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BROWNIES IN TROOPS AND CAMPS

Survey Research Center University of Michigan

July 1958

BROWNIE TROOPS

Chapter 1: The Girls Themselves

Age and Camping Experience . . Brownies

¹

Personal Finances

Non-economic Family Variables , Family Variables Related to Socio-economic Status

Chapter 2: The Program A c t i v i t i e s of Brownie Troops

What Brownies Like Best • Program Expectations , Brownies' Dislikes

The Feeling of Hurry

Brownie Learning • Awareness of Program Progression

Service

I f I had my way

What i s Special about Brownies

Chapter 3: The Organization and Administration of Brownie Troops Troop Size

Age Range

The Troop's Meeting Place Racial Integration

Religious Integration

Girls* Attitudes toward Each Other and the Troop The Costs of Being a Brownie

Maturity and Responsibility Chapter hi The Impact of Scouting

The Brownie Promise

Motivation to Join and Stay I n the Organization . Pride i n Brownie Membership

Chapter 5: Leader-Girl Relationships

Chapter 6: Specific Items of Miscellaneous Interest Brownie Uniform

Brownie Handbooks

Do Brownies l i k e to have t h e i r pictures taken Transferring to a New Brownie Troop

Ten Year Old Brownies

BROWNIE CAMPERS

Introduction to Brownies a t Camp 1 Chapter 1: The Girls Themselves 3

Camping Experience 3 Program Level and Age k Non-economic Family Variables 5

Family Variables Related to Socio-economic Status ... 8

Chapter 2: Brownies' Camp Activities 12 Favorite Activities 12 The Camp Activities L i s t l l i Disliked Aspects of Camp IB The Feeling of Hurry 19 Learning at Camp • • 20

Camp Unit Observations of Activities 22 Chapter 3: The Organization and Administration of Brownie Camp Units 23

Size of Units 23 Unit Age Range 2k

Girls' Attitudes toward Each Other and the Unit 26 Maturity and Responsibility .» 28

Chapter k: The Impact o f Scouting 29 The Brownie Promise 29 Motivations to Come and Return to Camp 30

Chapter 5: Leader-Girl Relationships 32 Chapter 6: Specific Items of Miscellaneous Interest 38

Comic Books • 38

Racial Integration 38

Handicapped Girls 39

THE GIRLS THEMSELVES Age and Camping Experience The Age of our Respondents

The time schedule of the Program Study involved the selection of troops i n the spring of 1957 and their direct study early i n the f a l l of that same year. A l l Brownie troops that f e l l into the study, therefore, had troop identifications of troops that were i n existence before the summer- These Brownies responded to two research instruments to be reported i n this section, but they need to be further defined as follows:

Questionnaire Brownies: Troop members attending a sampled f a l l meeting of a troop which had been i n existence as a Brownie troop

during the spring and s t i l l existed i n the f a l l (whether or not the troop had "flown up" during the interval)-

Interview Brownies: Current or ex-Brownies who had been regis- tered i n Brownie troops during the spring, regardless of whether the g i r l s were s t i l l i n the organization, the troop was s t i l l i n existence, or had "flown up" i n the interval.

Girls who had been Erownies i n the spring but had "flown up" to the Inter- mediate age level during the summer are s t i l l reported i n this "Brownie"

section. The over-all age distribution of Brownie respondents, therefore, is higher than that found i n G i r l Scout Brownie troops a t any single moment i n time:

Table 1

Age of Brownie Respondents

Questionnaire Interview

Age seven or below

6% 2%

eight nine

ten or above

28 35 31

16

i a ia

10055 10056

N (1280) (iao)

Most of the g i r l s who were aged ten or above at the time of our f i e l d work responded to special " f l y up" forms of our instruments, reporting facts and attitudes i n terms o f their last year's Brownie experience. Only h percent of the g i r l s found i n those troops which were s t i l l o f f i c i a l l y Brownie troops during the f a l l were as old as ten, as of December 31 of that year*

Length of Time i n Scouting

More than four out of ten Brownies of any given age are found to have joined the organization when they f i r s t became e l i g i b l e , at the age of seven. Our data from Intermediates and Seniors, to be reported i n later sections,

repeat . the same finding: almost one-half of a l l Scouts at a l l ages have been members of the organization from the age of seven.

Even among a population o f Brownies, then, only 15 percent were i n only t h e i r f i r s t year of Scouting at the time of our f i e l d work (interviewers' v i s i t s were timed to occur no earlier than the troop's f i f t h meeting of the f a l l ) . Comparable figures f o r Intermediates and Seniors are k percent and 1 percent, respectively.

Table 2

Age at Joining Browniesj by Age

7 & Total

Joined a t : younger Age 8 Age 9 10 & older Quest. Interview

Seven

99%

82*

U6% U6%

60#

52%

Eight 18

h6

3U 32

hi

Nine

7

12 6 6

Ten or older 5 1 1

No answer 1 - 1 3 1 -

100#

100%

100g

100% 100%

10(#

N = (83) (352) (M6)

099)

(1280) (IOO)

Summer Camping

The G i r l Scout summer camping experience of g i r l s i n our Brownie sample i s most l i k e l y to have occurred at a G i r l Scout Day camp. Our Brownie and Fly-up Questionnaire questions did not attempt to distinguish between Day and

Established camp experience, but we can make this statement from our findings

during the summer camping phase of the Program Study. Girls who had been

Brownies during the spring of the year were found at Day camps nine times as

often as at Established camps.

Table 3

G i r l Scout Summer Camping (Brownies)

Were at camp, summer 1957 32$

Were at camp, summer 1957, and previously 12%

Were NOT at camp summer 1957, but previously 9

Were NEVER at G i r l Scout summer camp 59 100$

N * (1280) Fifty-nine percent of our Brownie respondents had not yet had a summer at any type of G i r l Scout camp, 20 percent had just completed their f i r s t such experience, and about one out of three of a l l Brownies had been at a Day or Established camp during the summer of 1957-

Accumulated experience at G i r l Scout summer camps does show, as we would expect, a continuing increase with age (within any given program level as well as from Brownies to Intermediates t o Seniors). But i t i s interesting to note that we found no significant variation between Brownies of different ages on their camping experience during the most recent summer.

Table k

G i r l Scout Summer Camping; by Age

7 & Total younger Age 8 Age 9 10 & older Questionnaire

Summer, 1957 12% 32% 35% 32% 33%

Any previous summer U% 9% 2k% 32% 21%

N - (83) (352) (hh6) (399) (1280)

Other Camping .Experience

Summer camping at non-Scout camps also shows an expected rise with increasing age. Camping with one's own family evidences a prominent spurt between the

• ages of eight and nine, which i s s t a t i s t i c a l l y significant. The age trend i n the f i r s t item and the seeming lack of such a continuing general age trend with regard t o family camping are replicated i n our data on Intermediates and Seniors.

Table 5

Other Camping Experience; by Age

7 & Total younger Age 8 Age 9 10 &. older Questionnaire

Non-Scout camps 12% 21% 26%. 2ft% 2h%

Family camping 23% 30$ lj2# hl% 31%

Allowances

Seventy-three percent of a l l Brownies report receiving allowances, and no age variation occurs i n this report. On the other hand, the amount of a girl's allowance does, of course, rise with her age, although fewer than 30 percent of Brownies of any age receive as much as one dollar per week.

The fact that reported ages at which an allowance was f i r s t received does vary with age ( i . e . , the younger g i r l s started getting an allowance earlier than the older g i r l s ) might indicate that the very Brownie status of a g i r l i n our sample raises the probability of her receiving an allowance.

Table 6

Do you have an allowance?; by Age

Yes No

No answer

N =

Total 7 & younger Age 8 Age 9 10 & older Quest.

70$ 68$ 73$ 77$ 73$

29 31 26 22 26

1 1 1 1 1

100$ 100$ 100$ 100$ 100$

(83) (352)

(hh6)

(399) (1280)

Table 7

Amount of Weekly Allowance; by Age

2li£ or less 25* -

hH

500 exactly 51* - 99*

$1 exactly

$1,01 - $1.99

$2 exactly

*2.01 - ftU.99

$5 exactly

$5.01 or more No answer

N

younger Age 8 Age 9 10 & older Total Quest.

31$ 20$ 10$ 7$ 13$

22 35 31 23 29

lU 19 35 32 29

7

k

ii 9 6

3 7 10 16 11

- 5 6 7 5

3

^#

•it- 2 l

5 2 1 3 2

2 -

^#

-

^#

2 -

•M-

-

11 8 2 1

_h

100$ 100$ 100$ 100$ 100$

(58) (239) (321*) (309) (930)

Age at F i r s t Allowance; by Age

Total 7 & younger Age 8 Age 9 10 & older Quest.

5 or younger 31$ 27$ 21$ 9$ 19$

6

ho

23 15 12 17

7 28 33 30 . 19 26

8 13 2ii 27 21

9 9 17 9

10 13 5

Ho answer 1

__h

1 3 3

100$ 100$ 100$ 100$ 100$

N = (58) (239) (321;) (309) (930)

We suspect that a sizeable proportion of g i r l s who do not currently receive an allowance had done so i n the past. Our questionnaires, therefore, con- tained a probe for those who reported no current allowance: "Did you used to have an allowance?" Fifty-three percent of those Brownies who have no current allowance answered "Yes" to this question, as did comparable pro- portions of Intermediates and Seniors.

When these numbers are re-calculated as percentages of the t o t a l population, we f i n d Ih percent of a l l Brownies who do not now, but used to, receive an allowance. At the Senior age this proportion rises to 20 percent, exactly

comparable to the result obtained i n the Adolescent G i r l Study on a t o t a l U.S. (rather than specifically G i r l Scout) population.

I t would seem, therefore, that some g i r l s lose their allowance as their own earning power increases. But there i s also a not negligible phenomenon of allowances which are i n i t i a t e d i n some families and dropped over time, either because the g i r l s don't l i v e up to t h e i r parents

¹

expectations i n handling money or because parents f i n d i t easier to hand out funds as required.

Earnings

Even a larger proportion of Brownies than those who report receiving allowances say that they earn some of their own spending money. Our tables make i t clear that most of this "earning" i s done inside the family. Furthermore, within the Brownie population, the g i r l s who receive allowances are more l i k e l y to report "earnings" than those who do not receive allowances.

There does not appear to be much reduction of work-for-pay i n the home as

the g i r l s become older, at least within the Brownie age range. Baby s i t t i n g

outside the home, of course, shows a small but steady increase, which we

shall f i n d continuing over the Intermediate and part of the Senior age range,

u n t i l i t takes a large and significant downward swing between the ages of

fifteen and sixteen.

Table 9

Brownies

¹

Earnings j by Age

7 & Total

younger Age 8 Age 9 10 & older Quest, Do you earn spending money? younger Age 8

Yes

6h%

76$ 8l# 80$ 78$

No

_3h

23 16 19 20

No answer

2

1 3 1 2

Tffi%

To5*$ 100$ ToS$ Too*

N " (83) (352) W ) (399) (1280) What work do you do?

Baby s i t - outside home

_13%

lii$

23%

25$ 21$

Baby s i t - own home

2

1

3

2 2

Chores, errands, own home 62

Sh

59 57 57

Work outside home -

₁

_{2 • l 1}

Business i n i t i a t i v e ( s e l l cards,

make things, e t c )

- ^{•» #•}

2 1

Other

^-

1 3 2 2

No answer 23

29

10 11 17

100$ 100$ 100$ 100$ 100$

N « (53) (268) (360) (321) (1002) Number of hours per week

Less than 2 hours

k9%

36$ 23$ 15$ 26$

2 hours to less than h 11 17 21 23 20

h " " 6 h

7 12 Iii 11

6 " » 9

^_

6 7 10 7

9 " " 13

h

3

h

8 5

13 or more hours

2

2 7 7 6

No answer 30 29 26 23 25

Too* Toc5$ Too£ 100$ Too$

N ° (53) (268) (360) (321) (1002)

Table 10

Brownies' Earnings; by Allowance

Do you earn spending money? Has Allowance Has no Allowance Yes 85$ 62$

No

^Ih

37

No answer 1 1 100$ 100$

N « (930) (336)

School Grade

More than 80 percent of Brownies over the age of eight are found i n their expected school grade, with a l i t t l e b i t of normal variation i n both d i - rections. The seven-year-old Brownies are more notable i n the large pro- portion who are one grade ahead of their age group. Before further Inter- pretations of this finding are made, i t should be noted that we coded ages as of December 31, 1957; g i r l s reported t h e i r school grades as of the date of interview, during the f a l l semester of 1957.

Table 11 School Grade; by Age

Total

7 & younger Age 8 Age 9 10 & older Questionnaire

Grade 2 53$ 1$

^# h%

3 1*3 81* U 1 28

h

11* 85 6 35

5 8 88 30

6 5 2

7 •a

No answer _ U 1 2 1

100$ 100$ 100$ 100$ 100$

N - (83) (352) (1*1*6) (399) (1280) Religion and Church Attendance

On the paper-and-pencil Questionnaire i n which Brownies had to spell out each of their answers, we did not attempt to inquire into religious groups or denominations. We asked simply: "Do you go to a church or synagogue?"

One percent of a l l the Brownies gave no response, 5 percent said "No," and 9l* percent checked the "Yes" answer. There was no variation i n these

results by age, economic status, or rural-urban residence.

Church attendance was, however, found to vary among Brownies i n different parts of the country. The proportion of girls who said they go to a church

or synagogue was highest i n the southern regions, and lowest i n New England

and Fast North Central states. I t should be noted, however, that even the

lowest proportions of church attenders account f o r nine out of ten g i r l s .

Table 12

Church Attendance; by Geographic Region Do you go t o a church or synagogue?

New England: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut

Middle Atlantic: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania

East North Central: Ohio, Indiana, I l l i n o i s , Michigan, Wisconsin

West North Central: Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota,

Nebraska, Kansas

South Atlantic: Delaware, Maryland, D.C, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida

East South Central: Kentucky, Tennessee Alabama, Mississippi

West South Central: Arkansas, Louisiana Oklahoma, Texas

Mountain: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada

Pacific: Washington, Oregon, California

Total Brownie Sample

Yes No No Answer Total Number

89* 7$

h%

100$ on.)

95

k

1 100$ (183)

90 9 1 100$

OOU)

97 3 - ^{100$ (158)}

98 2

^—

100$ (131) 98 2 - ^{100$ ( U )}

97 3 - ^100$ (lilt)

91 9 - ^100$ (58)

92 6 2 100$ (177)

9h%

5 1 100$ (1260)

In the personal interview situation we were able t o question even the youngest g i r l s more specifically as to t h e i r church membership and attendance. We present the religious a f f i l i a t i o n data f o r a l l three program levels, since there are some significant differences between the proportions of Catholic and Protestant members of Brownie and Intermediate troops.

Table 13

What i s your family's religion?; by Program Level

Total

Brownies Intermediates Seniors Interview Sample

Protestant 71$ 62$ 69$ 67$

Catholic 23 32 29 27

Jewish

k

3 2 1*

Other and none 1 3

^-*

2

Don't know and no answer 1

i i •»

100$ 100$ 100$ 100$

N «= (lao) (U93) (295) (1198)

The interviewed Brownies were also asked how often they attended church, synagogue and Sunday school- Answers, here, were of the check-list type, and yielded the following results s

Table l l *

Regularity of Attendance; by Religion

Other &

-end church: Protestant Catholic Jewish no answer Total

Regularly 78* 93* Ui* 72* 7fl*

Often 12 5 - - ₁₀

Seldom 7 2 39 - 7

Never 1 - 17 lU 2

No answer 2 2 - Hi 3

100* 100* 100* 100* 100*

N - (290) (95) (18) (7) (too)

The church attendance of the t o t a l Brownie population looks much like that of the Protestant group because the majority of Brownies belong to Protestant

denominations. These church attendance results are almost exactly duplicated by the data obtained from Intermediates and Seniors, to be reported later. At a l l three age levels more than 90 percent of the Catholic g i r l s , about 80 per- cent of the Protestant g i r l s and between one-third and one-half of the Jewish girls report regular church attendance.

Other Extra-curricular Activities

We asked g i r l s about their other club memberships and their involvement i n private lessons.

Since the Brownies represent one of the few organizations which accept girlB as young as seven, i t would be expected that for many of them this represents the only group to which they belong.

Forty-six percent of a l l our Brownie population report no bther memberships,

either at school, at church or elsewhere. Participation i n a l l three of

these categories rises with age throughout the Brownie age range, and

continues to rise through the Intermediate and Senior ages too. The t o t a l

number of groups to which g i r l s belong also rises steadily with increasing

age.

Table 15

Other Group Memberships; by Age

Total 7 & younger Age 8 Age 9 10 & older Quest, Belong to school clubs 18$ 15$ 28$ 1*0$ 28$

Church clubs 12 31* 35 1*1 35

Both school and church 2 5 10 19 l l

Neither school nor church 69 56

_hh

37 1*6

School clubs only 16 10 18 21 17

Church clubs only 10 29 ji ²²

# # * # # #

•H-a Number of school & church clubs

None 67$ 55$ us ^{36$ 1*6$}

One 25 • 35 39 39 37

Two 1 6 13 19 12

Three l 1

k

2

Four or more 1 2 1

No answer 7 3 2 - ²

100$ 1006 100$ 100$ 100$

Other clubs 17$ 22$ 29$ 32$ 27$

N - (83) (352) (1*1*6) (399) (1280)

To the question: "Do you take paid lessons i n anything outside of school time?" 1*5 percent of the Brownies answered "Yes." This item i s , of course, strongly related to the family's economic standing. Our rough economic index showed about one-third of the lowest income group, one-half of the middle group and two-thirds of the highest income group who report private lessons. More than half of the daughters of professional men, business or farm managers or proprietors, and sales personnel take private lessons; but fewer than U-0 percent of the daughters of clerical or manual workers report such lessons.

Regardless of economic differences, the seven-year-olds report private lessons (63$) significantly more often than a l l the other age groups. We have already had one indication that g i r l s who manage to get into a Brownie troop at the age of seven seem to have some age-in-school advantage over the general population of Brownies (cf., school grade by age, Table 11).

This greater likelihood of following another outside-school Interest

(whether i n the arts or sports) points i n the same direction.

Family Size and Brownies' Place l n Family Structure

More than nine out of ten Brownies, i n the Questionnaire as well as the Inter view sample, l i v e with both their mother and their father. This proportion does not vary significantly with age within the Brownie age range, and, perhaps surprisingly, does not drop below °0 percent f o r either Intermediates or Seniors. (The Adolescent G i r l study, whose age range most closely approxi mates that of our Senior sample, found only 8$ percent l i v i n g with both parents. The large number upon which the former study was based makes this 5 percent difference s t a t i s t i c a l l y significant.)

Eighty percent of the Brownies report t h e i r parents as the only adults i n the home.

Table 16 Adults i n the Home

Both parents at home

93%

Mother only 5

Father only 1

Neither parent at home

^#

No answer 1

100$

Other adult i n the home 18$

Parents only 80

No answer 2

100$

N = (1280)

Table 17 presents data gathered on age and sex of siblings i n both the i n t e r view and questionnaire situations. The information i s presented i n six

separate tables, summarizing the Brownies

¹

place i n the family structure from several different points of view.

These findings on Brownies are very similar to those obtained i n the

Adolescent Girls Study, i n which comparable data were collected from school

g i r l s who were not selected as G i r l Scout members.

Table 17

Brownies

¹

Sibling Relationships

a) Sex of Siblings b) Place i n Family Structure

Only child 11$ Only child 11$

Brothers only 20 Oldest child 33

Sisters only 19 Youngest child 21

Both brothers k sisters

h5

Middle child 30

Twin 2 Twin 2

No answer 3 No answer 3

100$ 100$

N * (lllO)

N

* (lao)

c) Number of Siblings

None 10$

One 27

Two 30

Three 17

Four 6

Five 3

Six or more 3

R has sibs., NA how many 2

No answer 2

100$

N - (1280)

d) Number of Brothers

None 32$

One

^hO

Two 16 Three 5 Four 2 Five 1 Six or more #

R has brothers, NA how many 2

No answer 1 100$

N « (1280)

e) Number of Sisters f ) Sex and Age of Siblings

None 36$ Only child 11$

One 35 Brothers only, a l l older 8

Two 16 Brothers only, a l l younger 12

Three 5 Sisters only, a l l older 9

Four 2 Sisters only, a l l younger 10

Five 1 Brothers & sisters, a l l

Six or more

^#

older

h

R has sisters, NA how many 1 Brothers & sisters, a l l

No answer 2 younger 11

Brothers older, sisters

100$ younger u

Sisters older, brothers

N = (1280) younger 3

Older & younger brothers

and sisters 23

R i s twin 2

No answer 3

100$

N « (hlO)

Race

The information on the racial distribution of the Brownie population comes from our personal interviews with g i r l s i n their homes. Interviewers checked this information themselves. The proportion of white, Negro and

"other" members i s completely consistent across age levels.

Table 18 Race

White 9$%

Negro 2 Other 1 No answer 2

100$

N =- (iilO)

Residential Mobility

About three-quarters of the Brownies are now l i v i n g i n communities i n which they have been for five years or more. This length of time probably covers most Brownies' memory span, and the code category actually includes a large number who are l i v i n g i n the communities i n which they were born. The time elapsed since the last move of the families of the other one-quarter of the population can be read i n Table 19, below.

Table 19

Length of Residence i n Current Ccanmunity

Less than one year 2$

One up t o two years

h

Two up to three years 7 Three up to four years 7 Four up to five years 6

Five years or more

Jh

100$

N = (1*10) .

Family Variables Related to Socio-economic Status Income

The most straightforward of our economic measures was one item of a "Census- Data-Questionnaire for Parents" used a t the time of the personal interviews with g i r l s i n their homes. This asked, of the adult i n the home, "What i s the family's approximate income?" and provided a check-list of the categories i n Table 20, below. I n t h i s table, also, we present comparable statistics gathered by the Survey Research Center at about the same time from a sample representative of a l l families i n the nation.

Table 20

Family Income; t o Compare with U. S. 1957 Data

Brownie Families A l l U.S. Families

$2,999 or less

$3,000 - ii,999

$5,000 - 7,ii99

$7,500 - 9,999

$10,000 - Hi, 999

$15,000 and above No answer

N

i i *

26*

25 26

ii3 29

11 9

5 8 t

_ J i

100* 100*

(illO)

(Hi65)

The most t e l l i n g differences between these Brownie family incomes and those of the t o t a l population l i e i n the proportion of incomes of $5,000 and more:

two-thirds of the parents of Brownies reported this financial status, compared to fewer than one-half of the t o t a l family population. The dearth of very low incomes i n this parents-of-Brownies group i s somewhat, but not entirely, explained by the absence of very young and very old breadwinners.

(Cf., Table 22, f o r "retired" category.) But the fact i s s t i l l clear that few Brownies come from very low income families, and more Brownie -families than families across the nation enjoy the very highest incomes.

I n the questionnaires administered to the g i r l s we were able to attempt only

rough estimates of economic conditions. We asked the g i r l s , among many

other items of information about their family and home: "How many bedrooms

are there i n your home? How many cars does your family have? How many tele-

phones are there i n your home?"

Number of Bedrooms, Cars, Telephones Bedrooms Cars Telephones

None it* 5*

One 2 63 67

Two 27 29 23

Three

k9

3

Four or more 21

^{•* #}

No answer 1 1 1

100* 100* 10$

N = (1280) (1280) (1280) Father's Occupation

Asking Prownies to give a satisfactory answer about their father's occupation was d i f f i c u l t . The interviewer who administered the troop questionnaire said:

"The question asks: What does your father do f o r a living?

What i s his job? I f he works i n a large place, write down what job he does there, l i k e sweeper, or bookkeeper, or

drill-press operator, or vice-president. I f you don't know the one word that t e l l s what he does, you can write a

sentence; that's why there are two lines there."

The g i r l s ' answers were then classified by the Survey Research Center's trained coding s t a f f . Coders were warned that many answers would be too vague to classify, and were instructed to place a l l uncertain responses i n the "uncodable" class. About 30 percent of the answers of Brownies at a l l age levels f e l l into this category. But the remaining 70 percent gi-ve us a chance to compare the reports of those Brownies who adequately answered the item i n the troop questionnaire with the answers of mothers of Brownies who were interviewed at home. Reports of the household head's occupation i n the 1957 Survey of Consumer Finances are also given.

The income advantage of Brownie families observed i n Table 22 can now be clearly identified with the proportion of white collar workers among them.

An addition of the f i r s t three occupational categories yields U8 percent for Brownies (on both instruments) and 33 percent for the general population.

This t o t a l white-collar difference, as well as the smaller differences between professional Brownie fathers and professional heads of households across the nation, are very significant s t a t i s t i c a l l y . I t might be mentioned at this point, that both income and occupation data show no variation between program levels. This means that the difference between Brownies and the general U.S.

population holds f o r members of the G i r l Scout organization at a l l levels.

Table 22

Father's Occupation; to Compare with Total U.S. 1957 Data

Questionnaire Interview Total U.S.

Professional, technical and kindred

Self-employed and managers Professional, technical and kindred

^16%

17$ 9$

Self-employed and managers 16 16 13

Clerical and sales 16 15 11

Craftsmen, foremen, operatives 29

_3k

28

Laborers, service workers, farm labor

Unemployed^ Laborers, service workers, farm labor 7 10 11

Unemployed^

^{# #}

5

Farm operators 1 1 7

Protective: servicemen, police, firemen 8

ii

r Others and students Inapplicable; father not at home (widow) Retired and not ascertained (U.S. only) 6

• •

1 2 1 L 12

^h

100$

100%

100$

N = (898) (385) (301*1)

Mother's Occupation

More than one-quarter of the Brownies' mothers "go to work" or "have a job outside the home." These were the phrases used i n the questions put to the Brownies themselves i n the Questionnaire, and to t h e i r mothers i n the home interview. The largest proportion of the working mothers i s found i n the c l e r i c a l and sales category.

Table 23

Mother's Occupation

Professional, technical and kindred workers 5$

Self-employed businesswomen and artisans; managers, o f f i c i a l s 2

Clerical and sales workers 10 Craftsmen, foremen, operatives and kindred workers k

Laborers, service workers; farm laborers 6

Housewives 69 No answer k

100$

N » (iO-0)

Parents

¹

Education

Brownies' mothers are more l i k e l y to have finished High School than are their fathers, but among the parents who went t o college, more fathers are l i k e l y to have graduated or t o have taken post-graduate work.

Table 2h

Parents' Education (Brownies)

Father Mother Pure Cumulative Pure Cumulative

Post-graduate education 8$ 8$

2%

2$

Graduated from college 12 20

9

i i

Went to college 16 36 17 28

Graduated from high school 26 62 1*2 70

Went to high school 23 85 21 91

Went to grade school 12 97 8 99

Inap., no such parent 2

^•*

No answer 1 1

100$ 100$

N = (1*10) (iao)

The same trends are found i n the d i f f e r e n t i a l education of the parents of

Intermediates and Seniors i n the sample.

THE PROGRAM ACTIVITIES OF BROWNIE TROOPS What Brownies Like Best

In the questionnaires administered to Brownies the question of what they do in their troops and how they l i k e i t was approached i n several ways. The f i r s t approach was the question: "What do you like BEST about Brownie meetings?" and i t allowed free reign to the g i r l s ' original responses.

A l l but k percent of the Brownies i n this large sample had completed the second grade at the time they f i l l e d out our questionnaire, the majority had acquired a t h i r d grade education. This question posed a task not impos- sible for them, but .nevertheless d i f f i c u l t . The f i r s t broad generalization to be drawn from Tables 25 and 26, i s that 97 percent of the Brownies could think of something about their organization that they liked very much and were w i l l i n g to take the trouble to write i t out. Further, the g i r l s ' answers show considerable variation. That i s , the aspects of Brownie

membership which g i r l s chose as the most satisfying spread over a very wide range of program content and ideas.

Table 25 presents the proportions of Brownies who gave "like best" responses i n each of twelve summary categories, and compares these proportions with those obtained from Intermediates and Seniors on a comparable question. More than three-quarters of the entire Brownie sample made their response or one of their responses to this question i n the general areas of indoor play or

"making things." Fourteen percent gave only a very generalized answer indicating that they liked everything they do i n their Brownie troops, and another Ik percent made "interpersonal satisfaction" responses. The i n d i - vidual types of answers which make up each of these more generalized cate- gories can be read i n Table 26, where responses are also presented with a further break-down of Brownie age groups.

The most striking difference between Brownies on the one hand and the upper age levels on the other i s found i n the comparatively small proportion of the younger g i r l s who make their "favorite" response i n the "Outdoor A c t i v i t i e s " area. The great increase i n the proportion of such responses among Intermediates and Seniors i s largely made up of "camping" responses, which w i l l be seen i n later sections of the report.

The single area which shows a continuous age trend i n Table 26 i s the

"Indoor Play" category, i n which the proportion of "liked best" responses

drops with increasing age. This would indicate that Erownies at f i r s t

start out playing games, "having fun" and throwing parties f o r themselves (see also the "refreshment" entries under "Meeting Routines"), and, as their program progresses, begin to take more of their satisfaction i n more substan- tive areas of program content.

As a sidelight interesting t o the reader who notes that no Brownies gave a response classified i n the satisfaction category of "being part of a nation- wide organization" or of an international one, i t should be added that only two such responses were obtained i n the entire study, and these both came from sixteen-year-old Seniors.

For further comparisons between Brownies and the two upper program levels on the specific sub-headings i n Table 26, the reader i s referred to Table 1 i n the Appendix.

Table 25

Of a l l the things i n Scouting, what do you LIKE BEST?

(What do you l i k e best about Brownie meetings?)

Number of Responses Brownies Intermediates Seniors

At least one 97* 99*

99%

Two or more

hl%

63* 67*

Three 12* 30* 30*

ummary Categories A l l Three Responses

Interpersonal satisfactions Hi* 8* 22*

Indoor play 38 28 17

Creative activities (making things) 39 38 11

Out-of-door activities 17 90 97

Learning 10 3

h

Standards and ideals 5 3 15

Organizational opportunities 2 6 13

•Meeting-routines 13 9 9

Miscellaneous

h

2 3

Everything Hi 3 1

Nothing

^{- •*}

-

No answer 3 1 1

•ft-*

N = (1280) (1016) (611)

What do you l i k e BEST about Brownie meetings?

Age 10 T o t a l Number of Responses Age 7 Age 8 Age 9 & over Quest.

At l e a s t one 96$ 99$ 98$ 9l*$ 97$

Two 39 1*5 k6 53 1*7

Three 17 8 11 16 12

Categories of Responses A l l Three Responses

T o t a l I n t e r p e r s o n a l S a t i s f a c t i o n s 8$ il*$ 13$

15$

lli$

L i k e t h e g i r l s 2 6 5 k 5

L i k e l e a d e r s , mothers, adults 6 6 k 5 5

Group belongingness

-

1 1 l i

Working together; other together

responses

-

^{1 2} _h ²

Other i n t e r p e r s o n a l responses

-

^{# 1 l 1}

T o t a l Indoor P l a y kia ^38$ 31$ 38$

Playing games 22 23 20 15 19

Singing, music, dancing 6 8 8 6 8

Dramatic play; s k i t s , plays 1 1 ^# 2 1

L i t e r a t u r e ; s t o r i e s , poems, books k ¹ 1 ^{# 1}

Indoor sports

- - - - -

P a r t i e s 8 5 3 3 k

Other indoor p l a y

- - _-

¹

Playing, having fun 10 6 6 k 5

T o t a l Creative A c t i v i t i e s 27$ 39$ 10$ 39$ 39$

Homf! -making s k i l l s 2 2 2 1 2

Arts and c r a f t s ; making things,

p a i n t i n g lk 27 28 ²⁸ 27

Other s p e c i f i c indoor c r e a t i v e

a c t i v i t i e s 1 1 1 1

Work, a c t i v i t i e s , doing things 10 10 10 9 9 T o t a l Outdoor A c t i v i t i e s 13$ 11$

15$

26$ 17$

P i c n i c s 1 1 2 2 2

Hikes 9 k k ^{10 6}

T r i p s , seeing p l a c e s

-

2 3 5 3

Cook-outs, f i r e - b u i l d i n g , campcrafts 1 3 3 3 3 Water a c t i v i t i e s : swimming,

boating, diving

- - -

^•*

Winter s p o r t s : sledding, skating,

s k i i n g

- - -

¹

Other outdoor s p o r t s , wide games e t c .

- -

^{2 1}

Nature study

-

^{# 1}

Other outdoor a c t i v i t i e s 1 1 1 1

Out-of-doors - general 1 1 1 1

(continued)

Age 7 Age 8 Age 9 & over Quest.

Total Learning

6$

7$ 11$ 12$ 10$

Learning how t o get along with people

^mm

1

1 ^#

1

Learning games, songs, poems 1 1 2 1 1

Learning to cook, sew, make things

- -

1 1 1 Outdoor s k i l l s and sports, fire-building

^- - *

1

^•*

To be a good Brownie, the Promise 1 1 1

^*

1 Learning about Scouting, history-

-

1 1 1 1 How to be a leader; to run a meeting

^{- -}

- ₁

^#

Other specified learning not covered

above 1

^•*

2 1

Learning things, general, undefined

_h

3 5 5

_h

Total Standards and Ideals

- 6%

5$ 7$ 5$

Being a good Brownie, good sport 1

^_

1

^•*

The Promise, ideals to live up t o

Doing good turns, helping others

^-

2 2 2 2 The Promise, ideals to live up t o

Doing good turns, helping others

^-

3 3

h

3 Being trusted, respected as a Brownie

^{- - - .- -}

Other Good Brownie responses

- -

•}(•

^{• f t •*}

Total Organizational Opportunities 1*

2%

2$

h%

2$

Going to camp 1 2 1 3 2

Being part of national organi-

zatjon, future Scout

^{- -}

-

- -

Being part of international

organization

^-

-

^{- - -}

The uniform, hand-book, Brownie knife

Cookie sales, other public functions

^-

-

- *

The uniform, hand-book, Brownie knife

Cookie sales, other public functions -

-

Other benefits of membership

- -

1

Total Meeting Routines

12%

12$ 13$ 13$

Roll-call, paying dues

^{•* -}

Being an officer, taking some

re sp onsi b i l i t y

- ^{• f t}

1 1 1

Ceremonies, flag-raising

-

2

h

2 2

Special G i r l Scout songs,

Brownie songs

-

1

^{- - •*}

Refreshments, food, snacks

Other meeting routines 22 8

⁶

7 8

Refreshments, food, snacks

Other meeting routines 2. 1 1 3 2

" I l i k e everything; I l i k e the meetings" 22$

12%

15$ 13$

lk%

Miscellaneous, not codable above 1$

5%

3$

h%

W

No answer _ 1 $

^{_ 2 $ __6$} _J$

•ft* •** •ft*

•it-*

^-**

N « (83) (352) (Ui6) (399) (1280)

The Troop Activities List

Our second approach to what Brownies do, l i k e , and would like to do was the presentation of sixteen activities i n regard t o each of which the girls were asked to answer two questions: 1) "Is this something you have ever done i n your Brownie troop?" and 2) "Is i t something you liked doing ( i f done) or would like to do ( i f not done)?"

Table 27, the Brownie Troop Activities L i s t , i s the f i r s t of a series of tables to be presented i n this report which present parallel s t a t i s t i c a l summaries of three ways of looking at program i n G i r l Scout troops and camps.

This, and a l l of the subsequent " a c t i v i t i e s l i s t s , " are tremendously rich i n information and deserve very careful study. They contain a s t a t i s t i c a l l y reliable description of program as i t exists and the assessment of i t i n terms of g i r l s ' enjoyment. I n addition, they point out g i r l s ' interests i n areas to which their particular troop's program has not yet exposed them.

The three columns of Table 27 bear the headings: Participation, Enjoyment and Anticipated Enjoyment

Program Content

The percentage figure i n the f i r s t column represents the proportion of a l l Brownies who say that they have participated i n the given a c t i v i t y with their Brownie troop. This provides a direct description of what troop program actually i s : More than nine out of ten of a l l Brownies have played games and sung songs. These two activities come close to representing universality in Brownie program across the country. The arts and crafts category, with 83 percent participation, i s close i n describing the typical things that Brownies get to do i n their troops.

This l i s t of activities for the Brownie questionnaire was worked out with the assistance of program level advisors at National Headquarters, and represented the suggested program content f o r Brownie troops everywhere.

The results i n the Participation column would seem to indicate that these generalized expectations are substantially met. The two a c t i v i t i e s showing the lowest participation index s t i l l f i n d one-half of a l l the Brownies reporting.

Enjoyment

The second column, headed Enjoyment, reports the proportion of those g i r l s who answered "Yes" to the f i r s t question ( i . e . , who reported participation) and also answered-. "Yes" t o the second question. I t represents program

"success" insofar as judgement of success i s based on Brownies' stated enjoy- ment. A l l of these figures indicate that over three-quarters enjoy their program, the lowest proportion reading 79 percent for "practice or talk

about how to help at home." Hikes and t r i p s f i n d the highest endorsement

from Brownies who have had them.

Brownie Troop A c t i v i t i e s l i s t

Participation Anticipated

% who have Enjoyment .Enjoyment participated i n % of % of

each a c t i v i t y participators non-participators during a year who enjoyed who think they'd A c t i v i t y of Scouting the a c t i v i t y l i k e the a c t i v i t y

Help run the troop

60* 91* 76*

Practice or t a l k about how

to help at home

₇₅ 79

51

Learn about g i r l s different

from you 50

88 71

Learn about your country,

c i t y or town 50

⁸⁸ 63

Singing 92 92

65

Dancing

51* 93

70

Listening to stories 72

^{88 62}

Making up stories, plays or

skits

⁵⁸ 91 70

Painting, making things (arts

and crafts)

83 93 71*

Learn about nature 52

^{88 62}

Play games

9k ^{93 63}

Go on hikes

⁶⁸ 95 87

Learn health and safety rules

6k

92

⁶⁶

Special Brownie ceremonies

78 91 65

Take trips to see special

things

^61* 95 83

Have meetings to do things

with other Brownie troops

⁶⁶ 89 ?2

N = (1280)

1/ V

1/ The number bases of these percentages vary and may, where desired, be

~* reconstructed from the percentages i n the f i r s t column. Example: The number of participators and non-participators i n "learn about your

country, c i t y or town" are equal. F i f t y percent have done this i n their Brownie troop, and 50 percent, therefore, have not done i t . The per- centages of participation enjoyment and anticipated enjoyment are thus based on equal numbers, 61*0 i n each case. Eighty-eight percent of the 61*0 who have studied t h e i r communities l i k e d doing so, and 63 percent of the other 61*0 would l i k e t o t r y i t .

The largest participation a c t i v i t y (playing games -. 9l**) leaves the

smallest base upon which t o base anticipated enjoyment: 6 percent of

1280, or 77 g i r l s . I t i s 63 percent of these 77 who think they'd like

to play games.

Although a l l of these enjoyment index f i g u r e s read i n the 80*s and 90 ^Ts , i t w i l l s t i l l be meaningful to make rough rank-orderirigs o f them. Since these percentages are s t i l l based on f a i r l y large numbers (the s m a l l e s t "base" i n t h i s column i s 61*0, c f . , footnote t o Table 27) d i f f e r e n c e s of four or f i v e percentage p o i n t s , i n t h i s case, represent s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t v a r i a - t i o n s . That i s to say, f o r i n s t a n c e : nine out of ten Brownies enjoy t h e i r ceremonies, but even more of them l i k e t o go on a hike.

A n t i c i p a t e d Enjoyment

The t h i r d column i n t h i s , and subsequent A c t i v i t i e s L i s t s , i s headed " a n t i c i - pated enjoyment." This represents the proportion of those g i r l s who have not p a r t i c i p a t e d i n a given a c t i v i t y ( i . e . , s a i d "No" to the f i r s t question) but who t h i n k they would enjoy i t i f given a chance.

Here we f i n d , i n general, that the rank-ordering of a c t i v i t i e s f o l l o w s , f a i r l y c l o s e l y , t h a t obtained from the group of g i r l s who have a c t u a l l y had experience w i t h the a c t i v i t i e s . The f i g u r e s range from a low of 51 percent to a high of 87 percent, both r e p r e s e n t i n g the same a c t i v i t i e s which produced high and low enjoyment f i g u r e s . I n other words, i t would seem that the l i s t e d a c t i v i t i e s do, on the whole, contain inherent "fun p o t e n t i a l , " which does not change i n rank order, w i t h p a r t i c i p a t i o n .

What does change, and with v e r y impressive consistency, i s the l e v e l of enjoyment. Every s i n g l e a c t i v i t y l i s t e d , both here and i n the a c t i v i t i e s l i s t s presented to Intermediates and S e n i o r s , shows an upward spurt from a b a s i c " a n t i c i p a t e d enjoyment" l e v e l t o a higher " p a r t i c i p a t i o n enjoyment."

We might s t a t e t h i s another way: More than h a l f of the Brownies expect to have fun a t anything they might p o s s i b l y do i n t h e i r troops. But a f t e r they have a c t u a l l y done i t , t h i s proportion i n v a r i a b l y r i s e s : "The proof of the a c t i v i t y i s c e r t a i n l y i n the doing."

There i s one f u r t h e r g e n e r a l i z a t i o n that can be s t a t e d here. The longer

troop a c t i v i t i e s l i s t s given to Intermediates and Seniors ( c f . , l a t e r s e c t i o n s ) y i e l d e d the same r e s u l t s of i n c r e a s e d p a r t i c i p a t i o n enjoyment over a n t i c i p a t e d enjoyment. Furthermore, comparison of the o v e r - a l l f i g u r e s showed another almost u n i v e r s a l phenomenon: The absolute l e v e l s of both a n t i c i p a t e d and p a r t i c i p a t i o n enjoyment y i e l d e d by Brownies are higher than those obtained from Intermediates, which are higher than those found among S e n i o r s . Brownies simply have a higher l e v e l of enthusiasm, whatever i t i s they are doing.

They expect to have fun i n higher proportions, and they f i n d they do have fun i n even l a r g e r numbers. To s t a t e t h i s i n r e v e r s e : enthusiasms seem to wane.

Table 28 presents these findings i n abbreviated form. Only some of the s p e c i f i c a c t i v i t i e s of Intermediate and Senior program were found to have duplicates or close p a r a l l e l s i n the Brownies' l i s t . Those that possess some correspondence are presented i n t h i s t a b l e with t h e i r accompanying three i n d i c e s f o r each of the program l e v e l s . The bubbling enthusiasm of the Brownies, i n comparison to t h e i r older s i s t e r s , i s immediately apparent i n the Enjoyment Index column. And i t w i l l be seen, f u r t h e r , that on only a s i n g l e one of the a c t i v i t i e s l i s t e d here does the A n t i c i p a t e d Enjoyment Index f a i l to drop c o n s i s t e n t l y w i t h r i s i n g program l e v e l .

Table 28

Comparative Troop Activities L i s t

Using approximately equivalent a c t i v i t i e s from Brownie and Intermediate-Senior Questionnaires, f o r purposes of comparison.

Anticipated Participation Enjoyment Enjoyment

Index Index Index A c t i v i t y Br. I n t . Sr. Br. I n t . Sr. Br. I n t . Sr.

Help run troop (B) and Planning and making

rules (I-S) 60* 68* 72*

_91% 69% 6k% 76%

39*

2k%

Learn about g i r l s different from you (B) and Learn about different g i r l s i n this country and i n other

countries (I-S) 50 51

U2

88 72

₆₆

71 56

_k9

Singing (B) and Singing or

listening to music (I-S) 92 80 83

92

76 75 65

kl

38 Dancing (B and I-S) 5a ^{65 71 93 88 80 70 61 US}

Arts and crafts (B and I-S) 83 82

_Ik

93 82

_{Ik Ik}

57

k2

Learn about nature (B)

and Find names of trees..

and take care of plants

52 71 5ii 88 70 57 62

k6

28 Go on hikes (B and I-S) 68 85 87 95 89 86 87 Bl 67 Trips to special places

(B and IS) 61*

₆₉

76 95 87 88 83 67

_Ih

Program Expectations

In the personal interview administered to some g i r l s at a l l program levels we asked several questions which asked them to remember back to the time at which they f i r s t joined the Brownies or Scouts. Two of these questions

dealt with t h e i r program expectations and experience:

1) "At the time when you f i r s t thought of joining, what sorts of things did you hope to be doing?"

2) "And then when you got into the troop, did i t turn out that you really did those things you were hoping to do?"

Table 29 presents Brownies' answers to the f i r s t of these questions i n terms of the proportion of a l l the g i r l s i n the interview sample who made a

response i n each category as one of her f i r s t three mentions.

Comparison of this table with the description of Brownie program as found i n the Participation Index of Table 27, w i l l show a good correspondence between what most Brownies expect and what they find. More than half of the Browni.es hoped to be participating i n creative and outdoor a c t i v i t i e s .

(The l a t t e r category, as defined f o r Table 29, includes hikes and trips.) I t might also be noted that the 15 percent entry under expectations of

"learning" something by joining i s significantly higher than the comparable figures f o r Intermediates and Seniors, which were 11 percent and 9 percent respectively.

Table 29

Brownies* Program Expectations (Sum of three responses)

Interpersonal: make friends, work, play together 10$

Indoor play: games, singing, dramatics, parties, fun 3k Creative a c t i v i t i e s : making things, arts and crafts, home-making

( a l l indoor activities not covered under

play above) 63 Outdoor- activitiesr-npicniasy^hikes^ "trips, camping, outdoor sports,

nature study 52 Learning (emphasis on learning any of the above) 15

Scouting ideals: Promise and Laws, character improvement 2 Organizational opportunities: go to camp, being part of larger

organization, wear uniforms, s e l l

cookies 6 Meeting routines: being an officer, ceremonies, friendship circle 3

General: lots of things, everything 1

Service and other 10 Nothing i n particular #

No answer 2

N = (lilO)

Table 30 f i r s t reports the proportions of a l l Brownies, regardless of t h e i r p a r t i c u l a r program expectations, who s a i d t h a t t h e i r experience d i d o r did not correspond t o t h e i r expectations. As the comparison w i t h the eventually- obtained program d e s c r i p t i o n has already anticipated, the large m a j o r i t y of Brownies were found t o report t h a t t h e i r troops' program d i d l i v e ' up t o t h e i r expectations.

The second p o r t i o n of Table 30 presents the degree t o which expectations were confirmed among g i r l s who expressed p a r t i c u l a r program expectations. A

comparison o f these proportions w i t h those i n Table 30a reveals the tendencies of Brownies who had been looking forward t o interpersonal s a t i s f a c t i o n s and to have t h e i r expectations f u l f i l l e d most completely and of those who had hoped mainly f o r outdoor a c t i v i t y t o be s l i g h t l y more disappointed. I n terms of s t a t i s t i c a l significance, however, o n l y the more s a t i s f i e d responses of the g i r l s expecting interpersonal s a t i s f a c t i o n s show a large enough difference t o warrant searching i n t e r p r e t a t i o n .

Table 30

Did i t t u r n out t h a t you r e a l l y did those things you were hoping t o do?

a) A l l Brownies

Yes 71*

Yes, q u a l i f i e d 16

Pro-con h

No, q u a l i f i e d 3

No 5

Inapplicable, no expectations

No answer 1

100*

N--(iao)

b) By D i f f e r e n t i a l Program Expectations ( i n any of three responses)

Pro-con, No Yes q u a l i f i e d

Yes q u a l i f i e d and No N=<L00*

Interpersonal s a t i s f a c t i o n s 83* 15* 2* (liO)

Indoor p l a y 77 15 8

(lUo)

Creative a c t i v i t i e s 73 16 11 (258) Outdoor a c t i v i t i e s 66 19 15 (212)

Learning 78 10 12 (60)

Organizational opportunities 70 17 13 (2ii)

A l l other categories 80 13 7 (68)