ABSTRACT
Recreation for therapeutic purposes seeks to promote social experiences for participants, assist students to regain a sense of confidence through the acquisition of recreational skills, and prescribe recreational activities for individuals with special needs. In this chapter, the authors discuss briefly the purposes and develop-ment of recreation as a re-educational tool. Thus the institutional forms of play, games, sports, drama, music, camping, and organized recreation appear not only in schools, churches, and parks, but also in hospitals and residential centers for special populations. Youth provided only with recreation pastimes or academic pursuits that prepare them for work miss the ritual of work itself. The recreation leader may recruit these people, assist them to understand their responsibilities, and at times train the volunteers to the specifics of the situation. Recreation has the same responsibility and requirements for participation in the re-educational process.
