enable the quicker g i r l s to s t a r t on something new. Concern f o r g i r l s who may be l e f t without a sense of completion was greatest with regard t o camp programming. But the study's National advisors also f e l t that t h i s might sometimes be a problem i n the troop s i t u a t i o n . A question aimed at measuring j u s t how widely Brownies do sense an atmosphere of hurry i n t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s was, therefore, included i n the troop questionnaire: "Do you ever have to stop doing one thin g and s t a r t doing something else at Brownie meetings before you r e a l l y f e e l l i k e stopping?"

The question carried with i t four check-off alternatives, which are presented i n Table 32. The report section on Brownies at Camp w i l l present a comparable table w i t h the responses of Day and Established campers. We might note here that the extent t o which Day campers f e l t rushed through t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s d id not d i f f e r markedly from the troop results presented below. On the other hand, those few Brownies who found themselves at Established camps reported that the necessities of program scheduling i n that s i t u a t i o n much more often l e f t them w i t h the lack of a sense of completion of which the question speaks.

Table 32

Do you ever have to stop doing one t h i n g and s t a r t doing something else at Brownie meetings before you r e a l l y f e e l l i k e stopping?

Yes, often 9% Yes, sometimes 23 Once or twice 36 No, never 31 N.o answer 1

100$

N n (1280)

Brownie Learning

The concept that being a Brownie i s or should be a learning experience i n many diverse areas of a g i r l ' s present and future l i f e i s widely accepted as a truism among adults i n the organization. Our questionnaire included several items which delved s p e c i f i c a l l y i n t o the kind of learning t h a t takes place and the extent t o which the g i r l s perceive i t as learning and value i t as such.

Brownie Troops 30

We have already seen ( c f . , Table 25) t h a t 10 percent of the Brownies spontaneously o f f e r "learning" as the aspect of t h e i r Brownie experience that they l i k e best. Fifteen percent of the interview sample gave comparable responses to the program expectations question (Table 29).

When a l l the Brownies were asked d i r e c t l y : "Are you learning anything by being a Brownie?" 97 percent of them said "Yes." The four items f i r s t l i s t e d i n Table 33 were p r i n t e d on the questionnaire and called f o r check-marks by those g i r l s who thought they were experiencing learning i n the given area. Following these l i s t e d items the Brownies were fur t h e r asked to write a sentence or two " i f there i s anything else you t h i n k you are learning." Forty-four percent of the sample found other areas f o r response, most of them i n the creative and interpersonal f i e l d s .

Table 33

Brownie Learning

Are you learning anything by being a Brownie? YES: 97*

Do you think you are learning anything about: Nature and the out-of-doors 52* L i f e i n other countries and regions 23 To do my share of work 82 To be a good f r i e n d 92

Other learning ( w r i t e - i n responses) Interpersonal: to be a good sport, get along w i t h people,

help people, to be a good c i t i z e n 16* Non-camping s k i l l s '(indoor): hcaoemaking, arts and c r a f t s ,

music, games 22 Non-camping s k i l l s (outdoor): sports, hiking, etc. 1 Camping s k i l l s : f i r e s , t r a i l signs, jack-knife, etc. 2 Organizational knowledge: Brownie Promise, songs, hist o r y

of Scouting, f l a g ceremony 3 Miscellaneous knowledge: government, f i r s t - a i d , etc, 2 Other 2 No w r i t e - i n response given 56

N « (1280)

I n these questions, f o r the f i r s t time, an i n s i g h t i n t o the interpersonal t r a i n i n g aspects of the organization emerges. Most leaders, and cert a i n l y most of t h e i r trainers and program advisors, conceive of t h i s area as one of the primary goals of Scouting as a movement. The section of t h i s report that deals with the leaders of Brownie and Scout troops w i l l show that most leaders conceive "Scouting" p r i m a r i l y w i t h i n such a frame of reference.

Brownie Troops 31

The Brownies themselves, on the other hand, are much more l i k e l y t o think of t h e i r organization i n terms of i t s a c t i v i t i e s . These are where most of them expect to and do f i n d t h e i r major s a t i s f a c t i o n s . The items reported i n Table 33, however, demonstrate that when Brownies 1 attention i s s p e c i f i c a l l y focused upon the area of interpersonal s k i l l s - l e a r n i n g the vast majority of them do f i n d an awareness of such a process w i t h i n themselves.

Awareness of Program Progression

Another area, i n which the study's i n t e r e s t l a y less i n checking the existence of a phenomenon but more i n the g i r l s ' perception of i t , i s that of program progression w i t h i n and between program levels. To what extent are the g i r l s aware of the f a c t that t h e i r program changes to f i t t h e i r advancing aptitudes and maturity?

Questions i n t h i s comparatively complicated area were asked only i n the personal interview s i t u a t i o n . We asked those Brownies who had been i n the organization f o r a minimum of one year: "Have you been doing the same sorts of things a l l along, or do the things you do w i t h the troop change i n any way as you get older?"

Seventy-eight percent of the q u a l i f i e d Brownies answered "yes." Those who, at f i r s t , said "No" were given a f u r t h e r probe: "Are you doing the same things i n any more grown-up way?" and Sh percent of these g i r l s then swung over to the "does perceive some program progression" side. Only about 7 percent of the o r i g i n a l 375 Brownies who had been i n the organization for a year or more s t i l l maintained that nothing that they were doing i n t h e i r troop had changed i n any manner. This small group of g i r l s might w e l l be in t e r p r e t e d to represent a comparatively accurate r e f l e c t i o n of the extent to which Brownie troops are not exposed to progressive program.

Table 3h presents the responses of those Brownies who at f i r s t said that "things change," to the subsequent probe: "How do they change?" The majority of the g i r l s f i n d t h e i r program broadening w i t h t h e i r own and probably t h e i r leaders' experience, and another one-quarter perceive the change mainly i n terms of the increasing d i f f i c u l t y of the demands made on them.

In Table 35 we present the responses of a l l the Brownies to a more purely a t t i t u d i n a l question. They were f i r s t asked: "Do you thin k things w i l l get harder as you go on i n Scouts?" Those who said "Yes" were than askecU "Do you t h i n k i t ' s a good idea?" while those who said "No" were asked instead: "Would you l i k e them to get harder? and Why?" The answers of these two subgroups are presented f i r s t as separate proportions and then as proportions of the t o t a l of both groups. I n t h i s table we observe an important r e l a t i o n ship between an a t t i t u d e and perception of the environment. Those g i r l s who expect t h e i r program to continue to progress approve of the progression w i t h almost complete unanimity. Those who do not expect things to change substant i a l l y , on the other hand, express such approval no more than they disapprove

Brownie Troops 32

or remain neu t r a l . The causal chain f o r t h i s relationship i s not found withi n these data themselves. " We can say w i t h c e r t a i n t y only that the r e l a t i o n ship exi s t s . We cannot say whether the a t t i t u d e causes the perception or the perception the a t t i t u d e .

Table 3k

How do things change? (Sum of two responses)

More or d i f f e r e n t a c t i v i t i e s 62* Fewer a c t i v i t i e s , or specific a c t i v i t i e s dropped (we don't play games any more, etc.) 10

Learning more or d i f f e r e n t tilings 10 Independence and r e s p o n s i b i l i t y 7 Organizational changes: meetings are d i f f e r e n t , o f f i c e r s now

are elected, etc. 7 More in t e r e s t i n g , more fun 3 Program becomes more d i f f i c u l t (any mention of "harder" a c t i v i t i e s ) 26 Negative responses (any response t h a t recognizes change and

indicates displeasure about i t ) 1 Don't know and no answer 3

N = (291)

Table 35

Attitude toward Program Progression

% of g i r l s who think program:

WILL get harder

WILL NOT get harder BOTH

Likes things becoming harder Pro-con: l i k e s some, dis l i k e s others Dislikes things becoming harder

95% 1 3

hh% 12 12

81$ ii

13

No answer 1 2 2

100* 100* 100*

N = (2li0) (51) (331)

Brownie Troops 33

Working w i t h i n a Erownie population, however, we repeatedly f i n d a comparable phenomenon i n other content areas which lends support to the l a t t e r hypothesis. Later chapters i n t h i s section of the report w i l l show that wherever Brownies are asked to approve or disapprove of several alternative manners of troop organization the majority usually votes f o r the s i t u a t i o n as i t exists i n t h e i r troop. The previously observed increase from Anticipated Enjoyment to Participation Enjoyment ( c f . , Table 27) i s another example of t h i s trend. I t would seem that most Brownies l i k e t h e i r troops and t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s j u s t as they f i n d them. When we apply t h i s hypothesis to the relationship observed i n Table 35 i t then reads: Where Brownies expect t h e i r program to progress they want i t t h a t way; where they do not expect to f i n d progression over time they are not necessarily unhappy about the prospect.

Those g i r l s i n the Brownie interview sample who had not already flown up t o the Intermediate l e v e l before our f i e l d work were also asked: "Do you have any idea of what G i r l Scouts do i n Intermediate troops that's d i f f e r e n t from what you're doing i n the Brownies?" Fewer than one-half answered "Yes" to t h i s f i r s t question. Those that had said "No" were asked a further probe: "Do you thin k Intermediate G i r l Scouts do j u s t the same things as Brownies do?" About one-half of these g i r l s now said "No" and were than asked to specify the differences. These answers were coded i n the same manner as those of the g i r l s who immediately had a concept of the change of program from Brownies to Intermediates.

Table 36 presents these ideas as obtained from both groups of respondents. Brownies do seem to have the general idea that advancement i n Scouting w i l l bring w i t h i t more outdoor a c t i v i t y and a reduction i n the simple "play". area.

Even though only about two-thirds of the Browniesi^seem t o have though about what exactly they w i l l be doing at the Intermediate program l e v e l , results reported i n a l a t e r section w i l l show th a t a much larger proportion (Bh%) hope to f l y up when they become old enough. Here again i s another in d i c a t i o n of the u n c r i t i c a l way i n which many Brownies seem t o accept t h e i r membership. They enjoy being Brownies and expect to continue to f o l l o w along with whatever program i s offered them, without much actual thought given to what i t i s s p e c i f i c a l l y that they are enjoying.

1/ 233/332 i n Table 36 «= g i r l s i n our Brownie interview sample who had not yet flown up.

Brownie Troops 3k*

Table 36

Brownies' Ideas about Intermediate Program

Percent Number Do you know what Intermediates do?

Yes k2% Ihl No h$ 158 No answer 13 hi

100$ 352

Do Intermediates do the same things as Brownies? (Asked only of o r i g i n a l "No" respondents.)

Yes 32$ 51 No 55 86 No answer 13 21

100$ 158

What do they do th a t i s different? (Sum of two responses)

Badge work: a l l general mentions l i k e "earning things"

Indoor play: games, singing, dramatics, parties Creative a c t i v i t i e s : arts and c r a f t s , home-making Outdoor a c t i v i t i e s : camping, picnics, hikes, t r i p s ,

nature Scouting ideals: Promise and Laws, character

improvement, etc. Organizational: go to camp, fund-raising,

ceremonies Service a c t i v i t i e s : helping others More advanced, more d i f f i c u l t a c t i v i t i e s : "they do

harder things" Negative reactions: "don't piay games," "don^t have

as much fun" Other Don't know and no answer

N *

Answer t o 1st question Yes No

Both groups

2\S 7$ 18$ 5 5 5

26 U 21

h6 23 38

1 l 5

7 2 5 8 2 6

17 27 21

1 _ # 10 8 9

1 _22 13

•H-ft # #

(1U7) (86) (233)

Brownie Troops 35.

Service

Although "Service Projects" are not o f f i c i a l l y as essential a part of Brownie program as of Intermediate and Senior program (there i s no entry under "Service" i n the index of the Leader's Guide to the Brownie Scout Program), almost three-quarters of the Brownies i n our interview sample reported having taken part i n some a c t i v i t y which they recognised as service.

Table 37

Have you and your troop ever done anything that would be called a service project? That means some work that you did t o help some other people or groups?

Brownies Intermediates Seniors

Yes 73$ 85$ 97$ No 23 Ih 3 No answer h 1 -

100$ 100$ 100$

N = (1*10) (U93) (295)

This r e s u l t checks almost exactly with Brownie leaders' reports of the amount and type of service t h e i r troops have given. The majority of Brownies' service projects consist of "making t h i n g s " — t h e production of handwork to be contributed to charitable causes.

We also asked the interviewed g i r l s : "Do you think doing t h i s sort of work i s a very important part of being a Brownie ( G i r l Scout) or not?" and " I f your troop decided never to bother doing any of these things f o r helping other people, would you care?" Those who did not give a "No" answer to the l a t t e r question were also asked: "Why would you care?"

I n Table 38 we f i n d that more than three-quarters of the Brownies think service i s an important aspect of t h e i r program and would not want to do without i t . Furthermore, most of these g i r l s can express t h e i r reasons f o r f e e l i n g t h i s way i n more than completely general terms.

On the whole, responses to t h i s set of questions did not vary s i g n i f i c a n t l y between Brownies and Intermediates. When Brownies' answers are compared w i t h those of Seniors a more intense commitment to service is_ found among the older g i r l s w i t h many more responses i n the "Purpose of Scouting" category. (See tables i n Intermediate and Senior troop sections f o r figures p a r a l l e l to those i n Table 38.)

Brownie Troops 36

Table 38

Brownies 1 Attitudes toward Service

I s Service Would you care i f your troop important? performed no Service?

Yes 91% 82$ Yes, q u a l i f i e d 3 6 Pro-con, depends # 1 No, q u a l i f i e d 1 1 No 1 6 Don't know, no answer _h _ J *

100% 100$

N - (hio) (tio)

Why would you care?

Purpose of Scouting: difference between Brownies and other clubs 6% Responsibility as a Brownie: Brownies should help, Promise 18 Responsibility as a person: (no mention of Brownies) we should • help, i t ' s part of growning up, etc. 18

Altruism: our service makes the others f e e l good, happy, etc. 10 Personal s a t i s f a c t i o n : i t makes me f e e l good, don't l i k e to see

people suffer, I l i k e i t , etc. 20 General: i t ' s a good thing to do, i t ' s being nice 9 Other 2 Inapplicable: would not care i f troop did no service 7 Don't know and no answer 10

100$

N = (lilO)

" I f I had my way"

Another approach t o g i r l s ' program satisfactions and desires were two questions asked i n the personal interview:

1) " I f someone wanted to s t a r t another club f o r g i r l s l i k e you, what things should the club do? What do you think g i r l s l i k e t o do best?"

and 2) "Let's pretend you were the only one deciding what your Brownie troop should do, what things would you l i k e t o have your troop do?"

Brownie Troops 37-

The code used to analyze responses to these two questions p a r a l l e l s that already presented i n Table 26 i n which Brownie questionnaire respondents gave t h e i r f a v o r i t e aspects of Scouting. I t w i l l not be surprising t o f i n d a much larger t o t a l of responses i n the tables below, when we consider that these represent questions to which g i r l s responded verbally. Naturally t h i s smaller sample of interviewed Brownies would produce more answers i n t h i s s i t u a t i o n than g i r l s o f the same age would give i n w r i t t e n form.

I n Table 39 we f i n d that "Creative A c t i v i t i e s " outdistance a l l other aspects of program when g i r l s are asked t o suggest what either a new club or t h e i r own troop should "do." Another i n t e r e s t i n g r e s u l t i s the f a c t that about one h a l f of the Brownies here, i n t h i s f u l l e r accounting, indicate an active

i n t e r e s t i n outdoor a c t i v i t i e s .

Table 39

" I f I had my way" - Suggested A c t i v i t i e s

Number of Responses Another Club My Brownie Troop

At least one 96% 96% Two 83 65 Three 5U 28

A c t i v i t i e s Sum of Three Responses

Interpersonal Satisfactions: make fr i e n d s , work or play "together" 3% %

Indoor Play: games, singing, dramatics, indoor sports, parties 58 1*0

Creative A c t i v i t i e s : making things, a r t s and c r a f t s , homemaking 70 57

Outdoor A c t i v i t i e s : picnics, hikes, t r i p s , camping, outdoor sports, nature study 57 1*8

Learning: emphasis on learning any of the above l i * 10

Scouting Ideals: Brownie Promise, character improvement 9 h

Organizational Opportunities: go to camp, be part of larger organization, uniform, s e l l cookies 5 2

Meeting Routines: be an o f f i c e r , have ceremonies 7 8

Service A c t i v i t i e s : make things f o r people-i n the hos p i t a l , etc. * 7

Other: l i f e saving, Easter egg hunts, go to a show, other miscellaneous * 5

Nothing l l * No answer 3 ^

#* ** N - (liXO) (1*10)

Brownie Troops 38

I n Table kO the Brownie responses already reported i n summary form i n the f i r s t column of Table 39 are presented again, t h i s time l i s t i n g the specific a c t i v i t y categories of which the t o t a l s are made up. Here we f i n d that, although the "outdoor a c t i v i t y " suggestion most often made i s going on a hike, a good many Brownies are thinking of other a c t i v i t i e s t o take place i n the out-of-doors as w e l l . Almost h a l f of the mentions previously reported as "creative a c t i v i t i e s " a c t u a l l y represent g i r l s ' suggestions of some sort of "arts and cr a f t s , " etc.

Table hO

Suggested A c t i v i t i e s f o r Another Club (Sum of three responses)

Interpersonal Satisfactions 3*

Total, Indoor Play 58*

Playing games, specific games 26 Singing, music, dancing 11 Dramatic play, s k i t s , plays h Literature: s t o r i e s , poems, books 2 Indoor sports * Parties 6 Having fun and other indoor play 8

Total Creative A c t i v i t i e s 70*

Home-making s k i l l s 20 Arts and c r a f t s ; making things JU3 Other creative, doing things 7

Total Outdoor A c t i v i t i e s 57*

Picnics 3 Hikes 17 • Trips, seeing places 10 Cook-outs, f i r e - b u i l d i n g , campcrafts 9 Water act: swiJtiming, boating 3 Vinter sports; sledding, skating 2 Other outdoor sports; wide games 5 Nature study 2 Out-of-doors - general 6

Total Standards and Ideals 9*

Being a good Brownie, good sport * The Promise, ideals t o l i v e up to -* Doing good turns, helping others 7 Being trusted, respected as a Brownie -Other "good Brownie" responses 1

(continued)

Brownie Troops 39.

Table kO continued

Total Learning l J $

Learning how to get along with people 2 Learning games, songs, poems 2 Learning to cook, sew, make tilings k Outdoor s k i l l s and sports, f i r e s 2 Learning t o be a good Brownie, the Promise # Learning about Scouting, about J u l i e t t e Low Learning how t o be a leader, t o run a meeting Learning about my country 1 Other learning, learning things 3

Total Organizational Opportunities $%

Going to camp 1 Being part of national organization, Scout Being part of in t e r n a t i o n a l organization Wearing uniform, having handbook # Cookie sales, parades 2 Other benefits of membership 2

Total Meeting Routines 7%

R o l l - c a l l , paying dues 1 Being an o f f i c e r , r e s p o n s i b i l i t y # Ceremonies, f l a g - r a i s i n g 1 Friendship c i r c l e # Special G i r l Scout songs; Brownie songs Refreshments, food, snacks 2 Other meeting routines 2

Service # Miscellaneous; other # No answer 3

N - (hlO)

n

Brownie Troops ho

What i s Special about Brownies

The f i n a l items to be discussed i n t h i s section about Brownie troop a c t i v i t i e s are two questions asked i n the personal interview s i t u a t i o n :

1) " I f you didn't belong t o the Brownies, do you think you could get to do the things you enjoy i n your troop some other way? How do you mean?"

and 2) "Are there any special things about Scouting that you l i k e very much th a t you don't think you could get to do anywhere else? What are they?"

I n Table hi we f i n d that j u s t over 1*0 percent of the Brownies f e e l that they could p a r t i c i p a t e i n most of t h e i r f a v o r i t e a c t i v i t i e s even i f they did not belong to the organization. But more than one-half of the Brownies believe that t h e i r organizational satisfactions are specific t o membership i n Brownie troops.

Vhen the question i s focused upon a c t i v i t i e s which might be considered special t o Scouting (Table 1*3), the proportion who cannot think of such areas drops t o 25 percent. The remaining three-quarters of the Brownies do f e e l that many of t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s have a uniquely Scouting character. I t i s noteworthy that the "special" Scouting area to which the largest number of Brownies refer i s the outdoor category. On t h i s same question Intermediates and Seniors also gave t h e i r largest endorsement to outdoor a c t i v i t i e s , the comparable figures being: Brownies - 36 percent; Intermediates - 2*5 percent; Seniors - 50 percent.

Table la

Could you do things you enjoy...some other way?

Yes 28$ Yes, q u a l i f i e d ? Pro-con 6 No, q u a l i f i e d 5 No 52 Don't know and no answer 2

100$

N (1*10)

Brownie Troops 1*1

Table 1*2

Comparison of Brownies t o Other A c t i v i t y P o s s i b i l i t i e s (Sum of two responses)

Advantage of belonging to Brownies

Brownie program: learning, doing s p e c i f i c a l l y Brownie a c t i v i t i e s ; opportunity to go t o camp; outdoor s k i l l s 30$

Leaders: supervision and i n s t r u c t i o n by Brownie leaders; they help us; we would need them, etc. 9

Group advantages: we do things you can't do alone 21 Other advantages: more fun, we learn more, etc. 12

Could do the same things outside Brownies

Other clubs o f f e r same organized advantages 6 Friends: could do the same things with unorganized group 10 Alone or w i t h family: don't r e a l l y need other g i r l s 19 Other f

Don't know and no answer 8

N = (1*10)

Table 1*3

What are the special things about Brownies? (Sum of two responses)

Interpersonal: doing things w i t h others; friends; being together 11$ Indoor Play: games, singing, dramatics, parties 13 Creative A c t i v i t i e s : making things, a r t s and c r a f t s , home-making 23 Outdoor A c t i v i t i e s : picnics, hikes, t r i p s , camping, nature 36 Scouting Ideals: Promise, character improvement, Scouting his t o r y 3 Organizational Opportunities: go t o camp; G i r l Scout events 10 Service A c t i v i t i e s : helping others, etc. h Meeting Routines: being an o f f i c e r ; refreshments 1 Supervision and I n s t r u c t i o n : having leaders; handbooks, etc. 1 Other h

Inapplicable: there i s nothing special about Brownies 25

Don't know and no answer 2

N « (1*10)


THE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF BROWNIE TROOPS

Troop Size

The average Brownie i n our national sample finds herself i n a troop of about seventeen to eighteen g i r l s , and although the majority of troops are organized on a grade basis, the size of troop does not vary with the age of the g i r l s i n i t .

We have already found that most Brownies f i n d few aspects of t h e i r troop program to c r i t i c i z e . With respect t o the troop's size, again, our findings show that on the whole Brownies do not object to the size of t h e i r troop, regardless of v a r i a t i o n i n the actual number of g i r l s .

Brownie troops vary from k percent which have nine or fewer g i r l s t o 2 percent with t h i r t y - t h r e e or more members. And at each step along the actual troop size continuum, about 7 percent of the Brownies think the number of t h e i r troop-mates i s j u s t r i g h t , while most of the unsatisfied members wish there were more Brownies rather than fewer.

Table Ui

Size of Brownie Troops

Nine or fewer 10 - 12 13 - 15 16 - 18 19 - 21 22 - 2k 25 - 28 29 - 32 33 or more

i i * 17 19 18 17 13 8 2 2

100*

N = (1280)

Brownie Troops k3»

Table ii5

Brownies1 Attitude toward Troop Size; by Actual Troop Size

Troop Size I wish there

were more g i r l s This number

i s about r i g h t There are too many

Number Base (equals 100$)

9 or fewer 33$ 67% (52) 10 - 12 25 73 2 (217) 13 - 15 32 66 2 (238) 16 - 18 2k 72 k (232) 19 - 21 19 72 9 (213) 22 - 2h 23 68 9 (172) 25 - 28 Hi 75 11 (102) 29 - 32 32 68 (26) 33 or more k 82 I i i (28)

A l l Brownies 2 « 71$ 5$ (1280)

Age Range

We asked the g i r l s : "How old are most of the g i r l s i n your troop?" and l e t them check one o f the four entries i n Table U6. About two-thirds of the Brownies f i n d themselves i n single-aged troops, close t o one-quarter are i n the middle of t h e i r troop's age range, while about 10 percent are at either extreme.

When we asked: "How would you l i k e i t best?" and presented the same alternatives as possible answers, g i r l s chose single-age troops and more mixed troops i n which they would be i n the middle of the age range i n about the same proportions i n which they report such troops i n existence. But the proportion of g i r l s who would v o l u n t a r i l y choose t o be either the oldest or the youngest i n t h e i r troop i s very small indeed.

Substantially the same questions were asked of the leaders of every Brownie troop i n the sample (see "Leaders" section of the report) and t h e i r answers lead us to i n t e r p r e t "about my age" t o mean an age spread of a single grade, with two possible numerical ages ( i . e . , a l l the g i r l s are either eight or nine,..for example). About two-thirds of the leaders report either such a two-year or a l i t e r a l l y single-aged spread i n t h e i r troops, and the proportion of leaders, who l i k e t h e i r troop's age range j u s t as i t i s , i a even larger than the comparable percentage (69$) of Brownies,

Brownie Troops

Table 1*6

Reports of Age of Others i n Troop; by Age

Age 7 Age 10 Total and younger Age 8 Age 9 and older Quest.

About my age 32* 61** 73* 7li* 68* Most are older 27 7 2 2 5 Most are younger 2 2 6 6 5 Some older, some younger 35 27 19 18 22 No answer 2 # •w- # #

100* 100* 100* 10C* 100*

N - (83) (352) Ul*6) (399) (1280)

Although Table 1*6 has shown one relationship of the reporting Brownie's age to her place i n the t o t a l age range of the troop ( i . e . , the youngest g i r l s are less l i k e l y t o say that most of the g i r l s are "about my age"), we did not f i n d any such v a r i a t i o n by age i n the attitudes expressed about the most preferred age range. Fewer of the seven-year-olds than of a l l the other g i r l s gave t h e i r choice to a single-aged troop, but t h i s f i n d i n g was completely accounted f o r by the relationship evident i n Table 1*7• Girls who report t h e i r troop-mates to be "some older, some younger" are much more l i k e l y to choose such a position than are g i r l s a t any other point of the age scale.

Sixty-nine percent of a l l the Brownies l i k e i t j u s t where they are. Most Brownies would prefer a troop whose members are "about my age," but those g i r l s who have found themselves among the youngest and those who are i n the middle of the age range are much more i n favor of t r y i n g or keeping mixed groups than are the majo r i t y who have never been i n any but a single-aged troop•

Table 1*7

Preferred Age Range; by Reported Age Range

Most of the g i r l s are:

I would best l i k e them t o be:

About my age Mostly older Mostly younger

82* 1*6* 66* 38* 70* 2 9 3 3 3 1 3 5 2 1

younger _15 J £ 26 J J 26

100* 100* 100* 100* 100* V N = (871) (65) (59) ( 2 8 0 p (1280)

1/ The f i v e missing g i r l s were those who gave "No answer" to the "" f i r s t age-range question.

Brownie Troops hS

The Troop's Meeting Place

This i s an aspect of Brownie program about which we d i d not ask the g i r l s . Instead, the Survey Research Center's interviewers who went to the troop meetings to administer questionnaires t o the g i r l s also f i l l e d out an Observation Schedule i n which t h i s and a few other descriptive variables were covered.

Our observers, i n general, judged the great majority of meeting places to be adequate f o r the number of g i r l s and t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s . I t becomes apparent from Table Ifi, however, that the storage of materials presents a problem to the majority of Brownie troops.

These general results are quite consistent w i t h the opinions of the adequacy of t h e i r meeting place which Brownie leaders themselves gave i n t h e i r personal interviews. More than three-quarters of the leaders judged t h e i r s i t e quite adequate to a l l the a c t i v i t i e s they would l i k e to attempt w i t h t h e i r g i r l s .

Table ho

Observers' Ratings of Adequacy of Meeting Place

Troop meeting place from the point of view of space i s ;

More than adequate h0% Adequate, suitable 1*2 Less than adequate, somewhat r e s t r i c t e d 10 Very t i g h t , almost cramped 5 Can't t e l l - no basis f o r judgement 3

100*

Troop meeting place from the point of view of f a c i l i t i e s i s :

Very good, quite luxurious 11* Adequate, nice, p r e t t y good 63 Less than adequate, l i m i t i n g 17 Very few f a c i l i t i e s , almost none 6 Can't t e l l - no basis f o r judgement 3

IOC*

Troop meeting place i s such t h a t :

Equipment, materials, projects, etc., can be l e f t up from meeting to meeting; v i s i b l e and accessible 11*

Some equipment can be l e f t up but much must be stored 18 Equipment, materials, etc., can't be l e f t up; only taken out when used 35

No place to keep equipment or other materials at a l l ; e i t h e r have none or must be transported 31

Can't t e l l - no basis f o r judgement 5 100*

N - (97)

Brownie Troops

Racial Integration

The Brownies who completed questionnaires at t h e i r troop meetings were not asked to record t h e i r race. I n the personal interview the interviewer checked each respondent's race, and the interviewer v i s i t i n g the troop f o r questionnaire administration also noted the r a c i a l i ntegration of the troop.

When we consider that only 3 percent of the entire Brownie membership i s non-white ( c f . Table 18) the f a c t that 87 percent of the troops are a l l white i s not very surprising. I n Table h9 we present a l l of the alternatives l i s t e d i n the Observation Schedule i n order t o point up the non-appearance of some of the possible combinations i n t h i s Brownie sample. (This non-occurrence i n a "sample" does not, of course, mean that units so c l a s s i f i e d do not occur anywhere among Scout troops—but they would be very rare.)

Table h9

Racial Integration of Brownie Troops

A l l White 87* A l l Negro 3 A l l "other" (including Oriental, Puerto

Rican, Mexican, and other) White and Negro only 3 White and "other" only 7 Negro and "other" only White and Negro and "other" -

IOC*

N - (97)

Religious Integration

The only information about religious i n t e g r a t i o n of Brownie troops that was available t o us came from a careful analysis of the personal interviews i n which the g i r l s had reported t h e i r r e l i g i o n . We looked at a l l the interviews w i t h g i r l s from a p a r t i c u l a r troop and t a l l i e d the combinations of religions which were reported.

I t should be remembered that only a random sample (50*) of g i r l s who had been on the troop's roster i n the spring were contacted i n t h i s phase of our f i e l d work. Thus the number of representatives of i n d i v i d u a l troops who were interviewed ranged from one to seventeen i n our Brownie sample. The smallest troops create a s i t u a t i o n i n which some religious integration might have existed without i t s showing i n the random half that were interviewed.

Brownie Troops

I n Table 50 we present the r e l i g i o u s i n t e g r a t i o n of Brownie troops as i t emerged from our interview sample* With other data gathered on the two higher program levels with larger questionnaire samples (Intermediates and Seniors reported t h e i r r e l i g i o n on the questionnaire, which Brownies were not asked t o do) i t would appear t h a t a f a i r statement of re l i g i o u s i n t e gration of G i r l Scout troops as a whole would say: About one-half of the troops include g i r l s of two religious categories; about one-quarter represent only Protestants or Catholics or Jews, and another quarter have members of a l l three anchor other r e l i g i o u s persuasions.

Table 50

Religious Integration of Brownie Troops

Protestant only 39* Catholic only 6 Jewish only 2 Other only

Protestant and Catholic 37 Protestant and Jewish h Protestant and other h Catholic and Jewish 2 Catholic and other Jewish and other

Protestant, Catholic and Jewish 6 Protestant, Catholic and other Protestant, Jewish and other Catholic, Jewish and other

Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and other

IOC*

N - (5D

G i r l s ' Attitudes toward Each Other and the Troop

When the questionnaired g i r l s were asked: "Are you glad you got to j o i n THIS troop?" 98 percent of the Brownies checked the response: " I l i k e my troop." Two percent chose a category s t a t i n g " I don't care," and only seven out of our t o t a l sample of 1280 g i r l s gave the answer " I DO NOT l i k e my troop."

I t does not necessarily follow that every Brownie l i k e s every other Brownie i n her troop. We attempted no sociometric measurements which i d e n t i f i e d i n d i v i d u a l g i r l s , but we did ask each respondent about the number of l i k e d and d i s l i k e d other members of the troop. I n addition, the questionnaire included items which would give some in d i c a t i o n of the extent t o which friendships w i t h i n the troop were a t t r i b u t a b l e t o common Brownie membership.

Brownie Troops

This series of questions read:

1) "How many g i r l s i n your troop would you know anyway, even i f you didn't belong t o the troop?...girls you knew before j o i n i n g ; g i r l s i n your class, or g i r l s who l i v e on your block?"

2) "How many of these g i r l s i n the troop that you know anyway, out-• side of Brownies, are your special friends?"

3) "How many NEW friends have you made i n the troop j u s t since you joined? Count the g i r l s you didn't know before, and then write down the number of j u s t these new g i r l s that are now your friends."

h) "Write down the number of g i r l s i n the troop that you don't l i k e . "

About one-third of a l l the Brownies could t h i n k of at least one g i r l i n the troop whom they didn't l i k e . On the other hand, only 2 percent of a l l the Brownies came i n t o t h e i r troops without any previous "special friends." I n the following chapter, however, we s h a l l be presenting findings indicating that only about one-half of the Brownies were consciously following t h e i r friends i n t o the troop or joined the organization because friends were doing so. But the data i n Table 5 l show a broad base of outside acquaintance and friendship upon which relationships w i t h i n the troop are b u i l t , as well as a good deal of subsequent new friendship formation.

Table 5l

Old and New Friends i n the Troop

Previous Old New Disliked acquaintances friends friends g i r l s

None 1* 2$ 18$ 65$ One or two U 17 22 23 25$ or less of troop but more

than one or two 7 25 20 7 50$ or less but more than 25% 21 30 23 2 75% or less but more than 50$ 15 11 8 Less than 100$ but more than 75$ 16 5 h A l l of the troop 35 9 h -No answer 1 1 1 3

100$ 100$ 100$ 100$

N = (1280) (1280) (1280) (1280)

Brownie Troops

Our interviewers 1 observation results r e f l e c t t h i s general atmosphere of friendliness w i t h i n Brownie troops. They witnessed no evidence of cold f o r m a l i t y or v i s i b l e unfriendliness between g i r l s .

Table 52

Relationship among the g i r l s seems to be:

Close, f r i e n d l y relationship, r e a l l y chummy k7% Moderately f r i e n d l y relationship h9 A few seem f r i e n d l y , others not; somewhat formal

relationship Unfriendly relationships Can't t e l l - no basis f o r judgement k

100*

N - (97)

The Costs of Being a Brownie

Our question about the amount of money Brownies pay i n weekly troop dues was one of a sizeable series on which we asked d i r e c t l y p a r a l l e l items of th e i r leaders. These direct questions of f a c t presented a valuable opportunity t o check on the g i r l s ' a b i l i t y and willingness t o report c o r r e c t l y and also provided evidence on the adequacy of the 50 percent sampling of troop members fo r the personal interviews.

The proportions of g i r l s reporting dues of given sizes was exactly corroborated (to the percentage poi n t ) by the results obtained from leaders of Brownie troops.

Table 53

Brownies 1 Weekly Dues

None 1* 5* 39 100 59 25# * No answer *

100*

N * (/ao)

Brownie Troops

The interviewed Brownies were also asked: "Does being a Brownie ever cost any money besides what you pay i n dues?" t o which 25 percent answered "No."

The approximately three-quarters of the g i r l s who said t h a t membership entail s some costs beyond the iwee^Lyr dues payment were fur t h e r asked: "What sorts of things i s that for?"

I n Table 53 we f i n d t h a t many of the respondents were r e f e r r i n g t o t h e i r annual national r e g i s t r a t i o n fee and more than one out of s i x g i r l s refer t o equipment costs. Trips and parties c a l l f o r extra expenditures and i n about one-quarter of the troops, program a c t i v i t i e s would seem to e n t a i l costs not covered i n the troop budget.

Table Sh

What sorts of things...cost money...beyond dues?

Sum of Two Responses

Uniform, handbook, other equipment 18% Special t r i p s and parties 23 Projects, service projects, "special things" 10 J u l i e t t e Low fund; other donations 2 National r e g i s t r a t i o n fee 38 Other 12 Inapplicable: no costs beyond dues 25 No answer 2

•ft*

N = hlO)

The p o s s i b i l i t y that either troop dues or additional costs of membership might be working a hardship on some of the Brownies was considered by the study's National advisors. Two fu r t h e r items were, therefore, appended t o the question series reported above: "Where do you get the money you need f o r Brownies?" and "For some g i r l s i t ' s hard t o get money f o r these things. How about you?"

Although the source of membership financing changes markedly w i t h advancing program l e v e l (Intermediates receive fewer direct hand-outs from t h e i r parents than Brownies, and the rate goes down even fur t h e r among Seniors), the proportions of g i r l s who report that getting money i s d i f f i c u l t f o r them are completely equivalent i n the three groups.

Brownie Troops 51,

Table 55

Source of Funds f o r Brownie Membership

Allowance 11$ Earn i t 6 Parents give i t 62 Allowance and earn some 2 Allowance and parents give 6ome 10 Earn some and parents give some 6 Allowance and earn some and parents give some Other sources 3 No answer •*

100$

N » (1*10)

Table 56

I t ! s hard for some g i r l s t o get ( t h i s ) money. How about you?

Yes, i t i s hard 2$ • Sometimes; i t depends 9 No, i t i s n ' t hard at a l l 87 No answer 2

100$

N = (iao)

Maturity and Responsibility

Brownie troop leaders' reports of the extent t o which they encourage t h e i r g i r l s t o take r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f or actual administration or planning w i l l be reported i n other sections of t h i s report. These can be b r i e f l y summarized by two statements: l ) About h a l f of the Erownie leaders say that t h e i r g i r l s are given some r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s , and 2) t h i s proportion i s much lower than that obtained from Intermediate and Senior leaders.

I n Table 27 we have already seen t h a t 60 percent of the Brownies f e l t t h a t , to some extent, they have "helped run the troop." With the exception of the seven-year-olds, of whom only 1*5 percent said "Yes" t o t h i s p a r t i c i p a t i o n item, Brownies at a l l other ages gave t h i s response with about equal frequency ( 6 l $ ) .

Brownie Troops 52.

The 5 percent of the Brownies who objected t o t a l k i n g and f i g h t i n g among t h e i r troop-mates i n Table 31 may be considered t o r e f l e c t the degree to which lack of d i s c i p l i n e or lack of a f e e l i n g of r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r behavior at meetings i s a c t u a l l y disturbing the success of a Brownie program.

Our observers reported disorganized and disruptive behavior i n 6 percent of the troops which they saw. I n Table 56 we present observers' ratings for a l l three program levels, i n order t o h i g h l i g h t the growth of responsible behavior from Brownies to Intermediates t o Seniors.

Table 5-J

Maturity and Responsibility of Girls 1 Behavior at Various Program Levels


Mature and responsible w i t h own standards of e f f i c i e n t behavior

Somewhat disc i p l i n e d ; kept i n l i n e by rules or authority

Sort of slaphappy but interested enough to work f a i r l y w e l l together

Quite disorganized; almost disruptive Can't t e l l - no basis for judgement

27$ 28$ 29$

ho 30 10

18 32 35 6 3 -9 7 6

100% 100$ 100$

(97) (76) (63)

f

Chapter i t : BROWNIE TROOPS

THE IMPACT OF SCOUTING

The Brownie Promise

The Brownies were asked ("by questionnaire): "Does a g i r l usually change i n any way a f t e r she has become a Brownie?" Eighty percent of the youngest g i r l s , a l l of whom were i n the f i r s t year of t h e i r membership (cf., Table 2), answered "Yes," and the older Brownies gave t h i s response i n even greater proportions. This increasing -judgement of change passes the test of s t a t i s t i c a l significance.

Table 5?

Yes No No answer

N

Because i t was necessary to keep w r i t e - i n questions at a minimum f o r these younger g i r l s , t h i s question was not pushed any f u r t h e r . Intermediate and Senior questionnaire respondents were subsequently asked: "How does she change?"

We can use the responses of the older g i r l s t o t h i s follow-up question as the baais of conjecture about what sort of changes the Brownies had i n mind and l a t e r check our guess against other information collected d i r e c t l y from the Brownies. Both the Intermediates and Seniors who said that a g i r l does change (88$>ef "Intermediates; 79$ of Seniors—the l a t t e r s i g n i f i c a n t l y lower than either Brownies or Intermediates) gave most of t h e i r specifications of change i n the areas of interpersonal learning and improvement i n positive personality t r a i t s .

The Brownies were asked: "How much do you know about the Brownie Scout Promise?" Only 5 percent of the Brownie sample checked " I forget i t , " e ither alone or i n combination w i t h " I know some of i t . "

Does a g i r l change?; by Age

Age 7 Age 10 Total and younger Age 8 Age 9 and older Quest,

80$ 89$ 89$ M 90$ 20 10 11 6 10 - * - * *

100$ 100$ 100$ 100$ 100$

(83) (352) (Uh6) (399) (1280)

Brownie Troops

Understanding of the Promise also shows an increase w i t h r i s i n g age. The " I know i t w e l l " response, probably interpreted as knowing the Promise by heart, shows a decline among the very oldest Brownies.

Table 58

How much do you know about the Promise?; by Age

Age 7 Age 10 Total and younger Age 8 Age 9 and older Quest.

I know what i t means 16% 61<* 66% 68* 65* I know some of i t 35 18 18 17 19 I know i t w e l l 78 79 75 65 73 I forget i t 10 _ i 7 _ 5

#* *# •ft* • f t *

N • (83) (352) (hh6) (399) (1280)

Vhen the Brownies were asked: "Do you t r y to l i v e up to the Promise? " 97 percent of the sample answered "Yes." This, again, i s a higher proportion of positive responses than those obtained from Intermediates and Seniors on a comparable question. The older g i r l s were asked to say what they t r y to do i n order t o l i v e up to t h e i r Promise. Half of them responded i n terms of helping others, and approximately another one-quarter spoke of t r y i n g to improve t h e i r own character or specific personality t r a i t s .

We might now look back to Tables 26 and 33 i n the Brownie Troop A c t i v i t i e s chapter, i n which the g i r l s t o l d what they l i k e d best about being Brownies and what they were learning by being members. Most of the responses there were, of course, made wi t h reference t o program a c t i v i t i e s . But i t can be noted i n Table 26 that 1 percent each of a l l the Brownies said that what they l i k e d best was learning to get along w i t h others and learning the Promise. Another 2 percent referred to the Promise as giving them ideals to l i v e up t o and 3 percent said t h a t helping others i s 'their f a v o r i t e aspect of being a Brownie.

From Table 33 we can remember that nine out of ten Brownies said they were learning "to be a good f r i e n d , " and 16 percent of them spontaneously gave w r i t e - i n responses i n the interpersonal learning area.

I n summary, then, although there were strong l i m i t a t i o n s upon our a b i l i t y t o probe deeply i n t o the impact of the Brownie Promise upon the g i r l s 1 ideas and behavior, some indications are available that the ideals of Scouting s t a r t to make some impression upon the g i r l s during t h e i r Brownie years, at least at the verbal l e v e l .

Brownie Troops 55.

Motivation to Join and Stay I n the Organization

The p o s s i b i l i t y that some g i r l s j o i n the Brownies as a matter of course, or upon the urging of t h e i r parents, c a l l e d f o r the following two questions:

1) "When you f i r s t got a chance to j o i n a Brownie troop, did you want very much to j o i n , didn't you care, or would you r e a l l y rather not have joined?"

and 2) " I f your parents said t h a t you could do j u s t as you please, would you keep coming to Brownies every week, aren't you sure, or would you probably quit?"

For the vast majority of Brownies the motivation to belong to the organization would seem t o come from themselves (Table 59). However, the f a c t that even 7 percent of the g i r l s checked "I'm not sure" on the question of staying i n under circumstances of free choice, i s noteworthy.

Table 59

Hid you want t o join? and Would you keep coming?

I wanted t o j o i n 98$ I would keep coming 92% I didn't care 2 I'm not sure 7 I did NOT want to j o i n # I would q u i t 1 No answer •* No answer #

100$ 100%

N = (1280) N - (1280)

I n another part of the questionnaire we asked the g i r l s to consider the poss i b i l i t y of: a) f l y i n g up t o become Intermediates

b) wanting to become a Senior Scout "when you are old enough" c) becoming a Brownie or Scout leader "when you're married and

have daughters of your own."

I t i s ce r t a i n l y doubtful that the proportion of Brownies who checked each of these., alternatives can, i n any direct way, be taken at face value f o r extrapolating from current Brownie membership to future Senior membership or the a v a i l a b i l i t y of leaders twenty years from now. We can note, however, that the number of Brownies who hope to f l y up i s larger than the number who want to become Seniors. Of the 891 sampled g i r l s who were, at the time of questionnaire administration, i n Brownie troops, 80 percent said that they hope to f l y up to the Intermediate l e v e l . Certainly "Scouting" i s not yet "worn out."

Brownie Troops 56.

The question about wanting to become a Senior was asked of a l l the Brownies and Intermediates i n our questionnaire sample, and the item about hopes of becoming a Leader was given to g i r l s at a l l three program leve l s . I n t e r mediates and Seniors, i n addition, were also asked about the p o s s i b i l i t y of t h e i r wanting to go i n t o professional Scouting i n the future.

I n Table 60 we present the findings from d i f f e r e n t age groups at a l l three program levels i n order to c l a r i f y the trend t h a t seems to emerge. Brownies s t a r t with a high l e v e l of involvement i n the organization which decreases over t h e i r years of membership. Those g i r l s who do f l y up again s t a r t with a high expectation of continued involvement, and t h i s , again, decreases during t h e i r Intermediate years. Those g i r l s who then do go on i n t o Senior troops do not, however, continue the previous age trend, but evidence, instead, a slow upturn i n expected continuation of involvement.

Brownies

I want to be a Senior Scout

I want t o be a Scout Leader

Table 60

Future i n Scouting

Age 7 Age 10 and younger Age 8 Age 9 and older A l l Brownies

N

73$ 77$ 62$ 52$ 61|$

61 60 J9 Jk •iH* ** •iH* •iH*

(83) (352) ihh6) (399) (1280)

- Age 10 Age 13 A l l Intermediates and younger Age 11 Age 12 and older Interme diate s

I want to be a Senior Scout 73$ 75$ 66$ 58$ 69$

I want to be a Scout Leader h2 36 26 20 30

I might want to be a professional 20 _13 10 17

•iH* #* •iBf- ** ** N - (123) (laM (223) (256) (1016)

Age 111 Age 15

Age 16 Seniors and younger Age 15 and older A l l Seniors

I want t o be a Scout Leader 30$ 32$ U3$ 36$

I might want to be 111 a professional 7 111 12 12 •&* •iH*

N = (150) (226) (235) (611)

Brownie Troops 57.

I n Table 51 of the preceding chapter we have already seen that very few g i r l s i n our large Brownie questionnaire sample were not already good friends with some of the members of t h e i r troop before they joined the Brownies.

Those g i r l s who received personal interviews were asked: "Let's go back t o when you f i r s t joined the Brownies. What made you decide to become a Brownie

I n answers to t h i s quite general question fewer than one-third of the Brownie respondents mentioned the presence of t h e i r friends as a major determinant of j o i n i n g (Table 61)—a f i n d i n g that may cast more l i g h t on where the g i r l s look f o r reasons than the nature of conditions at the time of t h e i r j o i n i n g .

The question presented i n Table 62 s h i f t e d the i n q u i r y more s p e c i f i c a l l y t o the topic of friends i n the group, and was asked only of those g i r l s who had not already mentioned t h e i r friends i n answer to the f i r s t item: "When you f i r s t joined the Brownies, d i d your two or three best friends j o i n the troop too, were they already i n , or didn't they join?"

Again we f i n d that very few g i r l s , indeed, j o i n a Brownie troop without good friends around them.

Table 61

What made you decide to become a Brownie? (Sum of two responses)

Friends: friends were members or were j o i n i n g 29% Family: member of family active i n Scouting; family suggestion 19 Other Interpersonal: t o meet people; do things w i t h g i r l s ; make

friends 9 Nature and the Out-of-doors: l i k e camping, hiking, nature study 7 General A c t i v i t i e s : I l i k e the things Brownies do 21 Learning: learn more things; d i f f e r e n t things 7 Fun, Interesting: I thought I would l i k e i t 37 Other I i i Don't know and no answer i i

N = (iilO)

Table 62

Did your two or three best friends join?

Best friends joined a t the .same time h2% Best friends were already i n the troop I i i Best friends didn't j o i n 5 Has no best friends, new i n community 1 Other h Inapplicable; mentioned friends as reason f o r j o i n i n g above 29 No answer 5

100*

N « (iilO)

Brownie Troops 58

The l a s t two tables presented data which referred to the respondent's best friends at the time of her joi n i n g the troop. We then asked two questions w i t h a more current time reference: "Are the g i r l s that are now your best friends i n the troop?" and "Suppose your best f r i e n d i n the troop moved out of town and couldn't be i n the troop. Do you think you would s t i l l stay i n the Brownies or not?"

Again we f i n d (Table 63a) that more than nine out of ten Brownies share t h e i r membership w i t h t h e i r best friends. But the next table follows this finding up with one which points i n the same d i r e c t i o n as the results presented i n Table 61: Brownies generally f i n d themselves i n troops with friends they have made outside of the organization, but t h i s f a c t does not necessarily represent to the Brownies t h e i r reasons f o r membership. They may enjoy being with t h e i r friends i n the troop as much as outside, but they have joined the Brownies together so that both of them can enjoy the troop's a c t i v i t i e s , rather than to be with each other.

Table 63

a) Are the g i r l s that are now your beet friends i n your troop? (For g i r l s active i n troops a t the time of the interview)

Yes 77$ Some are, some aren't 16 No _ 7

100$

N = (359)

b) I f your best f r i e n d moved, would you s t i l l stay i n Brownies? (Answer to f i r s t question)

Total Active Yes Some No Interview Respondents

Probably stay 97$ 97$ 8/i$ 96$ Might or might not, depends # - h * Probably stop coming # - 8 1 Other 2 2 2 No answer 1 1 h 1

100$ 100$ 10C$ 100$

N => (276) (59) (2U) (359)

Brownie Troops 59.

Pride i n Brownie Membership

I n the personal interview administered to Brownies, the l a s t two questions read: "Are you ever especially glad or proud that you are a Brownie? ( I f Yes) When, f o r instance?" and "Do you ever get teased or embarrassed about being a Brownie?"

We have already seen i n Table 38 that almost a l l the Brownies f e e l that giving service i s an important part of being a Brownie- I n Table 61* we f i n d that more than one out of f i v e of them take a special pride i n t h i s aspect of t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s .

Table 61*

When are you proud of being a Brownie? (Sum o f two responses)

Envied by others f o r being a member k% Chosen f o r special jobs: given special r e s p o n s i b i l i t y , color guard

at school, etc. k Proud of Scout i d e n t i f i c a t i o n : taking part i n ceremonies; parades;

wearing uniform 38 Special opportunities: do things, learn things, go places 22 Friends: have friends i n troop, make new friends 1 Do things f o r others: service; entertain people; make things f o r

others 21 Achieve goals: v i s i b l e accomplishments as in d i v i d u a l or as group member 7

Other 15 NO, NEVER PROUD of being a Brownie k Don't know and no answer 6

100*

N «= (1*10)

Being teased because of membership i n the organization i s a problem for some g i r l s even at the Brownie l e v e l . The problem increases s i g n i f i c a n t l y f o r Intermediates, and then becomes one of major proportion f o r more than one-ha l f of a l l the Seniors.

Table 65

Do you ever get teased?


Yes 11** 20* 52* No 86 80 1*8 No answer - # #

ioo* Toc£ loo* N » (1*10) (1*93) (295)

Brownie Troops 60

The reported r e g u l a r i t y of attendance a t troop meetings shows a downward trend w i t h r i s i n g program l e v e l , the drops from one group to another being s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t - Where the wearing of uniforms i s a required part of meeting attendance, the cost of teasing may bear a relationship to t h i s phenomenon.

Table 66

Regularity of Attendance


I always come unless I'm sick I usually come I come about h a l f the time I only come sometimes No answer

89% 8 1 1 1

86% 12

75*

1

21 2 1 1

ICC* 100* 100*

N (1280) (1016) (611)

Chapter $x BROWNIE TROOPS

LEADER-GIRL RELATIONSHIPS

So f a r ve have been considering facts about Brownies themselves and th e i r ideas about the a c t i v i t i e s and organization of t h e i r troop. Let us now turn to the relationship between Brownies and t h e i r leaders.

The data reported i n t h i s chapter w i l l be derived from three sources: the questionnaires f i l l e d out by the Brownies, the observations of th e i r troops i n action, and t h e i r leaders' responses on the Leader Interview.

The number of respondents w i l l vary from table to table depending on the research instrument from which the information i s derived. This variation w i l l be p a r t i c u l a r l y apparent i n comparisons of Brownies w i t h t h e i r leaders. For these, each g i r l ' s response to a p a r t i c u l a r question was considered i n conjunction with information from her own leader. The t o t a l number of Brownies was decreased by those from two troops with no leader interviews (one had died and one was unavailable f o r an interview). The t o t a l number of g i r l s i s further reduced from table to table, since g i r l s or leaders who gave "No answer" to a p a r t i c u l a r question were not used. A l l these comparison tables represent g i r l s who answered a question and have leaders who answered the re l a t e d question.

Rating of Leader

Only one question about the leader was included i n the Brownie questionnaire. They were asked to rate t h e i r leader on a four point scale from "She i s very good at her job" to "She i s no good at a l l at her job."

Eighty-nine percent of a l l the Brownies rated t h e i r leader as "very good." The seven, eight, and nine year olds tend to rate t h e i r leader "very good" more often than do the ten year olds. This drop continues through the Intermediate and Senior age range and may we l l indicate an increasing a b i l i t y to make discriminations between "very" and "pretty" rather than increasing d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n with the leader. Brownies are enthusiastic about everything, including t h e i r leader.

Brownie Troops 62

Table 67

Rating of Leaders; by Age

7 & 10 Total younger Age 8 Age 9 & older Questionnaire

She i s very good 92$ 9h% 91$ 81$ 89$ She i s pretty good 2 3 5 13 7 She i s not very good - 1 l h 2 She i s no good - # - 1 •»

No answer 6 2 3 1 2

100$ 100$ 100$ 100$ 100$

N = (83) (352) (1*1*6) (399) (1280)

Observation of Leader

The relationship between the leader and the g i r l s i n her troop was rated by interviewers on two dimensions: the warmth and closeness of the r e l a t i o n ship and the spontaneity and freedom of the relationship.

These ratings were made on the basis of the interviewers * observations of a part of the troop meeting at which questionnaires were administered to the g i r l s . S l i g h t l y over h a l f of the troops were rated as having a close, easygoing, f r i e n d l y relationship between the leader and her g i r l s . About a t h i r d were "not close but f r i e n d l y and warm." A very few seemed a b i t distant and formal and a few were d i f f i c u l t to rate.

Table 68

Relationship between Leaders and G i r l s

Brownie Troop Observation

Close, easy-going, f r i e n d l y 51*$ Not close but f r i e n d l y and warm 38 A b i t distant and formal 2 Can't t e l l 6

100$

N = (97)

Brownie Troops 63.

Turning to the second dimension, spontaneity of the relationship between leaders and g i r l s , we f i n d t h a t about three-fourths of the troops were rated as having an atmosphere of freedom where ideas and thoughts could be expressed. The observers thought that i n a few troops the g i r l s were somewhat more cautious about expressing ideas. I n a very small number of troops there seemed to be no easy p a r t i c i p a t i o n .

Table 69

Girl-Leader Relationship


Spontaneous, free to express ideas 7ii$ Somewhat cautious and reserved 15 Quite reserved, no easy p a r t i c i p a t i o n 3 Can't t e l l 8

100$

N = (97)

When the manner i n which the leader worked with the g i r l s i s considered, one-t h i r d of the leaders who were observed seemed to be "in s p i r i n g and challenging. About a h a l f were "interested and i n t e r e s t i n g , not exciting." Only a few seemed to be "following a necessary routine."

Table 70

Leader and Her A c t i v i t i e s


I n s p i r i n g and challenging 36$ Interested and i n t e r e s t i n g , not e x c i t i n g hi Following a necessary routine 9 Can't t e l l 8

100$

N = (97)

T,Ihen these three tables on the observations of the leader are considered t o gether, the number of groups that are rated as formal, reserved, and routine are very small. Most of the groups are more f r i e n d l y and interested and f a i r l y free to express ideas. These support the Brownies' r a t i n g of t h e i r leaders which so often read "very good."

Brownie Scouts 6h

When we look at Intermediate and Senior troops l a t e r , we s h a l l f i n d more differences between troops than we do a t the Brownie age l e v e l . Brownies are eager and enthusiastic and so the leaders seem to have an easier tiiae maintaining an ex c i t i n g , a l i v e atmosphere w i t h them.

Girls and t h e i r Leaders

Let us now look at some d i r e c t comparisons between the responses of Brownies i n p a r t i c u l a r troops and some information about t h e i r leaders. The following tables w i l l present Brownies divided i n t o groups by such variables as t h e i r leaders* age, education, t r a i n i n g , etc.

Does the leader have an e f f e c t on Brownies' attitudes toward Scouting and t h e i r desire to continue i n Scouting? I s i t possible to say what kind of person makes the best Brownie leader?

The following tables w i l l be composite ones giving several Brownie responses compared to leader responses. Table 71 presents information from Brownie answers to a number of questions, grouped according t o the age o f t h e i r leaders.

Table 71

Brownie Responses by Leaders' Age

Leaders' Age

Brownie Responses Under 35 35-39 • hO-kh US or more

Leader rated very good 9h% 90$ 88$ 97$

Always attend meetings 91% 87$ 91$ 92$

Never have to stop doing something 32% 35$ 214$ 26$

Likes two or more a c t i v i t i e s 51$ 1*1*$ 56$ 55$

No "other things" learned 59$ 51*$ 53$ 69$

Want* to f l y up h6% 1*1$ 53$ 31$

Want to be Seniors 65$ 67$ 75$ 51*$

Want to be Leaders 51*$ 55$ 60$ 51$

Number of g i r l s under leaders of each age (51*1*) (396) (208) (71)

Brownie Troops 65.

Each l i n e of the table should be read across. The f i r s t l i n e i s taken from the Brownie r a t i n g of the leader and includes those who rated t h e i r leader "very good," Brownies who have leaders under t h i r t y - f i v e or over fo r t y - f o u r rate t h e i r leaders s l i g h t l y higher than those whose leaders are t h i r t y - f i v e to f o r t y - f o u r . (Eighty-nine percent of a l l Brownies rate t h e i r leaders "very •good.") Gir l s whose leader i s over fo r t y - f o u r more often rate her "very good" than do g i r l s w i t h leaders t h i r t y - f i v e to f o r t y - f o u r . Leaders under t h i r t y -f i v e are almost as frequently rated "-very good." Leaders' age makes some difference but the majority are so approving that differences are small.

The second l i n e i s taken from the g i r l s ' statements about t h e i r frequency of attendance. Eighty-nine percent of a l l Brownies say they "always come." There i s no s i g n i f i c a n t v a r i a t i o n when Brownies are compared according to the age of t h e i r leader. Apparently t h e i r estimation o f how good a leader she i s does not a f f e c t t h e i r attendance.

The t h i r d l i n e of the table i s derived from the Brownie question "Do you ever have to stop doing one thing and s t a r t doing something else at Brownie meetings before you r e a l l y f e e l l i k e stopping?" Thirty-one percent of a l l Brownies said they never had to stop something. When these are broken down by leaders' age, we f i n d that those g i r l s who have leaders f o r t y or over have to stop doing something somewhat less often than those who have younger leaders.

The f o u r t h l i n e presents information taken from the question "What do you l i k e best about Brownie meetings?" The number of responses i s used i n t h i s l i n e of the table to indicate those Brownies who mentioned l i k i n g two or more a c t i v i t i e s . (About 50 percent of a l l Brownies l i k e d two or more a c t i v i t i e s . ) Those whose leaders are t h i r t y - f i v e to t h i r t y - n i n e were somewhat less apt to mention l i k i n g two or more a c t i v i t i e s than those w i t h older or younger leaders. Those w i t h leaders f o r t y or over were most apt to mention more a c t i v i t i e s .

The information f o r the f i f t h l i n e of the table i s derived from the series of questions on "Are you learning anything about...?" Brownies f i r s t checked items about which they had learned something. A blank l i n e was l e f t a t the end of the question on which they could wr i t e i n additional items of "other things learned." I n Table 71 we f i n d that those whose leaders are the oldest wrote i n additional items less often than those w i t h younger leaders.

The d i s t r i b u t i o n of responses to t h i s item i s the opposite of the responses on the r a t i n g of the leader* The leader who most often was rated "very good" (considering the age of the leader) i s also the one whose g i r l s most often l e f t a blank f o r "other things learned."

The l a s t three li n e s of the table come from the responses checked by the g i r l s regarding t h e i r f u t u r e i n Scouting. Gi r l s w i t h leaders f o r t y to f o r t y -four most often say they want to f l y up, to become a Senior G i r l Scout, and also to become a Scout Leader. This i s the same grouping of g i r l s but not necessarily the same g i r l s who less often rated t h e i r leader "very good."

Brownie Troops 66

Those g i r l s whose leader i s f o r t y - f i v e or over less often stated that they wanted t o f l y up, to be a Senior or a Scout Leader. This i s the same grouping of g i r l s who most often rated t h e i r leader "very good."

Leaders 1 age was used as a variable w i t h many other questions from the Brownie questionnaire but no s i g n i f i c a n t differences were obtained.

Table 72 presents a comparison of Brownie responses to a number of questions according to the amount of education of t h e i r leaders. This variable produced fewer differences than age but we do f i n d a few.

Table 72

Brownie Responses by Leaders 1 Education

Leaders' Education

Brownie Responses

Less than high school graduate

High school graduate

Some college

College graduate or more

Leader rated "very good" 95% 89$ 86$ 90%

No "other things learned" 69% 52% 63$ kl%

Want to be Scout Leaders 61% 52% 5h% 58$

Number of g i r l s under leaders w i t h each amount of education (128) (620) (308) (182)

We note from l i n e one of the table t h a t Brownies whose leader had not graduated from high school most often rated her as "very good." The lowest percentage i s for those whose leader had attended college but did not graduate. Education, however, shows l i t t l e r e l a t i o n to t h i s r a t i n g .

I n l i n e two, we compare those Brownies who did not add "other things learned" by the education of the leader. Once again we f i n d that those who less frequently added mentions of "other things learned" are found i n the same grouping as those who most often rated t h e i r leader "very good." I n t h i s instance i t i s the g i r l s whose leaders d i d not graduate from high school. Girls whose leaders graduated from college were much more apt to wr i t e i n something else they had learned. However, an excellent r a t i n g given college graduates accompanies a high degree of learned things mentioned.

Line three i s taken from the question on future i n Scouting. No differences were obtained from "Want to f l y up" or "Want to be Seniors." However, the g i r l s w i t h leaders who did not graduate from high school s l i g h t l y more often say t h a t they want to become Scout Leaders than do those g i r l s whose leaders have graduated from college. The difference here i s small but may be i n t e r e s t i n g because the d i r e c t i o n o f the relationship might not be expected.

Brownie Troops 67

A si m i l a r analysis was performed to ascertain whether the amount of t r a i n i n g a leader had received would be r e f l e c t e d i n any of the Brownies' responses about Scouting* Once again, t h i s dimension was t r i e d w i t h many d i f f e r e n t questions and f o r most of them, t r a i n i n g seemed to make no difference. Table 73 presents a summary of three questions which did reveal some differences.

Table 73

Brownie Responses by Leaders' G i r l Scout Training

Leaders' Training

Brownie Responses More than

Basic Course Basic Course

Less than Basic Course

Leader rated "very good" 8W 90% 9h%

No "other things learned" 3ty 55% 73%

T-Tant t o be Scout Leaders 56% ho% U5%

Number of g i r l s under leaders w i t h each amount of t r a i n i n g (112) (96U) (179)

I n l i n e one we f i n d that those g i r l s whose leaders had had more than a basic t r a i n i n g course were the least l i k e l y t o rate the leader "very good." The direc t i o n continues w i t h those g i r l s whose leaders had had less than a basic t r a i n i n g course being most l i k e l y to rate t h e i r leader "very good." This . rather s t a r t l i n g f i n d i n g i s , of course, supported somewhat by the previous table where i t was noted that g i r l s w i t h leaders with the least education also more frequently rated these leaders "very good."

From l i n e two we f i n d that those whose leaders had had the most G i r l Scout t r a i n i n g more often added "other things learned." As t r a i n i n g f o r the leaders decreases, the number of g i r l s who did not add "other things learned" increases.

Line three comes from the question on future i n Scouting. There were no differences f o r those who wanted to f l y up or become Seniors. When we consider ' those Brownies who say they might want to become Scout Leaders, we f i n d that those whose leaders have the most Scout t r a i n i n g more often want to become leaders than those whose own leaders have less t r a i n i n g .

The leaders were asked what other positions they held (past and present) i n Scouting i n addition to t h e i r troop posts. A judgement was made about how active they were i n Scouting i n addition to being a troop leader. Those who did nothing but t h e i r troop work were called "Inactive." "Not Very Active" leaders were those who had participated i n one other phase of Scouting. "Active" leaders were those who had participated i n two or more phases of Scouting i n addition t o leading t h e i r troops.

Brownie Troops

Table 7k

68

Brownie Responses by Leaders' Involvement i n Scouting

Leaders' Involvement

Brownie Responses Active Not Very Active Inactive

Leaders rated "very good" 815 92$ 9$

Number of g i r l s under each group o f leaders (190) (hhO) (625)

I n Table 7h we f i n d t h a t Brownies whose leaders were judged to be "Active" less often rated t h e i r leader "very good" than did those whose leader p a r t i c i pated i n no Scout a c t i v i t y besides her troop. This may give some new l i g h t on the previous finding t h a t leaders w i t h less education are more often rated "very good." Leaders with less than high school education are less apt t o be involved with Council and Board a c t i v i t i e s . I f troop leadership i s t h e i r only Scouting a c t i v i t y , they have more time to devote solely to the troop, and can, perhaps, concentrate more completely on the troop program and the g i r l s themselves.

The Brownies rated t h e i r leader on a four point scale from "very good" to "no good." The leaders did a s e l f r a t i n g on the same scale. When we compare the Brownies' ratings of t h e i r leaders with the leaders' own s e l f r a t i n g , we f i n d t h a t the leaders who rated themselves "not so good" were less apt to be rated "very good" by the Brownies. This group of Brownies i s small but does indicate some agreement between them and t h e i r leaders.

Table 75

Leaders' Self Rating Compared with Brownies'Ratings of Leader

Leaders' Self Rating

Brownies' Ratings Very good Pretty good Not so pood

Very good 91% 92% 82% Pretty good 7 6 11 Not so good 2 1 6 No good - # 1

100$ 100$ 100$

N = (lii7) (952) (88)

Brownie Troops 69

The leaders were asked "Do you think you have an average group of g i r l s f o r t h i s age and program l e v e l , or do you t h i n k there i s something unusual or d i f f e r e n t about your troop that makes them easy or d i f f i c u l t to work with?" A few differences were obtained when the leaders' responses to t h i s quest i o n were compared with t h e i r Brownies' ratings and attendance.

Table 76

Brownie Responses by Leaders' Rating of Group

Better than Below Brownie Responses average Average Average

Leader rated "very good" 91$ 92% 81$

Always attends meetings 9h% 89$ 83$

Number of g i r l s under leaders giving each r a t i n g of group (178) (926) (60)

I n Table 76 which presents the comparison of Brownies 1 r a t i n g of leaders and frequency of attendance w i t h the leaders' r a t i n g of t h e i r groups, we f i n d that those whom the leaders rated as "Better than average" or "Average" i n turn more often rate t h e i r leaders "very good." The group rated "Below average" by the leaders are less apt to rate t h e i r leader "very good."

The second l i n e of the table indicates that leader r a t i n g i s also related to attendance. The "Better than average" group attends much more regularly than the "Below average" group. I t i s possible, of course, that leaders' problems w i t h attendance caused them to rate t h e i r group lower. But usually the "Below average" group was so called because of some kind of d i s c i p l i n e problem.

Another area where a leader's influence might make a difference with g i r l s i s the leader's l i k e s and d i s l i k e s . Are the g i r l s more apt to do those things which the leader l i k e s to do? A.measure of the leader's l i k e s was obtained from a question "What aspects do you enjoy most?" Several areas were coded from t h i s and are discussed more f u l l y i n the Adults i n Troops - Chapter k» Three specific areas were used here to determine whether t h e i r g i r l s participated i n these areas more often than g i r l s i n general.

F i r s t a l l the g i r l s , whose leaders said one of the things they most enjoyed was creative aspects ( a r t s , c r a f t s , dramatics), were selected. I t was then determined how many of these g i r l s had checked specific items i n t h i s area when they checked the l i s t of a c t i v i t i e s they had done i n t h e i r troop. Similar procedures were used to compare outdoor a c t i v i t i e s and special G i r l Scout a c t i v i t i e s , w i t h leaders' special interests or enjoyment.

Brownie Troops 70.

Table 77

Participation of Brownies i n A c t i v i t i e s by A c t i v i t i e s Leaders Enjoy

Brownie Participation

Have learned about nature Have been hiking

Have special Brownie ceremonies

Leader Enjoys Creative Aspects Total Brownies

83$ 58$

(1280)

Leader Enjoys Outdoor A c t i v i t i e s Total Brownies

60$ 52$ lia 67$

(1280)

Leader Enjoys Special G i r l Scout

A c t i v i t i e s Total Brownies

90$ 78$

(1280)

Have done painting 90$ Have made up stories 65$

N - (130)

N - (251)

N « (61)

I n each part of Table 77 we f i n d that more Brownies whose leaders enjoy an a c t i v i t y have participated i n that a c t i v i t y than Brownies i n general. While not a l l the differences presented i n the table are large enough to be s i g n i f i c a n t , the fact t h a t each one i s consistently higher i f the leader enjoys the a c t i v i t y i s important. One area where a leader's influence i s c l e a r l y f e l t i s i n the kind of a c t i v i t y that i s carried out i n the troop.

An e f f o r t was made to determine whether a..leader's concept of Scouting was re f l e c t e d i n the responses of her g i r l s . The leader's goals f o r her Scout work were used, but no rdifferences were obtained between leaders with d i f ferent types of goals. Nor were differences found when the l e v e l of abstraction of the responses to the f i r s t question of the leader interview " I f an i n t e l l i g e n t and understanding adult who has had no contact w i t h Scouting of any kind were to ask you what Scouting is—what things would you mention?" was used. As f a r as could be determined from the Brownie questionnaire, the leader's concept o f Scouting was not refl e c t e d by differences among the Brownies themselves.

Both g i r l s and leaders were asked about the size of th e i r troop and how they l i k e d the size. Table 78 presents a comparison of the leaders' reports of troop size w i t h the reports given by the g i r l s i n the troops.

Brownie Troops 71.

Table 78

Brownies' Reports of Troop Size by Leaders' Reports o f Troop Size

Leaders 1

9 or 33 or Brownies' fewer 10-12 13-15 16-18 19-21 22-21* 25-28 29-32 more

9 or fewer 81* 15 10-12 19 83 115 13-15 12 75 11** 1% 1* 16-18 1 l l 70 8 19-21 # .8 77* H* 13 22-21* # 8 16 81* 10 25-28 7 68 29-32 96* 33 or more 1* 100*

N = (1*7) (211*) (229) (279) (208) (101) (121*) (26) (27)

While there were some discrepancies between the leader's report of troop size and th a t given by the g i r l s i n her troop, for the most part the g i r l s 1

responses were quite accurate. Many of the differences were very s l i g h t . Most g i r l s do have a f a i r l y accurate idea of the number o f g i r l s i n the troop.

The leaders and g i r l s were also asked whether t h i s size troop was too large, j u s t n'.ght, or too small. As we see i n Table 79, the leader's a t t i t u d e toward size does not always correspond to the g i r l s * a ttitudes. Whether the leader wants a smaller or larger troop or i s s a t i s f i e d with the present size, almost a quarter of the g i r l s wish there were more i n the troop. About seven out of ten g i r l s think the size i s r i g h t and a few think there are too many.

Table 79

Brownies'Attitude toward Troop Size by Leaders' Attitude toward Troop Size

Brownies' Attitude

Leaders* Attitude

Larger Same Smaller

Wish there were more 23* 21** 22* About r i g h t 69 72 70 Too many 8 _ J * 8

100* 100* 100*

N = (127) (892) (191*)

Brownie Troops 72

Here we probably are f i n d i n g that the leaders and g i r l s are using two d i f ferent yardsticks to determine the i d e a l size of t h e i r troop- The leaders are considering p r a c t i c a l aspects l i k e size of meeting space or the fact that more g i r l s would mean another leader or increase the transportation problem. The g i r l s , on the other hand, are interested i n enough g i r l s to make t h e i r troop* seem successful and also have enough people to do the a c t i v i t i e s they are interested i n having.

Summary

Does the leader influence the g i r l s i n her troop? Certainly no very clear answer can be determined f o r the Brownies. The younger g i r l s may be so eager and interested t h a t almost anyone who would allow them to meet would be satisfactory as a leader.

Yet i t does seem clear that the interests (and probably s k i l l s ) of the leader w i l l play a large part i n determining the a c t i v i t i e s that w i l l be carried on i n a troop.

But any of the other differences between kinds of leaders are confusing and inconsistent. There are probably several variables operative that are confounding the relationships.

The f a c t t h a t Brownies rate older leaders so highly at least indicates that i t i s not necessary to f i n d a young busy mother to be a Brownie leader. Perhaps an older one who i s less busy w i l l be even better. Reading some of the interviews of t h i s older age group, one i s struck by the f a c t that many of them are mothers of Brownies or G i r l Scouts who are the youngest of a family which i s now p r a c t i c a l l y grown.

l-'hat about the education of the leader? Searching fu r t h e r f o r some clues about the success of leaders w i t h less education, we found t h i s group of leaders t o have held t h e i r jobs f o r several years. I n other words, they have stayed on because they are successful i n spite o f t h e i r lack of formal education. When one reads some o f these interviews, one gains the impression that these leaders are genuinely interested i n the g i r l s i n t h e i r troops. They may not have a l l the s k i l l s of some of the better educated leaders but t h e i r concern f o r the g i r l s and t h e i r problems helps to account f o r the attitudes of the g i r l s toward them.

Another p o s s i b i l i t y to be considered here i s the fa c t t h a t leaders with less education are more apt t o be working-class people. The best estimate available from the Brownie questionnaire i n questions about bedrooms, t e l e phones, cars, etc., indicates t h a t the g i r l s who have leaders with less education are themselves less apt to be upper or middle class.' So the working-class leader i s more successful w i t h g i r l s from the same economic background.


SPECIFIC ITEMS OF MISCELLANEOUS INTEREST

I n t h i s chapter we report items included i n the battery of research i n s t r u ments which are not d i r e c t l y c l a s s i f i a b l e i n the study's major areas of in t e r e s t , but are of p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t to specialized branches of the .. National Organization. The Program Study presented a unique opportunity to col l e c t data from representative samples o f each of the program levels, and some such items were therefore included where feasible.

Brownie Uniforms

Eighty-five percent of Brownie members own Brownie uniforms, and almost a l l of these owners enjoy wearing t h e i r symbol of membership.

The check-list of answers t o the question "Why don't you have a uniform?" was provided by the Equipment Division. I t i s regrettable that there can be no furt h e r d e f i n i t i o n of the v a r i e t y of "other reasons" which almost eight out of ten o f those Brownies who don't have a uniform indicated, but i t should be of in t e r e s t that neither the cost nor the design of the iniiform seems to present the major obstacle to the purchase of Brownie uniforms.

Table 80 shows that three-quarters of even the seven year o l d Brownies, a l l of whom are i n t h e i r f i r s t year o f Scouting ( c f . , Chapter 1, Table 2) have already acquired uniforms, and the proportion rises to the average figure at the eight year o l d l e v e l .

A s l i g h t , not s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t , age trend appears i n the answers to the question "Do you l i k e to wear i t ? " This trend, however, becomes much stronger among the Intermediates and levels o f f only at the Senior age l e v e l . (Ninety-two percent of Brownies, 76 percent of Intermediates and 63 percent of Seniors say that they l i k e to wear t h e i r uniforms.)

Brownie Troops Ih

Has Uniform

Do you l i k e to wear i t ?

Table 80

Brownie Uniforms; by Age

7 & younger Age 8 Age 9 10 &

16%

Total older Questionnaire

87$ 86$

Has No Uniform

Why not?

2h% 13$ 35$ 12$

Don't l i k e uniform I t costs too much Another reason No answer

15 85

h% 15 61

1$ 9

90

2$ 6

81 11

N «

100$

(20)

100$

(h6)

100$

(67)

100$

(hi)

No Answer Whether Owns Uniform •a-

N

100$

(83)

100$

(352)

_1$

100$

(hh6)

2$

100$

(399)

85$

Yes 83$ 95$ 9h% 89$ 92$ No 11 2 5 10 6 No answer 6 3 1 1 2

100$ 100$ 100$ 100$ 100$

N «= (63) (305) (376) (3hh) (1088)

11$

2$ 11 oh

3

. 10C$

(180)

_J.%

10C$

(1280)

Brownie Handbooks

The proportion of Brownies who own handbooks i s much smaller than that of uniform owners. This difference l i e s i n the opposite direction of th a t found among Intermediates and Seniors, among whom most g i r l s (81*$ and 85$, respectively) own handbooks, but not as many (73$ and 77$) own uniforms.

Within the Brownie age range ownership of Brownie handbooks increases with age and years i n Scouting, as does readership.

Brownie Troops 75.

n

Table 81

Brownie Handbooks; by Age

Total 7 & younger Age 8 Age 9 10 & older Questionnaire

Has Handbook 30* ll3* 1*2* 51* M

Have you read some of i t ?

Yes No No answer

80* 20

9C* 6

87* 10 3

91** 6

90% 8 2

100* 100* 100* 100* 100*

N - (25) (151) (188) (201*) (568)

Has No Handbook 69* 51** 51** 1*5* 52*

Would you l i k e t o have one?

Yes No No answer

81$ 12 7

95* 1* l

95* 5

92* 5 3

93* 6 1

100* 100* 100* 100* 100*

N « (57) (189) (21*3) (181) (670)

No Answer Whether Has Handbook 3* _ 3 * - J *

100* 100* 100* 100* 100*

N « (83) (552) (Wi6) (399) (1280)

The analysis i n Table 82 uses our working index of economic status,— grouping g i r l s by t h i s c r i t e r i o n , rather than i n age groups. The very clear r e l a t i o n ship between ownership of both handbooks and uniforms and the economic situat i o n of the Brownies' families i s immediately evident. Nevertheless, i t i s important t o note t h a t , even though g i r l s of the highest economic status are more l i k e l y to own uniforms and handbooks than are g i r l s of the less p r i v i leged groups, the higher attractiveness of owning a uniform over owning a handbook remains undisturbed. That i s , the proportion o f uniforms owned by Brownies i n the lowest economic group i s ' s t i l l very much larger than the proportion of handbooks owned by Brownies i n the highest group.

1/ See footnote t o Table 82, page 76.

Brownie Troops 76

Table 82

Ownership of Brownie Uniforms and Handbooks; by Economic Index

Lo^Middle^ H i g h V

Do you have a Brownie uniform? Tes 76$ 87$ 92$ No 23 12 7 No answer 1 1 1

100$ 100$ 100$

Do you have a Brownie handbook? Tes 35$ 1*6$ 57$ you No 62 5i ho No answer 3 3 3

100$ 100$ 100$

N - (2hh) (953) (83)

1/ Index based upon numbers of bedrooms, cars and telephones "~ reported ( c f . , Table 21). Low = 2 bedrooms + 1 car + 1

telephone; High = 1* bedrooms + 2 cars + 2 telephones. Middle « a l l other combinations. I t should be r e i t e r a t e d that t h i s i s a rough index used i n the course of the analys i s to i s o l a t e the presence or absence of relationships between economic status and given variables. I t does not represent a c a r e f u l assessment of each g i r l ' s s i t u a t i o n , and should not be used to describe the t o t a l population of high, middle, and lower " c l a s s " members.

Do Brownies l i k e to have t h e i r pictures taken?

We were asked to include t h i s item i n the Brownie questionnaire. We can say: "Yes," 9h percent of them do. The interviewer who administered questionnaires to Brownie troops said:

"Would you l i k e to have your picture taken as a Brownie? Let's think a minute about t h i s one before you decide whether you want to mark i t Yes or No. I t means would you l i k e i t i f you or a l l the g i r l s i n your troop had your picture taken to get into the papers, l i k e Brownies from Troop learning how to use t h e i r pocket knives. Would you l i k e to pose for pictures l i k e that?"

Table 83

Would you l i k e to pose for pictures?

Yes 9h% No U No answer 2

Too$ N = (1280)

Brownie Troops 77?

Transferring to a New Brownie Troop

The question o f how d i f f i c u l t i t i s f o r a Brownie to enter a new troop as a transfer member a f t e r her family has moved had to be investigated on a comparatively small number of g i r l s . The items quoted i n Table 82* were asked i n the personal interview, and we present actual numbers as well as percentages of various small bases.

Table 81*

Transferring to New Brownie Troops

Number

Brownies who changed troops

How did you happen to change?

Troop disbanded Flew up Disliked leader Disliked program Disliked g i r l s Other Family moved

After you moved here, about how long did you (choose t o ) wait before you t r i e d to get i n t o a new troop?

Less than a week A week to one month More than one month, less than a year

A year or more Don't know and no answer

About how long did you have to wait to get i n t o t h i s new troop?

76

10

1 1

16

76

11* 7

12

10 1*3

Percent of troop changers

13$ 7 1 1

21 J I 100$

Percent of those who moved

33$ 16

28

23 100$

Percent of Total

19$ of (1*10)

2 1

h 10 19$ of

(1*10)

2 10$ of

(1*10)

Able to j o i n immediately 20 1*7$ 5 Able to j o i n w i t h i n a month 10 23 2 More than a month to s i x months 6 11* 1 Had to wait more than s i x months 3 7 1 Don't know and no answer 9 1

1*3 100$ 10$ (100)

Brownie Troops 78

This set of questions was also asked of Intermediates and Seniors, more of whom were found to have changed t h e i r troop since they f i r s t joined the organization (27% and k7%» respectively, compared t o Brownies' 19%). The older g i r l s , however, are found to have an easier time being admitted to troops a f t e r they have moved. Compared to the 1*7 percent of the Brownies whose families moved who were admitted immediately, we f i n d 55 percent and 67 percent of Intermediates and Seniors whose families have moved getting i n t o new troops immediately.

Ten Tear Old Brownies

We have already reported f i n d i n g h percent of the Brownies i n the large questionnaire sample who were aged ten or above as of December 31, 1957, s t i l l being i n Brownie troops during the f a l l semester of that year ( c f . , page 1 of Brownie Troops). These g i r l s would, on the whole, not be expected to f l y up to the Intermediate l e v e l u n t i l the spring of the following year.

I t should be remembered, at t h i s point, that while our "Brownie sample" included 29 percent of g i r l s whose troops had a c t u a l l y flown up between the drawing of our sample i n the spring of 1957 and the collection of our data i n the f a l l , i t did not include any o f the g i r l s i n the newest Brownie troops which had been formed during the summer or f a l l . The proportion of g i r l s as old as ten, calculated f o r a l l Brownie troops at any p a r t i c u l a r point i n time, therefore, i s not l i k e l y to exceed our' obtained h percent f i g u r e .

I n our personal interview schedule we included a specialized question for such g i r l s :

"Let's see, you're ten years o l d now. A l o t o f g i r l s that age have joined Intermediate G i r l Scout troops. How i s i t that you're s t i l l i n your troop?"

There were U.6 percent of such g i r l s i n our interview sample, which was also based upon g i r l s registered i n Brownie troops during the spring of 1957. Thirty-seven percent of thi s small over-aged group gave an answer ind i c a t i n g that a shortage of available leadership had made them unable to f i n d a place i n an Intermediate troop. About 15 percent stated t h a t they, personally, had chosen not to leave t h e i r troops. The r e s t seemed puzzled at the inquiry. However, to a fu r t h e r question: "This year would you rather be an I n t e r mediate or a Brownie?" a l l but these 15 percent answered "Intermediate."

INTRODUCTION TO BROWNIES AT CAMP

Day Camps and Established Camps

The Program Study's major focus of i n t e r e s t i n the summer camping phase of our work l a y i n camp program i n both Day camps and Established camps. Since G i r l Scout councils maintain many more Day than Established camps, i t was necessary to draw two separate samples, so that both types would be adequately represented.

Throughout t h i s report the reader w i l l f i n d results reported separately f o r Day campers and Established campers.

In t h i s report section about Brownies at camp, i t should i n i t i a l l y be stated that most Brownie campers are Day campers;'that few Brownies get t o Established camps. Our separately drawn samples make i t possible to make s t a t i s t i c a l generalizations about those Brownies that are found a t Established camps, but the reader whose i n t e r e s t l i e s more generally i n "Brownies at a l l camps" should be careful to keep i n mind the comparatively low weighting to be given to Established camp Brownies.

The two separate columns of results which w i l l be presented throughout the report w i l l always serve to illuminate the presence or absence of differences between Day and Established campers. Where such differences are large, there would be no reason to attempt to combine r e s u l t s . I n such cases, i n f a c t , we w i l l f i n d that we are dealing w i t h the proverbial apples and pears which cannot be combined.

Where, on the other hand, reported Day and Established camp results are equivalent enough to be combined meaningfully, the following rule of thumb may be kept i n mind: I f we want to speak of "Brownie Summer Camping" as a whole, the Day camp proportion may be used to stand f o r a l l Brownie camping as long as the difference between Day campers and Established campers is smaller than ten percentage points. This much heavier weighting of Day camp results i s the product of the facts t h a t : 1) There are few Brownies i n Established camps, many i n Day camps; 2) U.S. G i r l Scout councils maintain many more Day camps than Established camps. This m u l t i p l i c a t i o n of effects yields the r e s u l t t h a t more than 90 percent of a l l Brownies i n any G i r l Scout summer camp are to be found at Day, rather than at Established camps.

Brownie Campers 2

The Brownie Questionnaire

Just as i n the f a l l troop study, we prepared two d i f f e r e n t questionnaires f o r the summer phase of our work. The Brownie questionnaire was designed • to present a less d i f f i c u l t l e v e l of question comprehension and wr i t i n g of answers. The Intermediates and Seniors at camp were given more questions and asked t o w r i t e out more of t h e i r answers.

The camp sample, however, was not designed t o obtain any p a r t i c u l a r proportions of g i r l s at given program l e v e l s . Instead, we chose Day and Established camps randomly and then selected a number of units w i t h i n each chosen camp, again on a random basis. The interviewers on the scene were prepared to acbninister either the Brownie or the Intermediate-Senior questionnaire, depending on what kinds of g i r l s they found to be i n the majority i n the chosen camp u n i t s .

I n order t o expose each camp u n i t t o a single experience, i t was decided to administer only one form t o any one camp u n i t . Interviewers, therefore, used Brownie questionnaires i n a l l units i n which one-half or more of the members were Brownies.

I n the few cases i n which campers who were seven years old were encountered, these campers were either excused from the questionnaire task, or included at the time of administration and l a t e r eliminated from the sample. This was based on the advice of educators who f e l t that even the s i m p l i f i e d Brownie questionnaire presented too d i f f i c u l t a task f o r g i r l s of t h i s age.

Chapter 1: BROWNIE CAMPERS

THE GIRLS THEMSELVES

Camping Experience

More than half of the Brownies found a t our sample camps were experiencing G i r l Scout summer camping f o r the f i r s t time i n 1957- We asked the Brownies: a) "Have you been at t h i s camp before?

b) Have you been at a (another) Day camp? c) Have you been at an (another) Established camp?"

and about 56 percent of them answered "No" to a l l three questions.

The answers of those who had had some previous G i r l Scout camping experience are pooled i n d i f f e r e n t combinations below, to answer various questions, such as: Do most g i r l s get a l l of t h e i r G i r l Scout camping at the same camp?

(about 21* are at t h e i r second G i r l Scout camp) Do g i r l s who have been at an Established camp ever follow t h i s w ith Day camping?

(52 of Day camp Brownies have been at an Established camp) Are Brownies at Established camp i n e v i t a b l y there f o r the f i r s t time?

( a l l but 9* of them).

Table 1

Camping Experience Day Camps Established Camps

Some previous G i r l Scout summer camping \\U$> 38*

Have been to G.S, Day camp before t h i s summer 1*2* 22* Have been to G.S. Established camp before t h i s summer 5 21

Previously at t h i s camp 26 9 Previously at G.S. camp other than t h i s 20 30

Have been at other Established camp 52 13* Have been at other Day camp 18 22

Other non-Girl Scout summer camping 15* 19*

Have "gone camping" w i t h family h$% 29*

N - (277) (100)

Brownie Campers ii.

These g i r l s who were i n G i r l Scout summer camps l a s t summer report less non-G i r l Scout camping than does the Brownie Troop sample.

The Day campers report somewhat more fam i l y camping than the f a l l troop sample, while family camping reported by Established campers i s somewhat lower than the 37 percent found i n the troops ( c f . , Table 5, Brownie Troops).

Program Level and Age

We have already pointed out that the Summer Camping study was not s p e c i f i c a l l y geared to d i f f e r e n t program levels, but designed, rather, to represent Day and Established campers as they are a c t u a l l y found at each type of camp.

The numbers 277 and 100, f o r Day and Established camp Brownies, have already appeared i n Table 1, and w i l l re-occur frequently i n the following pages. They represent the actual number of g i r l s i n units of which one-half or more of the members were Brownies. Table 2 presents these i n combination with g i r l s i n those units of which one-half or more of the members were In t e r mediates and Seniors.

Table 2

Program Level of M a j o r i t y of Unit Members

Day W Established N

Brownie $9% 277 115 100 Intermediate or Settlor Ul 19h 86 612

100* 2*71 100* 712

The majority of Day campers have not yet started on t h e i r Intermediate Scouting; the vast majority of g i r l s at Established camp are Intermediates (very few of them are Seniors).

Some Brownies, however, do manage to go t o Established camps, and Tables 3 and k show that t h e i r chances of doings© r i s e as they get older.

Brownie Campers 5-

Table 3

Age and Grade of Brownie Campers

Day Established Age (as of 8/31/57)

Eight years 36* 13* Nine k$ 52 Ten and over 19 _3$

100* 100*

N « (277) (100)

I (as of 9/57)

Three 18* h% Four 52 36 Five 29 56 Six and over 1 _h

100* 100*

N = (277) (100)

Non-economic Family Variables

Family Size

l i k e the larger Brownie troop sample, the two summer groups show more than nine out of ten Brownies l i v i n g with both of t h e i r parents. And the percentages reporting no other adults i n the home are, again, comparable to the troop sample.

Table h

Adults i n the Home Troop

Day Camps Established Camps Quest.

Both parents at home 952 97* 93* Mother only 3 2 5 Father only 1 - l Neither parent at home * - # No answer 1 l

loo* 100* T5U* Other adults i n home 16* 10* 18* Parents only 82 86 80 No answer 2 h 2

loo* IOQ* 100*

N = (277) (100) (128.Q)

Brownie Campers 6.

Although, as we have seen i n Table 3, the Established campers are older than both the Day campers and the troop respondents ( c f T a b l e 1, Brownie Troops), we f i n d more of them reporting both parents i n the home. This difference l i e s i n the dire c t i o n opposite to what one might expect on the . basis of: the older a c h i l d , the higher the cumulative p r o b a b i l i t y of death or divorce having occurred.

This difference i s the f i r s t of a series which w i l l become even more evident i n the following section on family variables related to socio-economic status, i n d i c a t i n g that Established camp Brownies come from more "privileged" homes. The proportion of other adults i n the home i s another of these differences " i n favor of" the Established campers.

The number of siblings of Day and Established campers again shows a s i g n i f i cant ; difference. Seventy-nine percent o f the Established campers have two, one or no s i b l i n g s ; the corresponding proportion of Day campers i s only 65 percent, and t h a t f o r the troop sample 6? percent. This i s another "non-economic" factor which may, i n a c t u a l i t y , be a r e f l e c t i o n of the economic difference we s h a l l discover below.

Table 5

Number of Siblings

Day Established Troop Camps Camps Questionnaire

None 5$ 8* 10* One 29 36 27 Two 31 35 30 Three 19 11 17 Four 9 7 6 Five 1 1 3 Six or more k 1 3 No answer 2 1 __h

100* 100* 100*

N - (277) (100) (1280)

Sex of Siblings

I n Table 6 we again repeat troop r e s u l t s previously reported (Table 17a of Brownie Troops) f o r purposes of comparison w i t h the camp findings. The comparatively low proportion of Established campers who have siblings of both sexes i s , of course, a simple r e f l e c t i o n o f t h e i r lower t o t a l number of s i b l i n g s . Here we see again that there are fewer only children i n both types of camps than there are i n the Brownie sample as a whole. This would indicate that the self-selection of Brownies f o r camp attendance i s not related t o the absence of other children at home.

Brownie Campers

Table 6

7.

Sex of Siblings

Day Established Troop Camps Camps Interviews

Only c h i l d '52 82 112 Brothers only 25 33 20 Sisters only 2U 31 19 Both brothers and

sister s hh 27 bS Twin (not asked) 2 No answer 2 1 3

loo*:: 1002 ioo2

N = (277) (100)

Church Attendance

Camp Brownies, l i k e those i n the troops, were asked only: "Do you go to a church or synagogue (when you are at home)?" i-Thereas, i n previous comparisons among Day campers, Established campers and troop members, the Day campers usually appeared most l i k e the general troop sample and the Established campers appeared most d i f f e r e n t , we here have a case i n which the proportion obtained from troop members strikes an average between the two extremes of campers and neither deviate f a r from the troop results. While the difference between Day and Established campers who report church attendance (6 percentage points) i s s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t , the differences between ei t h e r of these and the troop sample do not meet the significance t e s t .

Table 7

Do you go t o a church or synagogue?

Day Established Troop Camps Camps Questionnaire

Tes 912 972 9h% No 8 3 5 No answer 1 - 1

1002 1002 1002

N « (277) (100) (1280)

Brownie Campers 8

Family Variables Related to Socio-economic Status

I t has already been indicated that t h i s section would demonstrate a generally higher socio-economic status f o r Established campers than was found for the t o t a l population i n Brownie troops. The Day campers, i t w i l l be seen, seem generally to be more representative of Brownies as a whole, and, a t times, to dip even s l i g h t l y below the general population.

Not a l l of the differences which w i l l be seen i n t h i s section reach the l e v e l of s t a t i s t i c a l significance that we have generally required ( i . e . , that differences of such magnitude could occur by chance only 5 times out of 100 repetitions of the question on samples of equal s i z e ) . But a trend among several differences, a l l of which point i n the same direction, can usually be taken to indicate small but r e l i a b l y established differentiations between two groups.

I n the summer sample we did not have the advantage of being able to ask a d i r e c t question about family income. This was done i n the personal i n t e r views with g i r l s i n t h e i r homes during the troop phase of our f i e l d work. We did, however, use the same items on number of bedrooms, cars and t e l e phones i n the home which were l a t e r used i n Brownie troops.

The tables on the number of bedrooms and telephones both point i n the direction indicated above: the lowest proportions of four or more bedrooms and two or more telephones are reported by Day campers, the highest by Established campers. The troop sample r e s u l t s on the "bedrooms item" f a l l approximately h a l f way between the two groups of campers, while the " t e l e phone" r e s u l t s of the troop sample f a l l closer to the Day camp side of the large difference between the two camp groups.

Table 8

Number of Bedrooms, Cars, Telephones

Bedrooms Cars Telephones

Day Estab. Troop : Day Estab. Troop : Day Estab. Troop

None 1% _ _ il2 •a h% k% 2% 52 One 2 - 2 56 61 63 77 k9 67 Two 31 20 27 3h 35 29 111 31 23 Three 52 53 k9 5 2 3 li Hi li Four or more 11* 27 21 l 1 - li

No answer - - 1 - - 1 •a- - 1 ioo2 ioo2 ioo2 1002 1002 1002 ioo2 100* ioo2

N - (277) (100) (1280) (277) (100) (1280) (277) (100) (1280)

Brownie Campers 9

The proportions of respondents who report two or more family cars are not, i n this Brownie sample, consistent with the other economic r e s u l t s . Among Intermediates and Seniors, however, who showed the same economic different i a t i o n s between Day and Established campers, t h i s item does demonstrate the o v e r - a l l higher income of Established campers 1 f a m i l i e s .

I t might be noted, also, that the proportion of four or more bedrooms among Brownie Established campers would be expected to be lower than that of Day campers on the basis of the s i z e o f t h e i r respective families ( c f . , Tables h and 5). We performed a separate analysis comparing Day and Established camp proportions of reports of four or more bedrooms, i n which the number of people i n the home (respondent, plus number of parents, plus other adults, plus number of s i b l i n g s ) was held constant. A larger proportion of Established camp respondents with four or more bedrooms was found at each family s i z e from four to seven.

The proportions of professional and managerial fathers, i n Table 9, again show the, by now, expected advantage of Established campers over Day campers. The r e s u l t s on working mothers and g i r l s who take paid lessons outside the home l i e i n the same direction, but do not reach s t a t i s t i c a l significance.

Table 9

Father's Occupation and Working Mothers

Day Established Camps Camps

Professionals, technical and kindred workers Self-employed businessmen; managers and o f f i c i a l s C l e r i c a l , s a l e s and others S k i l l e d workers Unskilled workers

16$ 7

32 3h 11

26$ 22 30 17

_ 5

100$ 100$

Total of codable answers: (188) (81)

Does your mother go to work too? Tes No No answer

27$ 72 1

23$ 76 1

100$ 100$

N - (277) (100)

Brownie Campers 10

Table 10

lb you take paid lessons outside of school time?

Day Camps

Established Camps

Troop Questionnaire

Yes No No answer

57$ Ul

65% 35

16% 52

3 2

100$ 100$ 100$

N *= (277) (100) (1280)

The r e s u l t s i n Table 10, while not strongly speaking to the point of the economic differences between Day and Established campers, instead demonstrate a very large difference of another s o r t : We have seen repeatedly that the economic conditions of Day campers are comparatively representative of those of Brownies as a whole. We have also reported, i n Chapter 1 of Brownie Troops, that the above item on "paid lessons" i s strongly r e l a t e d to the economic circumstances of the respondent's family. Here, however, we observe a very large difference between campers at both types of camp on the one hand and the t o t a l Brownie population on the other.

The interpretation of t h i s difference which s-eems most tenable i s that there may be a s i m i l a r i t y i n attitudes of parents who budget either extra money or time to provide t h e i r daughters with the specialized "luxury" experiences of

At t h i s point i t i s i n t e r e s t i n g to check our hypothesis of a greater l i k e l i hood of taking paid lessons among campers on the troop sample alone. We divided the f a l l Brownie sample into three groups according to t h e i r camping experience responses: Those who attended a G i r l Scout Day or Established camp during the summer of 1957; those who attended such a camp during a previous summer j and those who had never been to any G i r l Scout camp. These three groups are now compared for t h e i r "paid lessons" responses i n Table 11. The difference between those g i r l s who have never been to a G i r l Scout camp on the one hand, and ei t h e r those at camp during 1957 or the t o t a l of a l l the g i r l s who have ever been to camp on the other, i s s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t i n both cases. Our rough economic index (based on numbers of bedrooms, cars and telephones) however, shows no differences at a l l between these three camping experience groups.

V I n terms of age range the Day camper sample i s not equivalent to that of the Brownie troop sample; i t includes no seven year olds, and i t also has a smaller proportion of g i r l s aged ten. Reports of paid lessons are r e l a t e d to age at both of these extremes: such lessons drop noticeably a f t e r nine, but they are also at t h e i r highest at age seven. These two differences should tend to cancel each other.

ers with 1/ private^ lessons and summer camping

Brownie Campers

Table 11

Paid Lessons Reported by Three "Camping Experience Groups" of the Brownie Troop Sample

Were at camp Were a t camp Were NEVER at Total summer '57 previously G. S. camp Questionnaire

Takes lessons Takes no lessons No answer

N

ho 1

100*

(h09)

h6% 51 3

100*

(111*)

1*32 51; 3

10C*

(757)

52 3

100*

(1280)

Costs

Several of the findings reported i n t h i s l a s t s e c t ion have shown that the cost of Established camping seems to have some influence on the selection of the g i r l s who .get a chance to experience i t * Consideration of the Brownies 1

reading and writing a b i l i t i e s kept us from asking them about the source of t h e i r camping fees. Such a question was, however, asked of the older g i r l s at camp and i t i s probably safe to assume that the source of t h e i r funds p a r a l l e l s that of the Brownies.

About 75 percent of a l l Intermediates and Seniors reported at l e a s t part of "the money for camping" to have come from t h e i r families. Only h percent of Established campers reported holding camperships i n addition. (Cf., Chapter 6 of Intermediates at Camp,)

The larger Established camp representation of daughters of professionals and managers can s a f e l y be interpreted as another r e f l e c t i o n of the cost of such camping.

I t should be remembered, however, that although these differences are large enough to be " s i g n i f i c a n t " i n s t a t i s t i c a l terms, they are not so large as to imply a dichotomy. We have not found that "poor g i r l s go to Day camp; r i c h g i r l s go to Established camp." Some g i r l s from the very poorest families do get camperships; some g i r l s from the very highest status families are found a t Day camps. A trend of economic differences has been found, but i t would not seem strong enough to play any meaningful r o l e i n program planning for the two types of camps.


BROWNIES' CAMP ACTIVITIES

Favorite A c t i v i t i e s

The broadest question asked members of Brownie units at camp was a write-in item: "What do you l i k e BEST about camp t h i s summer?"

Every g i r l admitted into the summer sample had completed the second grade before she came to camp, and the majority had acquired a t h i r d grade education. This represents a s l i g h t l y higher average educational attainment than that of the Brownie troop sample. By adding the three figures i n the section of Table 12 headed "Number of Responses," we f i n d that campers gave an average of 1.81 responses i n Day camps and 2.05 responses i n Established camps, as compared to an average of 1.56 responses by troop members reported on a comparable question i n Table 25 of Brownie Troops. This very large d i f ference could be interpreted e i t h e r as a simple r e f l e c t i o n of wri t i n g a b i l i t y , or as a substantive difference i n the actual number of things that Brownies " l i k e very much" a t camp and i n t h e i r troops.

The g i r l s ' answers show as much "spread" as they did i n the corresponding item of the troop questionnaire. That i s to say, although i t can be sa i d that the majority of Established campers gave waterfront a c t i v i t i e s as t h e i r favorite aspect of camp and a majority of Day campers seemed to appreciate the opportunity to be doing things i n the out-of-doors, every other possible aspect of the camp program emerged as the favorite of some g i r l s .

We can now take a c l o s e r look at the percentages reported i n Table 12: Established campers gave more answers on t h i s , as on other write - i n items. These g i r l s , on the whole, are older than the Day campers and t h e i r greater willingness and a b i l i t y to write even very short essays i s to be expected. When refined analyses which correct f o r t h i s tendency were performed, the same differences i n types of a c t i v i t i e s enjoyed at Day and Established camps emerged. Results are, therefore, presented i n the simpler and more meaningful form, reporting the percentage of a l l g i r l s i n each type of camp who chose a p a r t i c u l a r aspect of experience as t h e i r f a v o r i t e .

Two response categories—waterfront and outdoor activities—-show very large differences between the two types of camp. Reasoning from findings reported l a t e r i n t h i s chapter (Table 13, Camp A c t i v i t i e s L i s t ) we can conclude that the f i r s t of these differences i s a r e f l e c t i o n of d i f f e r e n t i a l opportunities to p a r t i c i p a t e : swimming and boating can, perforce, be the favorites of only those g i r l s whose camp posesses a waterfront. I t i s , therefore, not mentioned

Brownie Campers 13

by very many Day campers. On the other hand, enjoyment of "outdoor a c t i v i t i e s " subsuming camp c r a f t s , f i r e - b u i l d i n g , outdoor cooking, overnights, hikes, and nature study, i s more l i k e l y to be a r e f l e c t i o n of differences i n the q u a l i t y rather than the a v a i l a b i l i t y of such program.

The percents reported here cover many di f f e r e n t highly s p e c i f i c responses under broad, but generally self-explanatory, headings. An inte r e s t i n g sidel i g h t f o r some readers might l i e i n the very few of a l l the predicted items for which our code had provided beforehand which were not given by a single g i r l i n the entire sample.

I t appears that i n none of the sampled camps i n which Brownies were found— and therefore i n very few of any Brownie camps across the c o u n t r y — i s either horseback r i d i n g or f i s h i n g part of the program. I t i s noteworthy that "painting" was not offered by a single Brownie as a camp favorite, and i t may also be s i g n i f i c a n t that of a l l the general and s p e c i f i c interpersonal r e l a tionships which offered s a t i s f a c t i o n to some g i r l s — t h o s e with age-mates and adults, new friends and old friends, directors and unit leaders—no Brownie made mention of ei t h e r C.I.T.'s or Program Aides i n t h i s context. (More than h a l f of our sampled camps did have such Seniors as part of t h e i r camp program.)

Table 12

"Things l i k e d Best" by Camp Brownies

Number of Responses Day Established

At l e a s t one 99$ 100$ Two 60 69 Three or more 22 36

Sum of Three Possible Mentions

Waterfront a c t i v i t i e s lii$ 68$ Interpersonal: group l i v i n g , enjoyable r e l a t i o n

ships 33 21 Sports and games 9 26 Arts and c r a f t s 22 15 Outdoor a c t i v i t i e s : camp c r a f t s , nature 55 33 Camp routines: food, planning, free time, r e s t 8 10 Ceremonies: campfires, f l a g - r a i s i n g , sings 6 6 General "camping" responses and "everything"; fun 17 22 Other, not codable above 2 3

#* -ft*

N «= (277) (100)

Brownie Campers Hi.

The Camp A c t i v i t i e s L i s t

The Brownie camp questionnaire presented a l i s t o f eighteen a c t i v i t i e s , and asked two questions much a k i n t o those asked w i t h reference t o troop a c t i v i t i e s : 1) " I s t h i s something you have done HERE a t camp THIS SUMMER?" and 2) " I s t h i s something you LIKE DOING a t camp, o r , i f you have not done i t , i s i t something you WOULD LIKE TO DO?"

Table 13 can be read i n many d i f f e r e n t ways, and we s h a l l here give some examples o f each of the comparisons t h a t can be made i n using i t .

D e s c r i p t i o n o f Program

The f i r s t set of columns gives the percent o f a l l Brownie respondents who checked each o f the a c t i v i t i e s as one i n x-rhich they had p a r t i c i p a t e d during t h e i r 1957 summer camping. Here we can f i n d what a l l , many, or few g i r l s get a chance t o do a t G i r l Scout camps, and we can compare each a c t i v i t y i n terms o f the magnitude o f i t s r o l e i n the program i n each type of camp.

Where Day and Established camp percentages d i f f e r by less than t e n percentage p o i n t s we s h a l l i n t e r p r e t them as showing no d i f f e r e n c e s . S i g n i f i c a n t d i f ferences should be a t l e a s t as great as f i f t e e n percentage p o i n t s .

Thus we can say t h a t a t l e a s t one-half ( o r more) o f a l l Brownie campers p a r t i c i p a t e i n each o f the f o l l o w i n g :

We f u r t h e r f i n d some v e r y s t r i k i n g , though not unexpected, d i f f e r e n c e s between Day and Established camp programs:

No Established camper escapes kapers; b u t some Day campers do.

Almost h a l f o f the Day camp Brownies do some dancing; l i t t l e room f o r dance seems to be l e f t i n Established camp program.

Reading alone has a d e f i n i t e place at Established camps; i t does not occur o f t e n a t Day camps.

The Established camper who does no swiimning probably i s under medical p r o h i b i t i o n ; the Day camper who gets a chance t o swim i s a t y p i c a l and very l u c k y indeed.

f i r e - b u i l d i n g outdoor cooking kapers planning s i n g i n g hearing s t o r i e s

a r t s and c r a f t s h i k i n g c o l l e c t i n g t h i n g s games f l a g o r other ceremonies camp f i r e s

Brownie Campers

More than a t h i r d of Established camps have some boating f a c i l i t i e s and the Brownies get to make use of them as much as the older g i r l s do ( c f . , A c t i v i t i e s l i s t i n section on Intermediates at Camp); but i t i s the very rare Day camper a t any program l e v e l who gets any boating experience.

Camp-fires are a universal part of Established camp program; and even though Day campers usually go home before sunset, camp s t a f f s , nevertheless, manage to give t h i s experience to about h a l f of a l l Day camp Brownies•

Enjoyment

I n the second p a i r of columns of Table 13 we again f i n d the proportion of those g i r l s who report having taken part i n each a c t i v i t y who also say that they have enjoyed doing so* I t w i l l be seen at a glance that with only the single exception of kapers t h i s proportion of g i r l s who l i k e what they are doing never f a l l s below 80 percent. The g i r l s seem to be consistently enjoying themselves* Even with clean-up jobs, more than half the Brownie campers say they are having fun.

The l e v e l of enjoyment of each of the a c t i v i t i e s a t Day and Established camps never varies enough to warrant any interpretation from t h i s table alone of the d i f f e r e n t i a l success of programs for g i r l s at the two types of camp. I t may be noted, however, that the two largest differences (cooking outdoors and hiking) echo a difference already noted on our previous analysis of "things l i k e d best at camp." The A c t i v i t i e s L i s t data come from a ch e c k - l i s t question. Table 12 i s based on free write-in responses. Both together now give an even more convincing picture: The s p e c i a l opportunity, the greatest fun a t Established camps, l i e s a t the waterfront; lacking t h i s , the Day campers focus more of thei r enthusiasm on hikes and outdoor food preparation i n conjunction with or i n anticipation of these hikes*

Anticipated Enjoyment

The t h i r d p a i r of columns of Table 13 l i s t s the proportion of those g i r l s who have not participated i n an a c t i v i t y who say they would enjoy i t i f given a chance. This represents an anticipation of having fun; a willingness to t r y new things. Again, the ov e r - a l l picture i s positive: about ha l f or more of the Brownies a t camp prick up t h e i r ears at the mention of yet another a c t i v i t y . Comparison with older g i r l s ' d a t a (Chapter 2 - Intermediates a t Camp) shows that the l e v e l of th i s anticipated enjoyment i s higher among Brownies than among the Intermediates who are more l i k e l y to maintain a "show me" attitude. This i s a difference also observed i n the troop data. Brownies bubble with enthusiasm. They l i k e and appreciate whatever avenues are opened to them; they bring to a l l new experience the t r u s t that " t h i s i s going to be fun."

Brownie Campers 16.

Table 13

Brownie Camp A c t i v i t i e s L i s t Anticipated

Partic i p a t i o n Enjoyment Enjoyment % who have % of * o f

participated i n participators non-participators each a c t i v i t y who enjoyed who think they'd

A c t i v i t y at camp the a c t i v i t y l i k e the a c t i v i t y

Day Estab. Day Estab. Day Estab.

Build a f i r e 55 59 92 92 83 76 Cook outdoors 65 59 97 86 89 88 Clean up tent or cabin (kapers) 57 100 72 60 56 —

Plan what to do a t camp 79 85 87 89 73 60

Learn about g i r l s different from you (inte r n a t i o n a l f r i e n d ship) 39 1*6 87 91 72 SU

Sing 96 100 92 90 67 — Dance U6 12 95 100' 80 77 L i s t e n to s t o r i e s 56 83 9h ' 96 75 UT Arts and c r a f t s 6U 59 99 95 86 75 Study trees, plants., bugs or animals 1*5 61* 87 88 71 $6 Go on a hike 75 95 93 80 87 60 Read by yourself 3U 75 88 92 62 6U Collect rocks, leaves, things 50 62 88 87 81

Swim 20 99 9 6 0/ 88 93 ( loop Use boat or canoe lili (100)£/ 91 81 79 Play games 81* 89 9h 89 78 6U Flag r a i s i n g and

9h $3 other ceremonies 93 83 9h 81 90 $3 Have campfires 52 96 9h 90 90 50

N = (2.00) y 1/ y 1/

1/ The number bases of these percentages vary, and may, where desired, be ~ reconstructed from the percentages i n the f i r s t p a i r of columns.

Example: Day camp non-participators i n f i r e - b u i l d i n g = 277 minus ,55 (277).

2/ These represent 100 percent of a single g i r l .

Brownie Campers 17

The s e v e r a l large differences between Established and Day camp proportions of anticipated enjoyment a l l f a l l i n the same d i r e c t i o n — t h e proportions are higher among Day campers. They run the gamut of a c t i v i t i e s from international friendship to ceremonies. Some s i g n i f i c a n t conclusions with regard to probable program effectiveness may be drawn from these data. I t should be kept i n mind that one interpretation i s that these differences are merely another r e f l e c t i o n of age differences: Day campers are younger than Brownies at Established camps; the younger the g i r l , the higher her enthusiastic anticipation.

The E f f e c t of P a r t i c i p a t i o n

Another approach to the A c t i v i t i e s L i s t i s the comparison of the enjoyment indices of participators and non-participators.

This manner of reading a table may be new to some readers. We s h a l l therefore give a step by step beginning of t h i s process and then draw the most obvious, most general conclusions from the e n t i r e table. I t may be fun to look at paired values more c a r e f u l l y on one's own, drawing s p e c i f i c conclusions about each of the l i s t e d a c t i v i t i e s .

I n order to gauge the e f f e c t of p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n an a c t i v i t y , we must consider separately g i r l s at Established and g i r l s at Day camps. Looking f i r s t , then, at the second and fourth columns of the table, we can compare the proportion of those Established campers who have b u i l t a f i r e and enjoyed i t (92%) with those who have not done so but think they would enjoy i t (76%). This i s a difference of sixteen percentage points, somewhere near the borderline of " s t a t i s t i c a l significance" i n favor of the p a r t i c i p a t o r s . On outdoor cookery we find a difference of two percentage points, so small that the direction of the difference ca r r i e s no meaning whatsoever. The t h i r d entry reveals a blank for non-participators: This becomes clea r by a look at the f i r s t column—100 percent of Established campers have done kapers. There can be, therefore, no non-participators upon whom to base a percentage.!/ j ^ t the next entry on planning s t r i k e s r e a l pay-dirt! Eighty-nine percent versus 60 percent i n favor of the p a r t i c i p a t o r s : a difference of twenty-nine percentage points, consistent with the direction of the smaller difference found on building a f i r e . And the next entry, on international friendship, yields thirty-seven points, again i n the same direction. And so on...

The same comparison process can then be repeated for Day campers.

The conclusion i s clear and consistent a l l the way. Many Brownies think they w i l l have fun when they f i r s t consider trying a new camp a c t i v i t y . But many more of them know they do have fun, once they have r e a l l y had a chance at i t .

l/The two one-hundrsd percent entries i n parentheses (100) represent one ~" hundred percent of one g i r l — o n e Established camper who has not p a r t i c i

pated i n swimming; one Day camper who says she has done boating. The former may very w e l l be a g i r l who was not allowed to swim; the l a t t e r i s much more l i k e l y to represent a mistake on the part of the Brownie who checked the item. I t i s u n l i k e l y that other g i r l s i n her unit would not have gotten the same chance. These two entries are based on such a small base that, s t a t i s t i c a l l y , they are u s e l e s s .

Brownie Campers 18.

I t may further be noted, a t t h i s point, that the same so r t of r i s e i n the enjoyment index i s found among older g i r l s . Intermediates and Seniors y i e l d lower l e v e l s of anticipated enjoyment (show mel) and somewhat lower lev e l s of enjoyment a f t e r p a r t i c i p a t i o n (they remain, ever, more blase), but the difference between enjoyment before and a f t e r p a r t i c i p a t i o n i s equally as great. The success of "showing them" i s equal for a l l age l e v e l s . The same increase from "anticipated" to "participation enjoyment" was also observed i n the Troop A c t i v i t i e s L i s t a t a l l program l e v e l s .

D i s l i k e d Aspects of Camp

Immediately following the essay question on what g i r l s l i k e d best at camp we asked them, again i n a free response form, to write down "what you do NOT l i k e about camp th i s summer."

The f i r s t conclusion to be drawn from Table l i * i s that more than h a l f of the Brownies a t Established camps and more generally almost three-quarters of a l l Brownie campers found t h i s a contradiction i n terms. Even though these g i r l s did not v i s i b l y enjoy writing free answer responses only a very small proportion l e f t the question e n t i r e l y blank. Sixty-eight percent of the Day campers and 1*6 percent of the Established campers expressed t h e i r indignation by recording that there was nothing at camp they didn't l i k e , that they loved every minute, e t c .

Of the objections r a i s e d by the minority, who found substantive areas of complaint, problems of the camp location, s i t e and condition stand out among Day campers and kapers, rest-period and other imperatives of the day's schedule represent the greatest Established camp d i s l i k e s .

Table lit

Things D i s l i k e d a t Camp

Day Established

Local camp problems (mosquitoes, poison ivy, etc.) 11*6 % Camp routines (naps, kapers, e t c . ) 2 16 Interpersonal ( g i r l s , counselors, e t c . ) 2 5 Camp program ( s p e c i f i c a c t i v i t i e s ) £ 6 Food # 8 F a c i l i t i e s (showers, t o i l e t s , no irons, etc.) 2 5 Other 2 5

Nothing - I l i k e everything 68 1*6 No answer 1* 5

100$ 100$

N = (277) (100)

Brownie Campers 19

Mention of s p e c i f i c program a c t i v i t i e s which Brownies a c t i v e l y d i s l i k e was so negligible that no further analysis of these could be performed. I t may be noted, however, that the most frequent negative response among Established campers—the routine and kapers area—checks with the A c t i v i t y L i s t item which showed the lowest proportion of enjoyment among participators.

The Feeling of Hurry

One of the concerns about camp programming which became apparent i n discussions with members of the National s t a f f was the question of the effect of the n e c e s s i t i e s of scheduling the day for the optimum use of f a c i l i t i e s by a l l . Vhere a l l or many of the g i r l s eat i n a cen t r a l dining h a l l , i t i s obvious that they must a l l appear for meals a t approximately the same time. Where waterfront f a c i l i t i e s and s t a f f s are limited, of course unit X must appear on schedule, not wasting the time of the waterfront counselor. At Lay camps the absolute necessity for t i g h t scheduling i s smaller. And yet, a unit leader who has resolved to get costumes for a pageant f i t t e d today, might not f i n d h e r s e l f too patient with the g i r l who wants another half hour for her lashing project because i t i s not yet "Just right."

How often does i t happen, we wanted to know, that campers lose the. .satisfaction of f u l l y savoring what they are doing because an authority decrees that i t i s time to do something els e ?

We asked the g i r l s : "Do you ever have to stop doing one thing and s t a r t doing something else at camp before you r e a l l y f e e l l i k e stopping?"

I t becomes evident from Table 1$ that t h i s f e e l i n g of being hurried from one a c t i v i t y to another i s more prevalent i n Established than i n Day camps. One out of three Day campers maintained that t h i s was something that had . never happened to her; but only one out of ten Established campers endorsed t h i s same a l t e r n a t i v e .

Table 15

Do you ever have to stop...before you r e a l l y f e e l l i k e stopping?

Day Established

Yes, often 12$ 21$ Yes, sometimes 29 US Once or twice 26 23 No, never 33 11

100$ 100$

N - (277) (100)

-a

Brownie Campers 20.

The proportions of those who s a i d that being hurried had happened "once or twice" are comparable, and probably represent a state of a f f a i r s about which no adult concerned with camp program would worry too much. But th i s leaves i l l percent of Day campers and 66 percent of Established campers who experience the sensation of having to break o f f i n the middle of a s a t i s f y i n g a c t i v i t y . I t must be l e f t to those who know most about the ac t u a l hour-by-hour happenings at G i r l Scout camps to decide how much of t h i s "lack of closure" i s attached to pleasant but not n e c e s s a r i l y constructive ways of passing time, and how much of i t happens to g i r l s involved i n a c t i v i t i e s which would be valuable i f brought to a s a t i s f a c t o r y conclusion.

Learning a t Camp

Some of the implications of the entries i n Table 16 w i l l be discussed more f u l l y i n Chapter k, where s p e c i f i c attention i s given to the impact of camping upon the g i r l s ' value structure.

Table 16

Learning a t Camp

Day Established

Are you learning anything by being a camper? YES: °8$ 99%

'Do you think you are learning anything about:

Things i n nature $1% 71$ F i r e s and cooking 82 70 L i f e i n other countries and regions 12 31 To do my share of work 81 83 To be a good f r i e n d _86 _82

I f there i s anything e l s e you are learning, write what i t i s . . . . (Sum of two responses)

Swimming, diving, boating, rowing 1 38 Hiking and other sports 1 8 Crafts, making, building things 6 6 New songs, new games ii 3 Outdoor l i f e ; ropes, knots, jack-knife 6 3 Brownie Promise; how to share, be f a i r ,

help each other, sportsmanship, e t c . 6 2 Other 7 7

No "Otfcter learning" responses given 70 39

N « (277) (100)

Brownie Campers 21.

Almost every Brownie f e l t that she was learning something a t camp.

Of the fi v e c h e c k - l i s t items about which the Brownies were asked, the two areas of interpersonal learning (to do my share of work and to be a good friend) showed nc differences between the two types of camp. But s i g n i f i c a n t differences were obtained on the other three items. The continuing exposure to nature makes a strong impression on Established campers, while the chance to prepare meals with primitive equipment takes more c f the center of attention for Day campers.

The s t r i k i n g item on t h i s l i s t i s that which asked whether Brownies were "learning anything about l i f e i n other countries and regions." More Established than Day campers f e l t that t h i s was an area i n which they were learning something a t camp, but the absolute proportion i n both types of camp i s very low compared to the proportions obtained by the other items i n t h i s l i s t . I t was t h i s same area of international friendship which evidenced the lowest p a r t i c i p a t i o n proportions i n both Day and Established camps on the Brownie Camp A c t i v i t i e s l i s t . I t w i l l also be found to be low on camp par t i c i p a t i o n by Intermediates and Seniors i n a subsequent section of t h i s report. Let us look a t the number of Brownies involved i n these items:

Table 17

Number of Brownies Checking Given Items on International Friendship

Day Established

Total camp sample 277 100 Have "learned about g i r l s d i f f e r e n t from me" 108 h6 Have enjoyed i t 9U hZ Are learning something about " l i f e i n other

countries and regions" 23 31

I t becomes apparent that discussion and effec t i v e transmission of "inte r national friendship" comes nowhere near being an i n t e g r a l part of program i n the majority of G i r l Scout summer camps. A sizeable minority of Brownies do recognize i t as one of the many things they "have done" a t camp. But not even a l l of the g i r l s who say they have enjoyed t h i s , among other things they do a t camp, l a t e r f e e l that " l i f e i n other countries and regions" i s something about which they are learning when i t appears i n the context of outdoor and interpersonal s k i l l s .

The free w r i t e - i n responses i n Table 16 again lend support to two of the conclusions already drawn: 1) The waterfront i s the c e n t r a l a t t r a c t i o n for Established campers, and 2) the younger Brownies, most of whom are a t Day camps, are not l i k e l y to y i e l d much information about anything when they must l i s t e n to a question, think about i t , and then s p e l l out t h e i r answers. I t was anticipation of t h i s l a t t e r e f f e c t , of course, which l e d us to gather most of the Brownie information i n t h i s entire study either i n the printed c h e c k - l i s t or o r a l interview form.

Brownie Campers 22.

Camp Unit Observations of A c t i v i t i e s

The interviewers who t r a v e l l e d to G i r l Scout Day and Established camps to administer questionnaires to g i r l s and personal interviews to unit leaders and camp directors, were also asked to schedule some s p e c i a l time during which to observe the sampled units i n a t l e a s t two different a c t i v i t i e s . They were s p e c i f i c a l l y instructed to watch the g i r l s i n a c t i v i t i e s i n which they were engaging as a unit and under the guidance of t h e i r own unit leaders.

Since our sample was designed mainly around the c o l l e c t i o n of g i r l .questionnaires, the number of units observed do not warrant s t a t i s t i c a l analysis of these unit observations. Rather, we s h a l l report here, and i n other sections of the report, generalized conclusions which the evidence seems to warrant. Three of the items i n our Camp Observation Schedule f a l l into the area of camp a c t i v i t i e s , and w i l l be reported here.

Level of A c t i v i t y

This item follows d i r e c t l y upon the most recently reported data: How challenging do the a c t i v i t i e s i n which the g i r l s are engaging seem to them? The Schedule c a l l e d f or check-marks i f any of the following statements were true about the unit's a c t i v i t i e s :

G i r l s being t o l d how to do something new to them G i r l s trying out things they were not f a m i l i a r with Some g i r l s or the leaders helping other g i r l s to do things Some g i r l s asking questions about how they could do better

what they were doing.

For most of the units i n the sample, our interviewers checked about two of these items. On the average, Brownies i n Established camps seemed to be meeting a c t i v i t i e s s l i g h t l y more challenging to them than those offered to the Day campers.

Zest and Enthusiasm

And how enthusiastic were the g i r l s about t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s ? Our interviewers' Observation Schedule l i s t e d s i x items:

G i r l s are excited G i r l s are engrossed G i r l s express enthusiasm G i r l s are on time and ready G i r l s are highly cooperative G i r l s seem to enjoy what they are doing.

I n about 80 percent of the units i n both Day and Established camps, observers found one or more of the f i r s t three statements l i s t e d to be descriptive. I n about 5 percent of the units, g i r l s did not evidence enough enjoyment of t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s to warrant endorsement of a s i n g l e one of these s i x s t a t e ments, and i n the remaining 2$ percent one or more of the l a t t e r three s t a t e ments were checked by the observers. This general l e v e l of zest and enthusiasm for the a c t i v i t i e s i n which campers were engaging showed no differences between units of Day camps and Established camp u n i t s .


THE ORGANIZATION AND AU4INISTRATION OF BROWNIE CAMP UNITS

Size of Units

Brownie units i n Bay camps are smaller than those i n Established camps. Almost three-quarters of the Day camp Brownies i n our sample report that t h e i r units have a maximum of eighteen g i r l s , while more than half of the Established camp Brownies say that there are twenty-five or more g i r l s i n t h e i r u n i t s .

Table 18

Size of Brownie Units

Day Established

18$ 6% 2k 16 31 20 2 U 21

100% 100$

N = (277) (100)

(Only one Day camp Brownie leader reported more than twenty g i r l s i n her unit, indicating that the 7 percent of Day camp Brownies at the bottom of the table are c o r r e c t l y reporting t h e i r unit as comparatively large, but do not agree on the exact number of g i r l s i n i t . )

Established camp u n i t leaders a l l have at l e a s t one a s s i s t a n t . We do not have exact information on the extent to which a s s i s t a n t leaders are available at Day camps, but the great majority of our Day camp directors reported that t h e i r camps could have accommodated more g i r l s i f more volunteer leaders had been av a i l a b l e . I t i s probable that many Day camps had only one leader f o r each unit, and were forced, therefore, to l i m i t unit s i z e .

We also asked the Brownies: "How do you l i k e being together with this many g i r l s ? " and gave them a chance to indicate whether they would l i k e fewer or more g i r l s i n t h e i r u n i t s .

I i i or fewer 15 - 16 17 - 18 19 - 20 21 - 22 23 - 2ii 25 or more

Brownie Campers 2k

The majority of g i r l s i n both types of camps and a t a l l unit s i z e s respond favorably to j u s t the number bf g i r l s with which they have been grouped. But almost a l l those Brownies who do not wholly approve the status quo indicate that i t i s more, rather than fewer,, unit mates that they wish f o r . I t would seem that Brownies l i k e to be with Brownies, and the more, the merrier.

Table 19

Attitude toward Unit S i z e ; by Actual Unit s i z e

Unit S i z e I wish there were MORE

This number i s ABOUT RIGHT

There are TOO MANY

Number Base (equals 1 0 $ )

l i * or fewer 832 1 7 2 ^ (6) ESTAB 1 5 - 1 6 - 100 _ (16) LISHED 17 - 22 — — (-) CAMPS 23 - 2li 10 90 - (21)

25 or more k 91 5 (57)

Hj or fewer 25 75 (5D 15 - 16 18 82 _ (66)

DAT 17 - 18 3k 6k 2 (86) CAMPS 19 - 20 20 76 1* (55)

21 or more h2 53 5 (19)

if This percentage represents only g i r l i n a small Negro unit i n "~ a southern camp- Because of the small base the figure i s un

r e l i a b l e ,

Unit Age Range

Brownies were asked two questions about the age range of g i r l s i n t h e i r u n i t s . F i r s t , "How old are most of the g i r l s in'your unit?" and second, "How would you l i k e i t best?" On both questions, four alternatives were provided, covering a l l the p o s s i b i l i t i e s f or the respondent's place along the age sc a l e : There might be l i t t l e range, e i t h e r actual or desired (most of the g i r l s are about my age); the majority of her unit-mates might be older or younger than she, or she might report or desire a wider age range, with herself i n the middle.

Table 20 shows no difference at a l l , e i t h e r between Day and Established camps or between the actual and desired age ranges reported by g i r l s at both types of camps. A l i t t l e more than 60 percent of Brownies f i n d themselves grouped with g i r l s about t h e i r own age; j u s t about as many Brownies say that i s how they l i k e i t . The majority of the remainder f i n d themselves i n the middle of a wider age range, and again, j u s t about as many say that t h i s i s what they would prefer.

Brownie Campers 25

Table 20

Unit Age Range

How old are most How would you of the g i r l s ? l i k e i t best?

Day Estab. Day ' Estab.

About my age 62% 51% 62% 61% Others mostly older 6 5 3 2 Others mostly younger h 6 1 1 Some older, some younger 28 32 Jk 30

100$ 100* 10C# 100*

N * (277) (100) (277) (100)

But we would be oversimplifying the picture i f we concluded that a l l the Brownies approve of t h e i r u n i t s ' age range. The one Brownie out of three who says she would " l i k e i t best" with "some g i r l s older and some younger than I " i s not n e c e s s a r i l y the same one out of three who has been placed i n such a u n i t .

I n Table 21 (although t o t a l cases are few), we report an analysis i n which answers to both questions by each i n d i v i d u a l Brownie were considered at the same time. Here we f i n d r e s u l t s very s i m i l a r to those obtained i n Brownie troops. About h a l f or more of the g i r l s a t both types of camps, and from units of a l l the various possible age groupings, "would l i k e i t best" with " g i r l s about my age." And, again, most of the r e s t vote for a mixed unit with themselves i n the middle of the age s c a l e . But we also a r r i v e at a further i n t e r e s t i n g ingiight: Where g i r l s have had experience only with a r e s t r i c t e d age range, or have found themselves to be among the youngest i n a unit, t h e i r preference f o r " g i r l s my age" i s very strong. But those g i r l s who have had a chance to be with g i r l s of more differing ages and those who have been the oldest of t h e i r group give larger proportions of t h e i r votes to a mixed grouping.

Those i n mixed age groups have opportunities, both to lead and to follow. Those who are among the oldest of t h e i r groups inevitably l e a r n to take some r e s p o n s i b i l i t y for t h e i r younger unit-mates. And, given these opport u n i t i e s f o r growth, the g i r l s grow to l i k e i t . There would seem to be some worthwhile support here for age groupings of more than one year's range. But those few g i r l s who have found themselves a t the bottom of an age range don't l i k e i t there!

I t would therefore seem, even eu.sregarding the greater ease i n programming that the single-age grouping must continue to represent the most effective way to please most of the g i r l s .

Brownie Campers 26,

Table 21

Age Range They "Would Like Best" as Given by Brownies i n Units of Di f f e r i n g Age Ranges

Reported age of others i n unit

About my age ESTAB- Mostly older LISHED Mostly younger CAMPS Some older, some

younger

About my age DAY Mostly older CAMPS Mostly younger

Some older, some younger

About my age

Older than I

Younger than I

Some older some younger

Number base (equals 100$)

76 2 _ 22 80 — — 20 50 - 17 33

53 3 - liii

70 ii 1 2li 75 6 6 13 58 - - ii2

ho 1 59

(57) (5) (6)

(32)

(16) (12) (77)

Girls< Attitudes toward Each Other and the Unit

At camp, even more than i n t h e i r troops, Brownies' playing together takes on the character of l i v i n g together- They spend many hours i n each others' company, even at the Day camps to which most of them go. Here, at camp, new friendship can be born; here, too, enmities must become more grating. I t i s harder, i n the context of a camp unit, to ignore a g i r l you do not l i k e than i t might be i n the troop.

But to what extent do the g i r l s get a chance to meet new g i r l s ? I f Brownie troops often represent merely another chance f o r g i r l s who are already w e l l acquainted through the achool or the neighborhood to get together ( c f . , Table 5l - Brownie Troops), to what extent i s t h i s also true of the G i r l Scout camp?

Ke asked Brownies a s e r i e s of questions about the g i r l s they already knew, those who were s p e c i a l friends, the number of new friends they had made at camp and the number of g i r l s they a c t i v e l y d i s l i k e d . The exact wording i s given i n Table 22.

I n t h i s table i t becomes apparent that Brownies make both more new friends and more enemies at Established camps.

Brownie Campers 27.

Table 22

Brownies 1 Reports of Their Unit Friendships

How many of the g i r l s i n your unit did you know before t h i s summer?

One Three A l l None or two or more of unit

% of (2?7) Day campers 5 22 73 10 % of (100) Established campers 21 51 28

How many of the g i r l s that you already knew before the summer were s p e c i a l friends of yours?

% of (277) Day campers 12 hi h0 1 % of (100) Established campers 27 50 23

How many NEW friends have you made i n your unit since camp began?

% of (277) Day campers 11 6 79 h % of (100) Established campers - 3 92 5

Are there any g i r l s that you j u s t don't l i k e at a l l ?

% of (277) Day campers Ih 18 8 % of (100) Established campers 53 22 25

The larger numbers of new friendships a t Established camps can be completely accounted f o r by the greater chance f o r establishing them. Day campers come to camp already knowing a good many of the g i r l s i n t h e i r u n i t s . They already have more close friends i n the unit before camp s t a r t s . lentp&Eeerit -of -car Day'camper.s aneir-fflyery g i r l i n t h e i r units I We checked on the individual Day campers who reported making no new friends i n t h e i r units and found that a l l but one of these were g i r l s who had too many friends to s t a r t with. (This one exception was a twelve year o l d who had been placed i n a very small unit of much younger g i r l s . )

Even though we have accounted for the higher rate of establishing new friendships a t Established camps, the f a c t nevertheless remains that Established camp Brownies do spend a good deal of t h e i r attention and energy i n t h i s endeavor. Brownies, as w e l l as Intermediates and Seniors, find more g i r l s to d i s l i k e i n the Established camp si t u a t i o n than they do at Day camps. The interpersonal plane i s a v a s t l y more s i g n i f i c a n t one here than a t Day camps.

Brownie Campers 28.

And how w e l l do Brownies l i k e the units i n which they have been placed?

Table 23

Attitude toward Own Unit

Day Estab.

" I l i k e my unit" 96% 92%

" I s there another unit you would rather be i n ? "

Answer: NO 81$ 16%

N = (277) (100)

The question: " I s there another unit you would rather be i n ? " was also asked of the Intermediates and Seniors i n camp, and comparison with t h e i r responses (Chapter 3 of Intermediates a t Camp) shows that even fewer of these older g i r l s see another u n i t i n camp as more at t r a c t i v e to them than t h e i r own. ("No" responses read 91% and 88$ i n Day and Established camps, r e s p e c t i v e l y — s i g n i f i c a n t l y larger than the Brownies 1 proportions given i n Table 23.) But our interviewers 1 observations of camp units a t t r i b u t e more "unit pride" and more c r e a t i v i t y and imagination invested i n the g i r l s " i d e n t i f i c a t i o n with t h e i r units among Brownies than among the older g i r l s . I t i s highly probable, therefore, that some Brownies at camp look up to Intermediate and Senior units, and, i f given a phantasy choice, would prefer to be among the older g i r l s ; the Intermediates, of course, would disdain a comparable demotion to any of the "other units." But, again, the Brownies who wholeheartedly enjoy t h e i r Brownie status can r a i s e more enthusiasm for i t than even the very w e l l s a t i s f i e d , but nevertheless more "sophisticated," Intermediates.

Maturity and Responsibility

Our observers found that i n more than h a l f of the units i n both types of camp g i r l s either "took leadership function i n guiding actions of other g i r l s " or "car r i e d on i n an organized fashion when the leader was not around." In both Established and Day camps these highest observers* ratings i n the area of "shared r e s p o n s i b i l i t y " were given more often to Brownie units than to units of the older g i r l s .

Interviews with unit leaders did not indicate more r e s p o n s i b i l i t y given to Brownies than to older g i r l s , but they did not, on the other hand, show fewer of the younger g i r l s ' leaders placing r e s p o n s i b i l i t y and tr u s t in t h e i r g i r l s .

This would seem to indicate that i n both Day and Established camps g i r l s are treated as and respond as "campers" more frequently than they are considered or react as members of s p e c i f i c program l e v e l s who should be treated diff e r e n t l y i n t h i s area.

Chapter k* BROWNIE CAMPERS

THE IMPACT OF SCOUTING

The Brownie Promise

The responses given by Brownies a t camp to questions about t h e i r knowledge of the Brownie Scout Promise and i t s meaning to them were very s i m i l a r to those obtained from the larger group of Brownies i n the troop study. More than nine out of ten Brownies i n a l l groups f e l t that they had been affected by t h e i r membership, and almost every g i r l stated that she t r i e d to l i v e up to the Promise,

The s i n g l e s i g n i f i c a n t difference emerging between the troop and camp samples i n t h i s area i s found i n the higher proportions of campers over troop members who s a i d " I know i t w e l l " i n answer to the question: "How much do you know about the Brownie Promise?" This finding would seem to indicate that the da i l y r e p e t i t i o n of the Promise which i s part of the f l a g - r a i s i n g ceremony i n many camps, increases the li k e l i h o o d of the g i r l s 1 learning the words by heart, without any noticeable change i n .their feeling that they understand "what i t means,"

Table 2h

Brownies and t h e i r Promise

Day Established Troop camp camp Questionnaire

Does a g i r l usually change a f t e r she has become a Brownie? YES: 90% 97% 90%

Do you t r y to l i v e up to the Promise? YES:

How much do you know about the Brownie Scout Promise?

I know what i t means I know some of i t I know i t w e l l I forget i t

N

9o% 99% 97%

56% 62% 65% 15 16 19 82 Bh 73 2 7

(277) (100) (1280)

Brownie Campers 30,

Motivations to Come and Return to Camp

To what extent does the decision to come to camp represent the g i r l s ' own decision? I s i t possible that some g i r l s are sent to camp to f u l f i l l t h e i r parents 1 desires rather than t h e i r own? And does a summer at G i r l Scout camp stimulate the desire to repeat the experience?

I n Table 25 we f i n d that coming to camp was something that almost a l l of tte g i r l s personally wanted to do. I n Day camps a comparable proportion wish to repeat the experience. A not very large, but nevertheless s i g n i f i c a n t l y larger proportion of Established campers do not care to return. Exactly the same difference between Day and Established campers who s a i d that they would l i k e to come back to the camp a t which they were studied was found among the older g i r l s ( c f C h a p t e r h - Intermediates a t Camp).

Table 25

Motivations to Come and Return to Camp

Day Established

Did you want to come to camp t h i s summer?

I wanted to come 96$ 91% I didn't care k 1 I did not want to come * 1 No answer * 1

100$ 100$

Do you think you w i l l want to come back to th i s camp again?

I want to come back 95$ 8l# I don't care 2 9 I don't want to come back 2 7 No answer 1 3

100$ 100$

N •= (277) (100)

The Day and Established campers who s a i d " I don't care" and " I don't want to come back" were not distinguishable from the majority of campers who wanted to return to t h e i r camps. Their responses to a l l the other questions which might pinpoint the reason for t h e i r lack of enthusiasm (e.g., l i k i n g for unit leader or unit mates, pa r t i c i p a t i o n i n and enjoyment of a c t i v i t i e s ; t h e i r learning a t camp, t h e i r general Scouting orientation, etc.) were compared to those of the more s a t i s f i e d campers. I t became evident that

Brownie Campers 31

on a l l o f these t o p i c s some o f these g i r l s d i d , indeed, give negative answers* But on no s i n g l e item, nor on any combination o f two or th r e e , d i d t h i s "nonr e t u r n " group d i f f e r enough from the m a j o r i t y t o y i e l d s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i cant d i f f e r e n c e s . This f i n d i n g must be i n t e r p r e t e d t o mean t h a t the areas o f d i s c o n t e n t f o r these g i r l s are d i f f e r e n t i n each case; t h e y represent (as f a r as the t o p i c s covered i n t h i s s t udy are concerned) a t r u l y miscellaneous grouping which no s i n g l e change i n camp a d m i n i s t r a t i o n or program planning would reduce t o any n o t i c e a b l e degree.


LEADER-GIRL RELATIONSHIPS

Another area of i n t e r e s t i n studying g i r l s at camp i s the relationship between the g i r l s and t h e i r unit leader. Information reported here i s derived from the Brownie questionnaire and the Brownie unit leader interview.

There were only one hundred Brownies i n the Established camp units selected for t h i s study. This number i s too small to provide much sub-group analysis. So, i n th i s chapter, only those Brownies attending Day camps w i l l be discussed. I n the section on the relationships between Intermediates and t h e i r leaders i t w i l l be possible to include both Day and Established camps.

Rating of Unit Leader

The Brownie questionnaire included one question about the unit leader. "You have a leader of your unit here at camp. Do you think she i s very good at her job here, pretty good, no good, or how do you f e e l ? "

Table 26

Brownie Rating of Unit Leader

Leader Rating Brownies i n Day Camp

She i s very good 90* She i s prett y good 7 She i s not very good . 2 She i s no good a t a l l 1

100*

N - (277)

Brownies are con s i s t e n t l y en t h u s i a s t i c . Ninety percent of them rated t h e i r Day camp unit leader "very good." (This i s almost the same percent of g i r l s who rated t h e i r troop leaders "very good.")

Very few Brownies were c r i t i c a l enough of t h e i r leader to rate her less than "pretty good," Only 3 percent s a i d she was "not very good."

Brownie Campers 33.

Brownies and t h e i r Unit Leaders

What kinds of adults make the best unit leaders for a Day Camp? Do the ideas of adults about the purpose of Scouting a f f e c t the way the g i r l s f e e l about Day Camp and t h e i r desire to return?

The data reported here comparing Brownies and t h e i r leaders i s an ef f o r t to pursue questions of t h i s kind. As i n the chapters on Leader-Girl r e l a t i o n ships i n the troop sections, the tables here w i l l be composite tables of a number of responses by Brownies compared by various groupings of leaders. Each table should be read across, l i n e by l i n e , to see the var i a t i o n i n Brownies 1 responses when t h e i r leaders are grouped by age, education, etc.

Table 27

Brownie Responses; by Age of Unit Leader

Age of Unit Leader

Total Day Brownie Responses 21-29 30-39 1*0-1*9 Camp Brownies

Leader rated "very good" 9h% 88$ 892 902 Want to return next year 96 97 93 95 Prefer another unit 18 13 21 16 Never have to stop doing something 21 37 h2 32 Report 10 or l e s s a c t i v i t i e s 51 38 hh Ul

N - (83) (150) (16) (277)

The age range for leaders i n Day camp i s smaller than the age range of troop leaders. Therefore, the d i v i s i o n of ages for leaders presented here i s s l i g h t l y different than that used i n the troop section.

Line one of the table i s taken from the Brownie ratings of t h e i r leaders. There seems to be l i t t l e difference i n the way Brownies r a t e t h e i r leader whether she i s younger or older. Nor do the responses i n l i n e two, taken from the question "Do you think you w i l l want to come back next year?" d i f f e r for g i r l s with older or younger leaders.

On l i n e three we f i n d s l i g h t but i n s i g n i f i c a n t differences. The leader's age does not seem to be an important f a c t i n determining whether the g i r l s want to return to camp next summer.

However, i n the l a s t two items of the table, we do find some s i g n i f i c a n t d i f ferences. More g i r l s with younger leaders report they have to stop doing one thing and s t a r t another than g i r l s with older leaders, let g i r l s with younger leaders report doing fewer a c t i v i t i e s than g i r l s with older leaders.

Brownie Campers 3U

Day camp leaders had had varying degrees of educational background, A few had not graduated from high school* More had had a complete high school education; some had attended college for a while and a few were college graduates* When g i r l s 1 responses are compared by the educational background of t h e i r leaders, we f i n d a s l i g h t tendency for g i r l s whose leaders had graduated from ..high school to rate them "very good" l e s s often. But g i r l s whose leaders had graduated from college were most apt to rate them "very good."

This d i f f e r s from the rating of troop leaders, where those with l e s s education were more often rated very good." Cert a i n l y a l l of the ratings are very high, so the percentage differences are not great. However, we may be finding varying trends i n troops and camps because the job of Unit Leader i s different from that of Troop Leader.

Table 28

Brownie Responses; by Unit Leaders' Education

Unit Leaders' Education

Less than High school Some College Brownie Responses high school graduate college graduate

Leader rated "very good" 90$ 85$ 92$ 98$ Want to return next year 95 98 9h 95 Prefer another unit 5 15 15 20 Never have to stop doing

something 10 ia 1*2 1U Plan what to do 60 80 81 81 Learn about g i r l s who are

different 55 39 30 1*6 Do my share of work 100 83 76 81 Be a good f r i e n d 90 87 80 91* Learn about nature 1*5 66 68 52 F i r e s and cooking 75 81* 88 76 Other countries 25 7 19 8

N * (20) (110) (83) (63)

However, as we note i n l i n e two of Table 28, no differences are found i n the g i r l s ' desire to return next year. A s i m i l a r lack of relationship between rating of leader and attendance i s found by a number of tables i n the troop portion of the study.

Caution needs to be exercised i n making any conclusions about the g i r l s ' preference for another unit. The number of g i r l s who have a leader with l e s s than a completed high school education i s small. Yet the trend for more g i r l s to want another unit as the amount of leaders' education increases continues u n t i l we f i n d the g i r l s whose leader had a college education to want to be i n another unit more often than any other group.

Brownie Campers 35

I n l i n e four we f i n d that g i r l s with leaders who have the le a s t or the most education more often have to stop doing something. Both groups of leaders apparently f e e l some pressure to accomplish a number of things and give t h e i r g i r l s more of a feeling of being rushed. However, the two groups of leaders may be approaching the s i t u a t i o n from e n t i r e l y opposite motivations.

Some of the u n i t leaders at Day camp are also troop leaders while others have l i t t l e or no involvement, with Scouting beyond serving a t Day camp. This seems to make l i t t l e difference i n many of the g i r l s 1 attitudes toward camp. However, as Table 29. indicates, there are a few differences i n a c t i v i t i e s partipipated i n , and things l i k e d or d i s l i k e d .

Table 29

Brownie Responses; by Unit Leaders 1 Involvement i n Scouting

Brownie Responses Troop Leader L i t t l e or None

More than 12 a c t i v i t i e s 11% hO% Told anyone about d i s l i k e s 2k 38 D i s l i k e nothing Ih hO Things l i k e d best: Interpersonal 28 58

Camp c r a f t s 57 h& S p e c i a l G i r l Scout aspects 6 hO

N = (229) (W)

G i r l s who have leaders with l i t t l e or no involvement i n Scouting have p a r t i c i pated i n more a c t i v i t i e s than g i r l s whose leaders are also troop leaders. More of the g i r l s whose leaders are troop leaders d i s l i k e nothing about camp and fewer of them have t o l d someone about the d i s l i k e s they do have.

When the g i r l s 1 responses to the question "What do you l i k e best about camp?" are considered, there are more interpersonal mentions by g i r l s whose leaders are l e s s involved i n Scouting. Part of t h i s may be due to the f a c t that some troop leaders are serving as Day camp u n i t leaders and have primarily their own troop as a camp unit. So more heterogeneous groups would be more apt to mention interpersonal items such as "meet new g i r l s " or "make new friends."

Camp c r a f t s are more often mentioned as l i k e d by g i r l s whose leaders are involved as troop leaders. But more s p e c i a l G i r l Scout aspects were mentioned by g i r l s with leaders who are not involved i n Scouting.

Are leaders' s k i l l s r e f l e c t e d i n the kind of a c t i v i t i e s they carry out vdth t h e i r units? The unit leaders were asked "What aspects of a camping program are you best equipped to handle?"

Brownie Campers 36

Table 30 compares g i r l s whose leaders say they are best equipped to handle outdoor a c t i v i t i e s with a l l Brownies i n Day camp. For many of the items, there does seem to be a higher percentage of g i r l s with outdoor-oriented leaders who have participated i n an a c t i v i t y . But t h i s i s not completely consistent. As was indicated i n the troop a n a l y s i s , there probably i s a f a i r l y high relationship between a leader's s k i l l s and interests and the kinds of a c t i v i t i e s the g i r l s i n her troop or unit are exposed to. Yet i n both troop and camp (although perhaps even more so i n camp) there are certain expectations for program that leaders t r y to meet even though they themselves are not as s k i l l e d or interested i n the p a r t i c u l a r a c t i v i t y .

Table 30

Brownie Responses; by Leaders* S k i l l i n Outdoor A c t i v i t i e s

Leader S k i l l e d Brownie Responses i n Outdoor A c t i v i t i e s Total Brownies

Build a f i r e 71# 552 Cook outdoors 59 65 Study trees 53 1*5 Collect rocks 52 50 Learn about nature 60 57 F i r e s and cooking 89 82

N - (73) (277)

There were a few paid leaders at Day camps although most of the leaders were volunteers. Further support for the hypothesis that the leaders' i n t e r e s t s and s k i l l s make a difference i n the kind of a c t i v i t i e s the g i r l s do i s obtained when the g i r l s ' a c t i v i t i e s are compared for g i r l s with volunteer leaders and those with paid leaders.

More g i r l s with volunteer leaders have participated i n a c t i v i t i e s such as f i r e building and cooking outdoors. On the other hand, more g i r l s with paid leaders have participated i n a c t i v i t i e s such as studying trees and collecting rocks.

Possibly the leaders who are paid for the summer are chosen because they have s p e c i a l s k i l l s and are better prepared to work with g i r l s i n outdoor areas such as the 3tudy of trees or rocks. The volunteer leaders may not know much about these types of things but can do f i r e building and cooking outdoors.

Brownie Campers 37.

Table 31

Brownie Responses; by Leaders' Status at Camp

Leaders' Status

Paid worker Brownie Responses Volunteer for summer

Ever b u i l t a f i r e 59% 35% Ever cook outdoors 71 hi Plan what to do 79 78 Learn about g i r l s who are different 37 h6 Arts and c r a f t s 65 57 Study trees h2 59 C o l l e c t rocks U6 67 Do share of work 80 87 Be a good fri e n d oh 9h Nature 67 F i r e s and cooking oh 76 L i f e i n other countries 13 7

N « (223) (SW

A number of the questions on the Leader Interview that dealt with t h e i r perceptions of Scouting were used to compare with the responses of t h e i r g i r l s on questions on attitudes toward Scouting but no differences were found,

When the leader's responses to the question about her goals as a unit leader were used, there was a s l i g h t but consistent tendency for g i r l s whose leaders s a i d they wanted the g i r l s to have fun to d i s l i k e nothing about camp; to do more a c t i v i t i e s ; and e s p e c i a l l y to do more things l i k e a r t s and c r a f t s . However, whether the leader's goals were interpersonally oriented, character-development oriented, or s k i l l oriented seemed to make no difference i n the gir I s ' attitudes •

Most Brownies attending Day camp are enthusiastic enough about t h e i r experiences that the leaders' s k i l l s and attitudes make l i t t l e difference i n the g i r l s ' a t t i t u d e s . As long as a leader i s s u f f i c i e n t l y s k i l l e d and interested to provide some of the a c t i v i t i e s that the g i r l s l i k e best, that leader i s usually l i k e d by the g i r l s and rated high on her performance.


SPECIFIC ITEMS OF MISCELLANEOUS INTEREST

A l l three of the s p e c i a l i z e d items which we were asked to check about Brownies at camp were incorporated i n the Observation Schedule for which the interviewers gathered evidence throughout t h e i r s t a y a t the various camps.

Comic Books

Do Brownies spend any of t h e i r camping day i n reading comic books? Our i n t e r viewers were alerted to t h i s query, and requested to make a s p e c i a l note each time they saw a comic book anywhere on the camp grounds. A l l of our i n t e r viewers spent two to three days at t h e i r selected camps gathering impressions of the camp as a whole, of the s t a f f , and observing t h e i r selected units during a c t i v i t i e s , at mealtimes and i n t h e i r unit quarters.

As f a r as Brownies a t camp are concerned, the answer to the comic book question i s an overwhelming "No." No Day campers a t any program l e v e l were seen with comic books, and most Brownie campers, i t w i l l be remembered, go to Day camps. Furthermore, even at Established camps, where much more reading matter of a l l kinds i s found, only s i x out of a t o t a l of f o r t y units (or ~\$%) had any comics on the premises, and none of these s i x were Brownie uni t s .

The Program Study's findings are unequivocal: Comic books are not part of camp program, ei t h e r o f f i c i a l or informal, for Brownies at G i r l Scout camps.

R a c i a l Integration

Our interviewers v i s i t e d sixteen Day camps and twenty Established camps scattered across the United States. Since the summer sample was designed to represent g i r l s at camp rather than the camps themselves, percentage figures based upon these small numbers can be interpreted only with allowances f o r large margins of error.

R a c i a l integration, or the attendance of a t l e a s t one Negro g i r l at the same camp attended by white members, was encountered i n three of the Day and f i v e of the Established camps. Calculation of percentages from these figures y i e l d s proportions of one quarter or l e s s i n both cases.

Brownie Campers 39

The exact percentages cannot be applied to " a l l G i r l Scout camps," but the results do indicate t h a t r a c i a l integration has become a r e a l i t y at very few camps. Roughly 2 percent o f troop members at a l l program levels are Negro ( c f . , Chapters 1 of Brownie Troops, Intermediate Troops, and Senior Troops), and almost none of the camps i n our sample had fewer than f i f t y g i r l s i n attendance at the time of our interviewers' v i s i t s , On the basis of these two premises, we would expect to f i n d a t least one Negro g i r l a t camp i n every instance, i f a l l g i r l s had equal chances to attend t h e i r councils' summer camps. Even considering the p r o b a b i l i t y that some councils have no Negro g i r l s among t h e i r troops' membership, the proportion of integrated camps found i n the summer sample i s too low t o warrant any conclusion but that r a c i a l integration i s , as yet, a r e a l i t y at only a very few camps.

Handicapped G i r l s

Our samples i n both the summer and f a l l phases of the Program Study excluded camps and troops under the j u r i s d i c t i o n o f G i r l Scout councils which were s p e c i f i c a l l y designed to accommodate handicapped g i r l s of any description. The Observation Schedule, however, ale r t e d the interviewers to record any evidence of the presence of physically handicapped g i r l s at any of the sampled camps.

I n t h i s case the interviewers were ins t r u c t e d t o record not only t h e i r own observations, but also any reports of handicapped g i r l s a t the selected camps during other than the sampled sessions.

Our results indicate t h a t , on the whole, G i r l Scout camps a t t r a c t mainly those troop members who are i n good general health and can best take advantage of a camp program.

I n two of the sixteen Day camps and i n two of the twenty Established camps some evidence of "handicapped g i r l s " was obtained.

Day camps: i n one camp one g i r l wearing l e g braces was observed, i n the second camp the interviewer personally observed one g i r l w i t h a f a c i a l d i s t o r t i o n , one w i t h a speech handicap, and one with a leg i n j u r y . She was t o l d , f u r t h e r , t h a t an ep i l e p t i c g i r l had attended a previous session of the same Day camp.

Established camps: i n one camp a "mentally retarded g i r l w i t h lack b£ muyouiyr coofdination" (spastic?) was observed. The interviewer reported that she was aged f i f t e e n , and placed i n an Intermediate u n i t with g i r l s aged nine to eleven. I n one furt h e r camp no handicapped g i r l s were d i r e c t l y observed, but the director reported that i n "previous years" one b l i n d g i r l , two mentally retarded g i r l s and several crippled g i r l s had attended the camp.

File Copy-Co Not Remove

Documents

Transcript of File Copy-Co Not Remove