Abstract
The Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (GJWHF) program is a physical activity-based life skills program that aims to facilitate positive youth development (PYD) outcomes. The format of the GJWHF program was based on Hellison's (1995, 2003, 2011) Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) framework. TPSR was developed from Hellison's work with at-risk youth and uses a strong instructor-participant relationship that allows for the gradual empowerment of youth (Hellison, Martinek, & Walsh, 2008). The main components of the TPSR framework include: (1) Personal Responsibility or Self-Control; (2) Effort; (3) Self-Coaching; (4) Leadership; and (5) Transference. Each of these five components arose as practical programming guidelines that have been shown to lead to positive outcomes (Walsh, Ozaeta, & Wright, 2010). The purpose of this research was to use a mixed-methods approach to understand how well the implementation of the GJWHF program adhered to the TPSR framework and whether this adherence had any impact on PYD outcomes. Results indicated that self-ratings of the five TPSR levels varied throughout the program but showed a gradual upward trend. In addition, interviews indicated that the youth perceived the program as one that is helping them be more responsible and to develop into leaders. This process evaluation represents an important step in understanding the process in which PYD programs, specifically those utilizing the TPSR framework, can be effectively implemented.
