“It’s Not Real Life”: Liminality and Summer Camp Employment

Abstract

Liminal spaces occur separately from everyday life and are important to human development. Due to increased technological connectivity, young people are rarely separated from their home lives. Understanding young adulthood is a transitional time and summer camps can be settings for development, the purpose of this study was to understand the nature of summer camp employment as a liminal space. Individuals from a national (USA) study of summer camp employment ( n = 77, Mage = 21.3) participated in in-depth interviews. Participants were 77.9% White ( n = 60), 9.1% Black or African American, 9.1% Multi-Racial, 2.6% Asian, and 1.3% Latinx. About 64.9% identified as female ( n = 50), 33.8% identified as male, and 1.3% identified as gender non-conforming. Interview transcripts were inductively analyzed using thematic coding. Participants described camp as a liminal space with four dimensions of separation: physical, psychological, social, and technological. They also described experiencing a liminal time of life. In combination, the separation and time-of-life dimensions created an experience of liminal intensity manifested through a closed social system, blurred boundaries between work and non-work life, and increased autonomy. A revised conceptualization of liminal space is suggested and considerations regarding liminal intensity for young people are discussed.

Instructor Perspectives on Mobile Technologies and Social Media in Practice: Findings From the United Kingdom's Outward Bound Trust

“…Beginning with literature which focusses on removing digital technologies in outdoor education, we see the ways in which “technology-free” outdoor education has been shaped. For instance, in a study with American summer camp workers from Povilaitis et al (2021), their data indicated that workers reported a sense of liminality in their employment, meaning that they were disconnected socially, psychologically, physically, and technologically from their day-to-day lives. The lack of technology meant that summer camp employees could “live in the moment and be present” (Povilaitis et al, 2021, p. 12).…”

“…For instance, in a study with American summer camp workers from Povilaitis et al (2021), their data indicated that workers reported a sense of liminality in their employment, meaning that they were disconnected socially, psychologically, physically, and technologically from their day-to-day lives. The lack of technology meant that summer camp employees could “live in the moment and be present” (Povilaitis et al, 2021, p. 12). The removal of technology developing a sense of presence in learners was also reported by DeHudy et al (2021).…”