How In A Sleep-Away Summer Camp Does Socio-Economic Status Fit Into the Relationship Between Camper and Counselor?

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between camper and counselor at a summer sleep-away camp where the campers are of a higher socio-economic status than the counselors. A mixture of formal and informal interviews was completed with campers, counselors, and previous campers who returned as counselors. The interviews were completed to create an understanding or how the camper counselor relationship was viewed from both perspectives. By applying Bourdieu's theory about an individual's habitus the data was analyzed to reveal that campers and counselors had strong relationships when of the same habitus. The relationship between camper and counselor of different habiti could either improve over the summer, or never really form period. This research comes to the conclusion that because of the summer camp's intense environment it is able to overcome class boundaries and allow relationship to form between different habiti based on the common ground formed at camp.