‘Now, he will be the leader of the house’: An equine intervention with at-risk Guatemalan youth

Abstract

Equine-facilitated interventions have shown promise for facilitating emotional and behavioural changes in diverse groups. The current study evaluated the effectiveness of an equine workshop for vulnerable Guatemalan youth using a mixed-method approach. The 37 participants (M age = 18.22, SD = 2.25, 14 girls) came from difficult circumstances including poverty and other risks. Using a wait-list control group design with random assignment, the effects of a 2-day equine-based workshop were evaluated. Participants completed quantitative measures of leadership, emotion regulation, aggression, and interpersonal response to threat. Mentors completed reports of aggression and prosocial behaviour. Self-reported leadership increased significantly in the group receiving the intervention; mentor reports of aggression revealed significant decreases. Focus groups with participants and family members reported multiple benefits, including improved emotion regulation. Equinebased interventions may provide at-risk Guatemalan youth with tools of leadership, reduced violence and aggression, and better emotion regulation.Characterized as Latin America's youngest nation due to its high percentage of youth, Guatemala is a country in which issues of young people should be at the forefront (Population Reference Bureau, 2011). Of the country's nearly 15 million people, nearly 60% are aged 25 or younger (Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 2016). Although they comprise a large percentage of the population, many Guatemalan youth live in difficult circumstances. Poverty represents a significant challenge to their well-being with two-thirds of the country's urban population living in slums (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund [UNICEF, 2008]). Categorized by the World Bank (2016) as a lower middle-income country, over 50% of the population lives below the poverty line. Many problems like malnutrition (Guatemala has the fourth highest rate in the world) are exacerbated in rural areas and are more severe for women and girls (World Food Programme (WFP), 2016).Beyond poverty, physical and sexual violence are major risks for Guatemala's young people (UNICEF, 2014b). When asked if they had been robbed in the last month, for example, 36% of Guatemalan sixth graders said yes (UNICEF, 2014a). For victims from birth to 19 years, the country has the second highest homicide rate in the world. Furthermore, homicide is the leading cause of death among the country's adolescent boys (UNICEF, 2014a). In addition, approximately 25% of Guatemalan adolescent

At-Risk Latin American Youth: Challenges to Change

“…For example, all of the participants were living in poverty. Although that was the target group in the Gibbons et al (2016), those sample characteristics may limit the generalizability of the findings.…”

“…The second program to foster adolescent self-worth is the horsehanding intervention in Guatemala (Gibbons et al, 2016). Through the workshops and series of exercises, young people are empowered, such that they believe they can be leaders in their classroom, in their homes, and with their friends.…”

“…A recent intervention with at-risk youth in Guatemala implemented a non-violent horse-handling intervention to boost leadership and foster emotion regulation, while decreasing aggressive attitudes and behaviors (Gibbons, Cunningham, Paiz, Poelker & Chajón, 2016). Adolescents and young adult participants (ranging in age from 15-23) in this mixed-methods study were selected at the recommendation of the school psychologist because they had experienced violence in the home, frequently aggressed others, or were withdrawn and depressed, among other concerns.…”

“…In experiential programs, youth learn directly through active engagement. Of the programs reviewed in this chapter, youth personally participated in a) the non-violent horse handling workshops in Guatemala (Gibbons et al, 2016), b) an HIV/AIDS prevention program in Mexico (Givaudan et al, 2007;Givaudan et al, 2008), c) vocational training in Colombia (Attanasio et al, 2008), and d) the program to engage Brazilian adolescents as tutors for younger students (Montes, 2001). Although the mode of instruction varied from working with horses to role-playing about HIV/AIDS to on the job training to serving as tutors, the adolescents were active participants, engaging in programs and activities personally.…”

“…For example, in the non-violent horse training interventions, youth with little or no previous experience with equines learned how to handle a large animal without the use of violence ( Gibbons et al, 2016). As described above, self-reported youth leadership increased at post-test perhaps because adolescents felt a sense of competence and success after the positive human-horse interaction.…”