The preventive psychosocial effects of an intensive summer residential program for children with communication disorders related to cleft lip and palate are evaluated. Following the program the children (ages 3-11) increased their social interaction rates during observed interactions with non-handicapped peers and according to parent ratings.
Research on the use of peer modeling (filmed and live) and peer social initiations with withdrawn exceptional children is considered. Advantages of the social initiation approach include application with children with a limited behavioral repertoire, no requirement for adult intervention, and the opportunity to use handicapped peers as trainers. (CL).
Briefly discusses the importance of remediating social withdrawal and summarizes some peer mediated intervention procedures. The highlight of this chapter, however, is the use of social initiations delivered by peers. Includes a description of procedure issues and problems such as: selection of peer trainer and target subjects; setting and subject variables; observational procedures; and peer trainer preparation.
The selection of peer helpers and target children training of peer helpers, the structure of the interaction, and the selection of play materials are outlined . A social competence intervention project is described and the use of role playing and play sessions is detailed. Developmentally delayed, autistic, behaviorally disordered, and moderately mentally retarded children have benefitted from this type of intervention.
Describes the debriefing sessions at Galaudet College, which provide a forum for cooperative education students to share experiences to put them in perspective with other deaf students, and to receive peer support. Includes the debriefing questionaire and recommendations for adoption by other colleges. (JOW).
Describes rationale for and creation of the Parent Helpers Program, a program designed to provide families who experience the birth of a developmentally disabled infant with a supportive and informative climate in which to maximize family adjustment. Presents the structure of the program and case histories of parents.
The effectiveness of observational learning in social skills acquisition was assessed with two moderately retarded adults (age 23 and 27) who were being trained as role models with mentally retarded peers. (Author/ PHR).
Excerpts from a discussion on trainees helping each other by a panel of mildly retarded adults in a sheltered workshop are presented. Discussion centers on helping peers with anger, and frustration, talking about problems, and helping with daily living skills. (CL).
Project Special Friend, a reverse mainstreaming program in which elementary school volunteers worked with severely retarded students, is described. After one year the program was found to have increased the social awareness of the retarded students and given the volunteers a much better understanding of their handicapped peers' problems and feelings. (PHR).
Results indicate equivalent levels of patient performance when contingent reinforcement in a residential token economy program was controlled by either patient peer groups or staff. Patients in a peer-managed program showed positive ward behavior, reductions in psychosocial problems, and increase in potential for adjusting to community life. (Author).
Testimonies regarding readjustment counseling programs for Vietman Veterans are presented. Views on the way which vet centers are being used, the effectiveness of the centers, and ways in which the service provision of the centers can be improved are presented by representatives of a VA Medical Center, various Vet Centers, veterans associations, and individuals. One suggestion was that the Vet Center program use a novel concept in mental health treatment by using trained survivors of a trauma to treat other victims of the same trauma.
Taught each of 2 mentally retarded women (62 and 63 years of age) to engage 2 withdrawn peers (59-69 years of age) in appropriate social interaction. Three training techniques--minimal instructions, role playing, direct prompting--were evaluated in a combined multiple baseline and reversal design. Results showed that both women were effective in altering the behavior of their charges. Also, the three training procedures produced differential results.
Interview with 21 members of 2 cesarean support groups show that association with and support of other cesarean mothers was a key factor in facilitating post partum adjustment and emotional recovery after a cesarean birth.
Two chronic retarded psychotic female inpatients (33 and 38 years old) underwent a two part program designed to improve the maintenance and generalization of the learned social skills. First, training involved instruction, modeling, role-playing, and feedback with daily problem situations. Second, each S served as a partner for the other, monitored the other's behavior, provided reinforcement, information and feedback. Improvements were maintained at the six week checkup.
Presents case studies to illustrate the effectiveness of using former phobics as a part of a low-cost treatment of phobias.
An associate degree program, designed to train displaced homemakers as paraprofessional counselors, is described, including the on the job training experiences and the academic courses. An example of the general curriculum is included, along with an evaluation questionaire to determine program appropriateness. Evaluation results are discussed in terms of the nontraditional students' ability to: (1) understand influential factors in their lives, (2) recognize the unique aspects of the feminine experience which make women more likely to be better counselors than men for other women, (3) increase their economic status, and (4) enhance their self- esteem. (JAC).
Written for displaced homemaker programs in vocational technical schools, this curriculum contains material designed so that instructors can prepare student manuals appropriate to almost any educational support situation for displaced homemakers. An overview provides information on special needs groups, curriculum use, and resources and sample publicity materials and intake form. Some unit titles include: Values clarification; Decision making; Practical problem solving; Communication; Time management; Job readiness; Assertiveness training; and Peer counseling. (YLB).
Panel survey study of 194 21-67 year old bereaved parents. Involvement in Compassionate Friends is compared for trends in changes in depression and personal growth. While no differences in depression were detected, a linear trend was evidenced in personal growth.
This paper describes Peer Culture Development, Inc., a private, non-profit agency which provides a school based delinquency prevention program to public schools. The basic components of the program are described along with the selection and role of student leaders in the program. Discussed are: (1) dynamics of the group meetings, (2) objectives that must occur if project goals are to be achieved (eg. reduction of negative peer pressure), (3) strategies to alter the subculture socialization process and to assist schools in helping students adapt to the environment, and (4) teacher training aspects of the program. (JAC ).
LAPD has developed and implemented a department supported peer counseling program using regularly employed officers and civilians on a large scale. The need for and the effectiveness of peer counseling in this situation is discussed. Factors in the selection of participants are evaluated. The training program, developmental issues and guidelines are also presented.
Describes a peer counselling program for teenage boys at a social adjustment center. After receiving peer facilitator training the boys acted as counsellors for students at an elementary school. Results indicated that training was an effective treatment, resulting in better self-concept and social relationships. (JAC).
Examined the influences of 2 modes of peer counseling (counseling on personal and social goals) on parolees' perceptions of the rehabilitative value of one aspect of a parole officer's role in investigation--case conferences with private agencies. A comparison of the perceptions by parolees and parole officers of these case conferences showed that only those parolees involved in peer counseling on social goals had perceptions as favorable as those of the parole officers.
Describes a cost effective nontraditional recruitment program at California State College, Stanislaus, which trained college freshman to recruit Mexican American students in the high schools they had attended. Response to the program was positive, and erased some stereotypes of Chicano students. (JAC).
Investigated the effects of group assertiveness training on black adolescent aggression and the comparative effectiveness of professional and peer counselors as trainers. Results suggest that professional and peer counselors are equally effective in teaching assertive skills and that subjects who learn assertive responses will exhibit significantly less aggressive behavior. In addition, subjects were equally satisfied with peer or professional counselors as group facilitators.
An interim report of a 5 year project funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, Paraprofessionals Branch, and administered by the Seattle Indian Health Board to develop a model Indian mental health training program. The program emphasizes culturally sensitive, degree oriented development, fieldwork, and worker certification. Seminars on special topics such as cross-cultural counseling, traditional healers, and kinship systems are also offered.
Describes a project with Native American tribes in Louisiana which trains paraprofessionals to provide minimal mental health services for their own people and to gain access to various states agencies. The project was viewed as successful by the trainees and an outside evaluator. (JAC).
Describes the SHARE program (Students Helping Admissions in the Recruitment Effort), a highly successful program at the University of Texas in Austin designed to recruit minority students. The SHARE program uses student volunteers who contact minority students through school visits and telephone recruiting. (JAC).
Peer support can be helpful in reducing the stress involved in giving birth to and raising a child with handicaps. A peer support group can help meet the parents' needs for information, emotional support, and ways to connect with social/health systems components. To be successful, a peer support system should be led by parents, have access to professional support, teach special skills such as active listening, be sanctioned by the medical community, have a paid staff, and operate under an umbrella agency. (CL).
A project was conducted to adapt and apply a model to train counsellors in techniques that combine the principles of peer counselling and career counselling. The effectiveness of this model was studied by monitoring the applications of those techniques by the participating counsellor in their counselling settings. Thirty counsellors participated in a sixteen week, two phase training program. The first phase consisted of a series of workshops in which counsellors actively experienced the counselling training model with an emphasis on employment skills. The second phase provided staff assistance to counsellors as they implemented program concepts in counselling activities. Research focused on the effectiveness of the model on the self- perceptions and the job-seeking skill of clients in the counsellors' home setting. significant outcomes included (1) a training program in peer counselling and employment skills servicing to the needs of adult counsellors and community based agencies such as CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act), OIC (Occupational Information Centers), public employment service, etc. (2) better equipped counsellors able to deal with clients in group settings, (3) a peer counselling model based in community agencies that effectively meets the clients' employment related needs, and (4) an effective peer counselling handbook containing approaches and activities pertinent to the clients' needs. (Pre-test instruments, evaluation forms, and other related project forms are appended. (Author/BM).
An attempt to establish a self-help network based on shared peer counselling for families of dying children in a Midwest teaching hospital is described and evaluated. Structure of the group meeting is delineated in terms of environment, didactic presentations and practices of peer counselling. (Author).
This paper describes a program of free, short-term individual bereavement counselling for survivors of sudden death in Marin County, California. Co-sponsors are Marin Suicide Prevention Center and Marin County Coroner's Office. Most survivors are initially referred to the program by the coroner at the time of certifying cause of death, others are referred by third parties, and some are self-referred. Clients may not be in therapy, and the death may not have occurred more than a year prior to the referral. All known primary survivors are contacted through outreach calls during which the program is offered. About one-third of those contacted accept. Of the 71 cases reported here, two-thirds involved violent deaths of which one-half were suicides. Counsellors are volunteers working in pairs, who are trained and supervised by Marin Suicide Prevention Center. The program has been functioning for six years without funding, other than administrative support from sponsoring agencies. Observations indicate that the most willing to accept help are: (1) survivors of highly traumatic deaths, (2) unsuccessful suicide attempters, (3) female survivors grieving the loss of males, and (4) survivors who lose a spouse, lover or child. (Author/CKJ).
The goals of the SHANTI Project are: to offer direct community services consisting of counselling and companionship for patients and families and grief counselling for survivors of a death; to provide professional training and public education; and to conduct substantive research to evaluate the project. Case material is presented. (Author).
Describes how older students in an Educational Opportunity Program were selected and trained to function as peer counsellors and group facilitators to aid freshmen students in adjusting to a university setting. In addition, an outline describing structured activities to be used in the group counselling setting is included. (Author).
Describes a peer counselling program, the Oneonta Opportunity Program, for educationally and academically disadvantaged students. Its purpose was to provide academic advising and counselling, institutional orientation, and regular formal contact for first-time college students (freshman). (Author).
Peer counselling, from a black perspective is one educational tool which might be employed with young black adolescents to assist them in making choices which would tend to enhance their lifestyles. (Author).
Discusses a study to determine the effectiveness of training prisoners as peer counsellors through a series of videotaped programs. This method, which proved as effective as a "live" training experience, provides an alternative to correctional institutions in short supply of funds. (KC).
This article examines whether inmate group leaders can be successful in reducing state anxiety, promoting a positive attitude towards their admissions program and future psychotherapy, and assisting in the group members learning of the institution's rules, regulations and policies.. (Author).
Inquired in prisoners' preference for and evaluation of peer counsellor inmates trained in counselling or professional counsellors, though use of videotaped, simulated counselling vignettes. Barron's Ego Strength Scale was not a useful predictor of inmates preferences. Several subjects preferred professional counsellors; this did not lead to more favourable evaluations. (Author/BEF).
At Northern Kentucky State University, the Peer Support Organization offers older students, especially women, peer counselling and a chance to discuss problems. The organization was introduced to help these nontraditional students adjust to their unique demands that often include husbands, jobs, children and school. (JMD).
An experimental program is described which was designed to train non- urban housewives for paid employment as paraprofessional peer counsellors. A flow chart traces the origin of the project back to 1969, when the future project director recognized the mental health needs of a variety of non-urban housewives of all ages. The resulting peer counsellor training program is described in detail, including funding and institutional support, rationale and objectives, staff and consultants, selection of trainees, and program design. The extensive evaluation information includes sections on the program's effects on trainees and on staff. Issues and questions raised by the project are listed and discussed, and a summary and future recommendations conclude the publication. (Author/BP).
The Community Based Guidance Program is an inexpensive and effective outreach project for home-oriented women. It is self-perpetuating and develops its own professional and user networks. As a link between women, it provides the confidence to make and implement midlife decisions. (Author).
Veteran/students employed under the VA Work Study Program at Harrisburg area community college serve as peer counsellors and perform other veterans affairs related work to benefit veterans in addition to the monetary reward of employment, VA Work Study students increase their grade point average significantly. (Author).
Peer services of the sixties responding to the needs of the drug culture have evolved in the seventies to focus on problems associated with sexuality and the sexual revolution. They provide information, counselling and referral for those experiencing sex related difficulties. (JMF).
In October 1976, under a grant from NIMH to the Human Sexuality Program, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, the Sex and Liability Training Project began training physically disabled and nondisabled persons as sociosexual educator-counselors for persons with disabilities, their intimates and families, and health care providers. The year long training (1000 hours/20 hours per week) included didactic and supervised field placement experience. Evaluation data, including those obtained from field placement supervisors, indicated that the 28 professionals and paraprofessionals completing the training over the three years of the project were effectively utilized to deliver a variety of services in both habilitation and rehabilitation settings. (Author).
The use of peer guidance to prevent misuse of the drug phencyclidine is suggested. (LH).
A one year project on birth control education that used students as birth control educators was initiated to increase student awareness of the need for contraception. Support for this method of disseminating information was demonstrated. The project facilitated student use of the Gynecological Clinic of the Student Health Center. (Author).
This report provides a model for the provision of social services to single parents. The activities the center provides are drop in support groups, workshops on single parent issues, a single parent magazine, individual counselling, and community outreach. The report briefly specifies the goals of the center and the rationale behind its activities. The center does not have the funding to carry out all the services it feels are needed by single parents. Requests from several community organizations for help in setting up their own single parent support groups have led to a different emphasis. A future goal may be for the center to concentrate its efforts on providing technical assistance, liaison and facilitator training for other groups, rather than attempting to provide all such services itself. (Author/DOW).
Describes resources available to parents involved in inter-country adoption. Emphasizes the importance of links between prospective parents and others who have experienced the adjustment process. (Author/RH).
A study of two support groups of adolescent oncology patients yielded themes common to the experience of both groups: (1) fear of treatments and procedures, (2) life being controlled by illness, (3) changes in physical appearance, (4) being treated differently, (5) responsibility to be strong, and (6) the development of a life and death philosophy. Difficulties encountered are discussed in terms of group composition, group responsibility, development of trust, group leaders' involvement and termination of the group. Implications for future groups are suggested. (Authors).
With ever-increasing budget cuts reducing services available from professionally trained staff, the use of volunteer elderly peer counselors/helpers in the rehabilitation process can offer professionals an opportunity to maintain or enhance current levels of coverage. Peer counselors can provide a role model, assisting elderly clients in re- building a network of contacts linking them back into the community at large. Peer counseling is a component of the Senior Blind Program, Michigan Commission for the Blind. The program serves a five county area composed of rural and urban areas. (Author).
Two peer trainers, one moderately mentally retarded and one severely mentally retarded, each taught three peers who were severely handicapped to perform separate steps of a complex assembly line task (packaging or assembly task). Peer trainers were taught to demonstrate correct performance and to praise or correct trainees' performance contingently. Following training, each trainer monitored the performance of three trainees, who worked simultaneously but independently at separate work stations on one of the assembly line tasks. Results of the investigation, evaluated within a multiple baseline (across peer trainers) design, indicated that trainers were successful in training and monitoring the performance of their peers. During baseline, no objects were packaged or assembled correctly by either group of trainees. Following instruction by a trainer, each group completed an average of 80 or 86 percent of the objects correctly when the trainer was available to monitor performance.
The purposes of the present investigation were to design, implement, and verify a peer training program with fourth grade students, to determine if the fourth graders could be instructed to attend appropriately to severely handicapped students, and to determine if severely handicapped students acquire cafeteria skills when fourth graders are the instructional trainers. An ABAB reversal design was used to evaluate training program effectiveness. Results revealed that the training procedures were effective in teaching fourth graders to be instructional trainers. Additionally, two severely handicapped students maintained their high level of independent performance of cafeteria skills and another student continued to increase his performance. Suggestions for future training programs are discussed.
This study evaluates the impact of particpation in self-help groups for people with scoliosis and their families. In a cross-sectional study, adolescents with scoliosis, their parents, and adult scoliotics who attended scoliosis clubs (n=245) were compared with nonparticipants (n=495) who inquired about joining clubs. Although most members reported considerable satisfaction with the clubs, particpation had no discernible impact on the psychosocial adjustment of the adolescent patients or their parents. Self-help groups appeared to be most beneficial for adult patients, especially those who had undergone the most demanding medical treatment.
Parents of children with cancer experience substantial stress over a long period of time. One way that parents cope with such stress is to seek social support from various sources, especially from close friends. Interview with a sample of these parents, as well as with some of their close friends or informal helpers, illustrate the difficulties involved in both seeking and providing help in the midst of a crisis. among the major difficulties parents and their close friends report are managing the emotional impact of the illness, intrusions into privacy or the prior boundaries of relationships, the creation of a stigma or an aura on "non- normalcy", finding methods for being useful and feeling effective, and dealing with sex role barriers to a full range of helping interactions. These difficulties are discussed and analyzed primarily in a qualitative framework; special attention is paid to deriving an understanding of their meaning from the actual experiences and reflections of parents and friends engaged in the helping process.
Little information is available on the use of peer counseling by independent living programs. This study used a mailed survey to analyze the ways in which independent living programs use peer counseling. The results showed that although many programs offer peer counseling services, content and goals vary dramatically. Styles of service delivery and peer counselor training are discussed.
This paper examines the effects of an intraclass peer tutoring program on the sight work recognition skills of students who are mildly mentally retarded. Six classes of students (n=74) who ranged in age from 11-13 years received six weeks of peer tutoring instruction and served as the experimental group. Six other classes (n=62) served as the control group. Results indicated that the tutors and tutees had significantly higher gain scores (pretest-posttest) than did the controls on both vocabulary and reading subtests. A structured peer tutoring program is suggested as a valuable instructional technique for teachers of students who are mildly mentally retarded.
This paper presents a model for developing a special educational program for pregnant and parenting teens, with a rationale for why the program works. An outline of the curriculum is presented with a discussion of how individual sessions are conducted. The logistics of developing a peer helper program are covered, including selection of leaders, recruitment, use and supervision of peer helpers, and program evaluation. (RAC).
This article examines how adolescents are being trained to play several important roles in educating peers about human sexuality and birth control. The author explains the social comparison perspective and how it offers numerous advantages over a persuasive communication perspective in terms of design, implementation, and evaluation of peer education programs. In the social comparison perspective, peer educators serve as social referents, providing standards of knowledge and behavior for the contacts with respect to understanding sexuality and preventing pregnancy. This article provides strong arguments for the effectiveness of peers over traditional methods. (Abstract/RAC).
In rearing a mentally retarded child, parents are confronted with a number of taxing stresses and problems. As a result, many in this parent population need and could benefit from a social support network. Unfortunately, such networks often do not exist or parents make no effort to join them. One seemingly useful means of providing a facilitative social system for parents of retardates is via the support group. In this article, two support groups--each developed to assist parents to adjust to their retarded children--are described. Also, the process stages of these groups are discussed. (Abstract).
Describes the status of psychology and counselling in the Peoples Republic of China, indicating that the principal vehicles for counselling are the neighbourhood council and the extended family. The local council offers informal counselling to families and individuals in the neighbourhood through peer helpers supplemented by counselling from paraprofessional health care providers in the neighbourhood clinics. This council is the first level in a 3-tiered health care delivery system. Severe problems are referred to the second level, the district hospital, which usually has a psychiatric unit with medical psychologist able to deal with problems on both in and out patient bases. The third level of assistance is provided through specialized institutes that take a few severe psychological problems for treatment, research, and teaching purposes. It is argued that the array of services offered through local councils with a caring neighbourly attitude outweighs the disadvantages of loss of privacy and pressures to conform to local behavioural expectations and political demands. (Psych Abstr).
Describes a university program designed to inoculate Chicano students with a positive sense of their cultural heritage and to foster mutual support and cultural awareness among participants. Peer networking was selected as an intervention to enhance the supportive atmosphere and to assist students in adjusting to changes imposed by different environments. When a group met 1 hr/wk for 6 weeks, involvement, emotional support, academic achievement, and intellectuality (as measured by the University Residence Environment Scale) improved significantly. (Authors).
Evaluated Pilot Parents (PP), a peer support program in which parents of children with handicaps provide information and support on a one to one basis to parents of new or newly diagnosed developmentally delayed youngsters. Questionaires were completed by new parents, experienced parents, and program directors in 13 programs in the US and Canada, and staff and volunteers at 1 local program were interviewed. The process of implementing PP programs and their major strengths are discussed, and some programmatic concerns that might be noted by professionals who work with this population are noted. (Authors).
Presents the working model of a feminist and non sexist peer counselling service for women operating in a university setting. The theory of peer counselling is examined in relation to university population needs, the redefinition of student counselling services, gender differences and counselling needs of women students, and the peer counselling alternative. The administration and supervision of the program is discussed with regard to policies and funding, counsellor training and feedback, and the distinctive aspects of the services that the program offers to the female college population. Suggestions for continued improvement and expansion of peer counselling services are offered. (MWP).
Discusses the role of pilot peer group involvement and advocates the development of PAG for assisting pilots who manifest personal problems that derive from occupational and other stressors. Attitudes and opinions of professional aviators are identified, and their role in denial of symptomatology is described. The concept of the PAG and its role in relation to occupational stress are discussed. New perspectives regarding the identification of stress-induced dysfunction in exploring the suitability of PAG involvement are developed. (Authors).
Delineates the interpersonal function of suicidal behaviour in children, using examples from a special education school for adolescents of normal intelligence but with maladjustment in other educational settings. Children's suicidal attempts have a major impact on their immediate surroundings and can be perceived as a mode of controlling the family or school. In order to highlight this approach, a case of epidemic suicidal attempts in the special education high school is presented. A systemic mode of intervention, consisting of an adolescents' group and a teachers' group within the school system, is described. The adolescents' group was based primarily on the interpretive approach in order to improve reality testing and lessen transferential distortions that the adolescents exhibited toward their teachers. The teachers' group dealt with teacher roles, aims of the school, and countertransference distortions. The importance of implementing systemic modes in preventing suicide is outlined. (Psyc Abstr).
Examined the efficacy of peer-mediated intervention for increasing social behaviours in 4 blind, socially withdrawn, multihandicapped elementary school children in a multiple-baseline analysis. Two 3rd grade nonhandicapped peers were trained to direct social initiations to the multichandicapped Ss during free play. Results suggest that an increase in play initiations by peers increased social behaviour in multihandicapped Ss. Moderate generalization of treatment effects was obtained under circumstances that differed from the intervention conditions in that peers were present but not administering treatment. Maintenance of treatment gains was evidenced at a 4-month follow-up. (Psyc Abstr).
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Congenitally, moderately hearing-impaired college students have a cluster of needs that typically go unrecognized and/or serviced. It is generally assumed that moderately hearing-impaired students with previous mainstream experience can succeed at the university level without special services. Testing these students reveals a general lack of knowledge about hearing loss, the auditory system, assistive listening, devices, conversational strategies, and college services to which they are entitled. This article discusses the development of an information support group designed by clinical supervisors at the University of Akron in Ohio to meet these students' needs. Group intervention strategies are also discussed. (Authors).
The impact of three variations of a family life education (FLE) program for 172 inner- city, junior-high-level students was investigated. Variations in exposure time, instructional methods, and teacher quality led to the classification of each intervention on a general intensity dimension. Separate pretest-posttest nonequivalent comparison group designs were utilized to assess program impact along seven knowledge and attitudinal dimensions. Survey results revealed that, in comparison to no-treatment groups, the more intensive the program (a) the greater the gains in knowledge about reproductive physiology, contraception, and the consequences to teen pregnancy and parenthood (especially among experimental group females); and (b) the more birth control methods participants became familiar with over time. Changes in personal acceptance of premarital intercourse and perceived responsibility for contraception were observed only in the study examining the most intensive treatment. The results of the evaluations point to the combined importance of instructional methods, teacher quality, and in-class exposure time for producing change in young adolescents' knowledge of and attitudes toward sexuality. Further potential for the impact of school- based sex education programs on knowledge and attitudes is discussed within the broader context of the young adolescent's social environment.
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This study explored some correlates of parent-child conflict in healthy, non-clinical families. The subjects were 100 Australian adolescents, 50 males and 50 females, who were divided into concrete-operational and formal-transitional groups on the basis of their performance on two Piagetian problem-solving tasks. Their habitual modes of dealing with disagreements with their parents were scored on a continuum from conflict evasion through calm and heated discussion to fighting. The extent of opinion divergence between parent and child, and the benefits that adolescents gained from the parent-child relationship were also assessed. Results showed significantly more heated levels of debate by formal than concrete-operational subjects. Opinion divergence was not significantly related to cognitive level but was inversely related to the satisfaction that adolescents derived from involvement with their parents. On the other hand, satisfaction bore no significant relationship to the calmness versus heatedness of a family's habitual conflict resolution strategies. The implications of these findings for an understanding of the adolescent transition from concrete to formal operations, and of the functions served by conflict in a health family are considered. (Authors).
This article surveys the literature on social support and cancer and reports results from an empirical investigation of the factors that lead cancer patients to join social support groups. Although most cancer patients report high levels of social support following cancer, some patients experience isolated instances of rejection or do not receive the type of support they want from family, friends, and medical caregivers. This appears to be one impetus for joining cancer support groups. In addition, cancer support group attenders are more likely to be white middle-class females, to report having more problems, and to use social support resources of all kinds than are nonattenders. Implications for the study of social support and for outreach to cancer patients are discussed. (Authors).
Disabled can use peer pressure to assist others to take sensible risks; describes characteristics of effective peer counsellors; recruiting, screening, legal and other administrative concerns covered. (RAC).
Aftercare interventions that use social support strategies hold promise for increasing the posttreatment success of youths placed in residential and institutional treatment facilities. This review evaluates programs in which social support strategies are used to facilitate the community adaptation of troubled adolescents. Peer support, including positive peer culture groups, are reviewed. The evidence shows that the development of supportive relationships and prosocial networks in a youth's community, school, and workplace and among parents and family members is important to success in community re-entry. The final section outlines research necessary to advance the development and application of aftercare interventions for institutionalized adolescents returning to the community. (Author).
This paper describes a non-school oriented peer-helping program. Adolescents who could benefit from such a program include pregnant teenagers who refuse to go to prenatal classes, heavy marijuana users who continue their habit despite counseling, overweight teens who won't stick to a diet, diabetics who are unwilling to test their urine, and cystic fibrosis patients who skip physiotherapy. This paper describes selection of leaders, recruitment of adolescents, designing the program and supervision. (Author/SS).
Uses a family therapy perspective to analyze a case study of an alcoholic woman suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder due to her experiences as a military nurse in Vietnam. Early family dynamics, which were those of a typical lower middle-class Irish Catholic household, provide a framework with which to understand the S's perceptions of the war trauma and subsequent poor treatment by the psychiatric profession. The reevaluation counseling approach favoured for the S's treatment is based on the principles that: (1) human beings have enormous potential for intelligence and creativity; (2) emotional and physical injuries diminish functioning; and (3) a process of discharging painful emotion enables the patient to recover. Counseling is done on a peer-to-peer reciprocal basis under the guidance of counseling teachers. (Psyc Abstr).
Evaluated a peer-mediated intervention designed to promote communicative interaction among three 3-4 year old language-delayed preschoolers who exhibited autistic like behaviors such as stereotyped, inappropriate play, lack of social responsiveness, and noncompliance. Two 4-year-old nonhandicapped preschoolers were taught strategies (eg. establishing eye contact, describing one's own play and that of others, redirecting play activity) thought to facilitate interaction and were prompted to use these strategies during free play with the language- delayed S's. The intervention resulted in higher rates of interaction for each of the handicapped Ss that persisted above baseline levels after teacher prompting was withdrawn. The most consistent improvement involved the number of responses to peers, and the largest increase in responding was evident in the broadest category, on-topic responding. Results suggest that using nonhandicapped peers as intervention agents may have a positive impact on the generalization and maintenance of handicapped children's interaction skills. (Psyc Abstr).
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The relation between understanding of friendship and asociality was examined in 91 girls and 104 boys ranging in age from 9 to 17 years. Consistent with previous research, older children had higher understanding of friendship scores than younger children, and girls had higher understanding of friendship scores than boys. The relation between understanding of friendship and asociality was significant only for boys. Difficulty in understanding components of friendship appears to be one correlate of boys' delinquent tendencies. (Authors).
One hundred and eight grade five students described as leaders by teachers and counselors were divided randomly into an experimental group, which received peer facilitator training (11 training sessions) and a control group. Each facilitator worked with a grade two or three student who was identified by teachers and a behavior checklist as having problem behaviors. Grade two students were also assigned to leaders in the control group but no meetings took place. The peer facilitators met at least 12 times with each of their "special friends". Results showed that peer facilitators who were trained did not differ significantly on self-concept or attitudes towards others when compared to the control group students. However the primary students in the experimental group showed significant improvement in classroom behavior and school attitude. A follow-up study eight weeks later showed similar results. The authors discuss the results in terms of the impact on school climate. The training program and types of interactions with primary students are detailed. (Authors/RAC).
The effects of peer-counseling training on Black students in a predominantly White university were found to be significant in furthering psychological growth. (Authors/DdR).
The recent interest in peer supervisory groups for psychoanalytic therapists raises important questions regarding both psychoanalytic training and group process. The present paper explores these issues and suggests that there exists a continuum from case-centered peer supervisory groups to process-centered peer supervisory groups. Transference and countertransference and the recognition of parallel processes in psychotherapy supervision are examined in their relation to the supervisory group experience. The authors suggest that the model a therapist employs regarding the role of countertransference will likely influence the kind of peer supervisory group that s/he will choose. Further, there are specific techniques, as well as experiences, which may foster alteration of the group's psychic organization. Illustrative case examples are provided throughout. (Journal).
We report the results of the first national survey of psychologists in private practice regarding their participation in peer consultation groups. The sample (71% return) was drawn from 800 randomly selected psychologists listed in the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology. We found that 23% of the sample currently belonged to peer consultation groups, and 24% had belonged in the past. Of those not currently in groups, 61% expressed the desire to belong if one were available. There were virtually no significant demographic differences between current members and nonmembers. We examined the following group characteristics: formation, length of existence, size, membership, leadership, theoretical orientation, range of experience, time and place, content, and group process. Groups tended to be small, informal, and leaderless; however, we found great variation among groups on all dimensions. Findings also showed a high degree of satisfaction with membership.
The stress-moderating effects of social support have been examined largely in the context of stressful life events and role transitions, not in relation to serious and chronic medical illnesses. This article first reviews several lines of research on the relationship between social support and the onset, course, and outcomes of medical illness, highlighting both the network's beneficial impact on the patient and the adverse effects of illness on the patient's social field and on its capacity to render support. Two types of interventions designed to marshall support on behalf of medical patients and their families are then identified: dyadic support strategies involving the introduction of lay allies, and peer support groups composed of other patients with the same diagnosis. Practical and theoretical issues surrounding the design of these interventions are discussed, and an agenda for research on their structure and supportive processes is outlined. (Journal).
To improve resource room students' attitudes toward education, a teacher identified model special education students who could supply peer support and asked them to serve on a panel. The panel responded to students' questions about problems associated with being in resource classes and about setting and achieving reasonable goals. (JDD).
The author describes how a program concerned with personal empowerment through developing peer counselling skills was implemented within a hospital setting for patients with diabetes mellitus. Individual feedback revealed participants believed the concepts and experiences to be of benefit to their medical condition as well as other aspects of their lives. (GHS).
Describes an independent living program for physically disabled people at the Centre for Independent Living (CIL) in Berkeley, California. Designed and managed by people with physical handicaps, the program provides a wide array of services including among others, counselling, education, health care, housing and job placement, wheelchair repair, attendant referral, financial advocacy, and legal support. The program encourages self-care and self-help, and emphasizes the total individual and capacity rather than their disability. In describing five levels of support systems and how these can be developed the authors emphasize how a strongly developed and effective system of peer support is the most important aspect of CIL's services. The peer counsellors possess knowledge and understanding of specific problems and the feelings and emotional reactions often ignored or misunderstood by nondisabled helpers. (Authors/ RKY).
This article discusses a pilot peer process consultancy project in Western Australia. The purpose of the project was to facilitate growth and development among school principals using an experimental training model. The efficacy of using this type of model was discussed as well as the limitations. (KM/EK).
Adolescent pregnancy may occur when developmental needs have not been met adequately during earlier childhood stages. Reasons adolescents give for becoming pregnant may indicate which developmental needs were not met. Once developmental needs have been identified, professionals can help the adolescent and her child by tailoring interventions to fill gaps that occurred during earlier stages of development. This article explores the potential relationship between adolescent pregnancy and unfinished developmental tasks of childhood. Implications for intervention are addressed. (Author).
This paper presents the research-based results of our collaboration with university faculty and graduate as well as undergraduate students, school administrators and teachers over the past 20 years. We focus on successful strategies for preparing educators to serve students with special education needs within general educational environments through the following modes: the Responsive Teacher Program (an undergraduate teacher education program), the Consulting Teacher Program (a graduate specialist preparation program), the Homecoming Project (an inservice education program), and the Interactive Leadership Program (a graduate administrator preparation program). All used collaborative partnerships to facilitate integration of students with special education needs (including severe handicaps). Techniques for adult collaboration include team teaching, peer coaching, and collaborative consultation; techniques for students include cooperative learning, peer tutoring, and peer support teams. (Authors)
Peers can function as a positive prosocial force in helping children develop and grow, or they can function in ways that reinforce and increase deviant anti-social behaviors. This chapter outlines factors that determine the extent to which children conform to the values and attitudes of their peers and looks at the often negative impact of peer culture in the milieu of institutionalized youth. The major focus of the chapter, however, summarizes alternative approaches and strategies which might be more effective. These approaches and strategies include family-style treatment, the strengthening of the family, treatment group technique, peer therapies, the teaching of values, and behavior modification. Other topics include youth participation in prosocial activities, creating opportunities for success and the role of volunteers in mental health services. (Author/NPC).
Principals in a Pennsylvania district are voluntarily observing one another in order to improve their supervisory skills. Two principals jointly observe a teacher, compare their notes, label the data, conduct the teacher post-conference, and then hold the principal post-conference. (MLF).
The authors focus on the particular sets of problems encountered in peer counselling English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL), handicapped or newly arrived students from another culture. Among them, counsellors must strike a balance between etic (assuming certain constructs are universal for all cultures) and emic (assuming certain constructs are valid only for certain cultures) approaches. Counsellors need to actively intervene rather than waiting to be approached, and to be sensitive to and appreciate cultural differences. Highlighted is a peer helping program at an elementary school, where each of the ESL students had been paired with a "regular" grade 7 student. The program's benefits are outlined and the article also includes two appendixes. One is part of a module that could be used in peer counsellor training, and the other is a playground survey sheet that students could use to help them realize and appreciate the cultural diversity of their student population. (NPC).
Two types of school-based programs were implemented to facilitate the social integration of normal children and children with severe mental handicaps. The programs were a Special Friends program (Voeltz et al., 1983) and a Peer Tutoring program (Kohl, Moses, & Stettner-Eaton, 1984; Stainback, Stainback, & Hatcher, 1983). The dyadic social interactions that evolved during the course of these programs were compared in three contexts: (a) during the actual program, (b) during a free play session, and (c) during a tutorial session. Reciprocity and complementarity (i.e., the degree to which partners evidenced equal or disparate rates of certain behaviors) between members of each dyad were assessed. Results indicated that interactions occurring during Peer Tutor programs were highly unbalanced, whereas those occurring during Special Friends were balanced for some behaviors and unbalanced for others. Some of these differences were found to generalize to free play probe conditions. Social validation of these differences was obtained through questionnaires completed by teachers, observers, and the nonhandicapped children themselves. Implications for future integration and research are discussed. (Authors).
Recent research on motivation for academic achievement is reviewed with reference to Learning Disabled adolescents. Increase in peer effects during adolescence is related to the reciprocal relationship between motivation and learning. The implications of impairment or delay in cognitive, social or emotional development are juxtaposed with school expectations of mainstreamed L.D. adolescents. The review concludes by identifying some common elements of effective curricula programs. (Authors).
This study assessed the reported responses of junior high school students with learning disabilities and normally achieving classmates to peer pressure to conform in prosocial and antisocial activities. The results replicate those of an earlier study in finding that students with learning disabilities indicated more willingness than their classmates to conform to peer pressure to engage in antisocial actions. (Authors).
The author describes a high school support group established for children of alcoholics. He discusses how students are targeted, how meetings are conducted and the content of meetings. Participants improved their academic performance, classroom behavior, attendance at school, and self-esteem. (CKS).
Current approaches to assessing the health-related functions of social support are based on a theoretical frame of reference regarding the taxonomic structure of social networks. Nearly all previous work addresses the issue of social network taxonomies from an etic (i.e., objective, outside) rather than emic (i.e., subjective) perspective. Because of this, we intensively studied five unmarried adolescent mothers over the year following the delivery of their firstborn infants, utilizing ethnographic methods to elicit detailed portrayals of their personal, subjective taxonomies of social network support. Ranked in order of successful adaptation to parenthood, the young women with the best outcomes displayed a richer, more differentiated view of their social networks' taxonomic structure and regarded individual network members as more diverse in their capacity to provide broad, multi-faceted support. A common element among all subjects was the tendency to discriminate among categories of network members according to the stability and continuity perceived in individual relationships. (Authors).
A cohort of 54 adolescent mothers from the Toronto area was interviewed shortly after delivery to determine the use of formal and informal nonmedical services. Hypotheses were tested concerning adolescent use of formal nonmedical services. The primary concern of the study was the influence and role of informal networks in outcomes for pregnant and parenting adolescents. Articulated were lay helping networks, ("lay referral systems" and "lay treatment networks") and a model of health service use, and how the two interact. Research suggests that although informal networks may delay or reduce formal service use or need by filling some or all of those needs, other factors were identified such as the nature of the network, the strength and direction of the ties, the beliefs of the network members and the individuals' willingness to request and receive help. Findings point to informal networks as the most important source of support for young women during their pregnancy, respondents identifying the most significant helpers as parents (33 percent) followed by husbands and boyfriends, girlfriends and relatives. Recommendations from the study include strengthening the role of informal support systems by developing community outreach programs to help families to help themselves; drop-in centres that provide casual support and informal counselling as well as swap-shops that fulfill material needs. A mutlidisciplinary approach to this medical/social problem is needed recognizing informal helpers as significant caregivers and recognizing the many possible needs, types and combinations of helping systems for this population. (NPC).
These authors focus on using peers to identify gifted students, but has application to identifying any special characteristics in students at or above the grade 4 level. The interplay of four elements are considered in designing and using peer nomination forms: purpose, characteristics of gifted and talented students, grade level and item style. Screening, grouping for cooperative learning, discovering special abilities, and designing unique assignments are suggested as possible purposes. The authors conclude with instructions for implementation and specific examples of peer nomination forms designed to accommodate a variety of purposes, student characteristics, grade levels, and styles. (Author/ CKS).
A framework for utilizing volunteers as direct-service tools to enhance certain socially isolated clients' informal social networks is presented. The client-worker and client- volunteer relationships are compared in relation to qualities of effective intervention, and practice implications are offered. (CS).
This article describes the use and effectiveness of a peer jury as a court diversion alternative program. The peer juries are used to make recommendations regarding the disposition of youths who volunteer for the informal adjustment program. (CS).
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Participants in both professionally led and peer-led groups experienced significant improvements in psychological functioning, increases in informal support networks, and positive personal changes in handling of the caregiving role when compared with control participants. Professionally led groups produced the greatest improvement in psychological functioning, and peer-led groups produced the greatest increases in informal support networks.
(See 8093).
The author illustrates the parallels between peer helping and Native customs and traditions such as the Medicine Wheel and Sweet Grass Ceremony. Particular emphasis is placed on peer helping and its relationship to community development. The author includes reprints from related articles.
(Article not available for annotation).
Data collected on impact of peer sanctions. Eighty-three percent of respondents reported they had intervened to prevent the possibility of drunken driving and 81% were successful. Respondents also reported on who was intervened upon, what techniques were used. Most intervened with friends, mostly at parties, bars or nightclubs in contrast to home or work. Most successful techniques were direct and assertive. (Authors).
Black females ages 12-19 attending an inner-city, hospital-based adolescent clinic were invited to meet individually with trained peer educators (10 females, aged 16-19 years) to discuss AIDS/HIV and its prevention. Each participant completed a modified version of the AIDS Knowledge and Attitudes Survey immediately before and 2-6 weeks after their counseling sessions. Of the 283 counseled patients, 85% completed the follow-up. Baseline knowledge about routes of transmission was high and did not change at follow-up. Comparison of individual baseline and follow-up responses revealed improvements in routes by which HIV is not transmitted, methods of prevention, individuals at risk, and general information about AIDS. Condom use among sexually active females increased. The authors conclude that peer education for adolescent females improves knowledge about HIV infection and diminishes high risk behavior. (Authors/RAC)
The student health service at Florida Atlantic University, after a disappointing student response to its AIDS education programs, implemented a classroom-based program where student peer educators made presentations to regularly scheduled classes. Of the 1, 438 students who completed a questionnaire after the presentation over a two year period, 93 percent rated the presentations as good or excellent and 86 percent indicated that their understanding of AIDS increased. The aspects of the presentations liked best by the students were the use of peers as presenters, the question and answer sessions, the video, and material about the proper use of condoms and AIDS testing. (HEA)
This study investigated childhood sexual victimizations reported among juvenile offenders to determine the intervention strategies considered most influential in facilitating self-disclosure of those assaults. The results suggest significantly large numbers of adolescent males entering the justice system have been sexually victimized. Clinicians can reduce male victim denial with peer interventions which facilitate group cohesiveness, interpersonal support and hope, unconditional acceptance, and the altruistic helping of others. These findings are discussed in relation to the need for developing humanistic peer group intervention strategies.
Positive peer culture (PPC) programs in residential treatment settings seek to empower youth as partners with staff in the problem-solving process. Can youth manage self- destructive peers? Peer assisted interventions are evaluated by means of the philosophical values underlying PPC. (RAC).
A peer model was used to provide psychological assistance to students during transition periods. Ten high school peer counselors co-led a group of middle school students from divorced families, and fourteen peer counselors co-led student groups concerned about other areas. The peer counselors were trained in a one semester course based on Gray and Tindall training materials, and were supervised during their second semester. Statistical analysis revealed both the peer counselors and their group members increased their scores on objective tests of development. The authors document the value of the experience for the peer helpers, the changed role for counselors, the impact of the experience on student self- awareness, and the power of role-taking within the larger context of the school. An appendix describes the training curriculum in point form, and a second appendix provides excerpts for the journals of the program participants. (RAC)
This six part, three-ring binder, training program includes sections on the administrative nuts and bolts of peer programs, how to plan and evaluate, how to implement a peer program, a core step by step training module, specific peer activities used by community-based agencies that serve homeless, runaway and other youth in hi-risk situations, and additional resources. (RAC)
Peer intervention around problem drinking and drug use is an understudied, but increasingly important, area in occupational and industrial programming. Consistent supervision is not available in many work settings. At the same time, peer mechanisms are primary work principles and structures in some occupations. This study explores procedures for evaluating and implementing a peer intervention program and details issues such as reluctance of peers to intervene. (Author/NAC)
A New Zealand study which showed that 50% of parents with children with mental health disorders did not seek help for those disorders. This reluctance to seek help could be lowered through parent peers who provide support for help-seeking.
Each child was given opportunties to be both tutor and tutee. Evidence shows peer tutoring skills can be taught in the classroom with children as young as 27 months and that peers as tutors could enhance the skill acquisition of tutees.