An Evaluation of Hope Following a Summer Camp for Inner-City Youth

This study reports changes in the positive psychology construct of hope resulting from adolescents’ participation in a 6 week summer camp devoted to developing dance and psychosocial competence skills. Over 5 years, the inner-city camp participants were selected from substantial at-risk situations. Significant positive changes in overall hope were observed pre and post camp with no further changes observed in a 4 month follow-up. Possible contributions to the increase and maintenance of higher hopeful thinking, specific to an inner-city population, are discussed.