Varied Views of Recreation and Leisure
VARIED VIEWS OF RECREATION AND LEISURE
• For some, recreation means the network of public agencies that
provide parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, sports fields, and
community centers in several cities, towns, countries or park districts.
• For others, recreation may be found in a senior center, a sheltered
workshop for mentally retarded individuals; or a treatment center
for physical rehabilitation.
• Environmentalists may be principally concerned about the
impact of outdoor forms of recreation on our natural surroundings
(forests, mountains, rivers, and lakes which are the national
heritage of a nation).
VARIED VIEWS OF RECREATION AND LEISURE
• Recreation and leisure are all these things. They represent a
rewarding form of human experience and constitute an important
aspect of economic development and government responsibility.
• At present, the value of recreation and leisure is universally
accepted. As a consequence, the government in both developed and
developing countries has accepted the responsibility of providing and
assisting leisure opportunities through extensive recreation and park
systems.
Motivation for Recreational
Participation
Motivation for Recreational Participation
• Many participants take part in recreation as a form of relaxation and
release from the pressures of work and other tensions.
• Another recreational motivation is the need to express creativity,
expose hidden talents, or pursue excellent in various forms of personal
expression.
• For some participants, active recreation offers a channel for
releasing hostility and aggression.
• Many individuals take part in recreational activities which involve
community service, provide leaders in fraternal or religious organizations and
promote health and physical fitness.
• Deeply involve in various forms of elite culture such as music, drama,
dance, literature, and the fine arts.
Major Types of Organized Recreation
Major Types of Organized Recreation
Employee Recreation Programs
They serve those who work for companies or employers by providing recreation as a
part of a total personnel benefits package, linked to other services concerned with
employee health and fitness.
Major Types of Organized Recreation
Armed Forces Recreation
Each of the major branches of the armed forces operate an extensive network of
recreation facilities and programs
Major Types of Organized Recreation
Campus Recreation
includes intramural athletics or sports clubs, social activities, travel programs,
performing arts groups, entertainment, lounges, film series and other forms of recreation
on college and university campuses.
Major Types of Organized Recreation
Therapeutic Recreation Services
include any type of program designed to meet the needs of persons with physical or
mental disabilities, individuals with poor health, dependent aging persons, social deviant
persons in correctional facilities and similar special groups.
Challenges Facing the Recreation and Leisure
Service Field in the 21st Century
Challenges Facing the Recreation and Leisure Service Field in the 21st Century
Recreational professional must be able to deal creatively with the following challenges:
1. Serve diverse society (race, age,
gender);
2. Emphasize key social purposes of recreation in working with at-risk
youth, serving persons with disabilities, and promoting community
development;
3. Achieve fuller public understanding of the value of recreation and
parks, and of the leisure-service profession
4. Upgrade recreation and park programs and facilities particularly in
inner cities and for minority populations;
Challenges Facing the Recreation and Leisure Service Field in the 21st Century
Recreational professional must be able to deal creatively with the following challenges:
5. Adopt a benefits-based management approach, researching, proving
and publicizing positive outcomes of recreation;
6. Promote recreation’s identity as health-related
7. Develop partnerships field;
with environmental organizations to protect and
restore wildlands, waterways
8. Employ marketing approach to achieve fiscal sufficiency and gain
public respect and support;
9. Expand and improve family-centered programs and
facilities;
Challenges Facing the Recreation and Leisure Service Field in the 21st Century
Recreational professional must be able to deal creatively with the following challenges:
10. Promote higher values and ethical practices in youth
sports competition;
11. Strive for fuller mainstreaming of persons with disabilities in
community recreation programs;
