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Recreation
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City of Roswell
P.O. Drawer 1838
Roswell, NM 88202-1838
(505) 624-6700
Fax: 624-6889 |
THE LEISURE INCIDENT
"STRENGTHENING THE FAMILY WITH THE LEISURE
INCIDENT"
August 14, 2001
Mr. Kim Elliott, CPRP
Recreation Director
City of Roswell, NM
The family is one of the keys to a stable society. We have watched the family
erode for the last several decades and as a result, we have seen other social
problems arise. Just recently, we have heard that the family is making a
comeback! One of the reasons could very well be the leisure incident!
How can the family be strengthened through leisure? The statement that says
that "the family that plays together, stays together" seems to be
true. Research helps us to find the answer.
"The Benefits of Leisure for Family Bonding" by Dennis
Orthner and Jay Mancini as found in the Benefits of Leisure (pp.
289) edited by Driver, Brown, and Peterson gives us some insight. In their
study, the researchers found that when families share together in an active
leisure experience, the benefits can be seen in three areas. These areas are 1)
Family Satisfaction, 2) Marital Interaction, and 3) Family Stability.
In terms of family satisfaction, consistency can be found throughout all the
recent research that shows a positive relationship between families and
participation in joint activities. However, when family members participate in a
lot of independent activities, this satisfaction declined. Another area of
leisure that this was not found to be true was when the family participates
together in activities where there is little interaction between the family
members. An example of this can be found in watching TV together. It appears to
be a family bonding experience, but because there is very little interaction
between family members, little benefit occurs and in some cases could even harm
the relationships.
Increased marital interaction occurs in families that recreate together.
Positive communication between husband and wife was found to happen which is
also a factor in strengthening the family. Actually, the benefits of increased
positive interaction was found to apply to the entire family and not just
husband and wife! An interesting research finding was that as couples and
families spent more time together, conflict also occurred more. This was found
to be very positive in that leisure opportunities created opportunities for
additional positive communication among family members that helped to reduce
pent up feelings and emotions.
Families that participate in leisure activities together are found to be more
stable. Orthner and Mancini quote M.S. Hill (1988) as showing that "…participation
in recreational activities had the strongest contribution to marital
stability."(pp.292) Stability occurs over time. Satisfaction and
interaction is a short term activity, but they contribute to the long term
affect of stability.
From a researchers perspective, more research is needed in this area, and it
is being done.
From a practitioner's perspective, the results seem to be very clear and
logical. The family that recreates together is strengthened when they
participate in the leisure incident together.
Family members appear to be happier because they are satisfied. Family
members appear to be happier because they interact more together. Family members
are happier because they are in a more stable relationship over time. The
leisure incident contributes to strengthening family bonds!
As these family bonds are strengthened, so is the society of which the family
is a part!
Parks and Recreation - The Benefits are Endless!
