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22 MAY 2009
NO 1439
Positive peer culture
Since we have chosen to work with exceptional children in exceptional situations we could expect to find some things exceptional about us. Do we possess any particular characteristics which differentiate us from the general population along several important dimensions? The answer to the second – whether these differences are attributes – depends upon one's point of view.
Fifty group workers from seven different agencies completed Cattell's Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF). When compared with the general population, group workers could be described as brighter, more insightful, more imaginative, enthusiastic, candid and forthright, independent, assertive, and possessed an abundance of "Tough Poise."
We enjoy managing others and are effective with student groups and staff teams because we feel free to participate, and we identify and discuss group problems openly and candidly. We tend to be energetic, unrestrained, and sometimes impulsive. We are tough-minded and prefer our own decisions. Because we tend to be so forthright and direct, we are generally well-liked and trusted by others, particularly children.
In the context of working with extremely manipulative youth, these traits are undoubtedly valuable and perhaps essential. In fact, the remarkable inter-and intra-agency consistency among group workers' scores suggest these characteristics are also at least informally recognized and valued by supervisors or administrators. Nonetheless, "all that glitters is not gold" and people as independent as we may be difficult to supervise because we prefer to do things our own way. We risk becoming "laws unto ourselves" who much prefer telling to being told.
Our independence and assertiveness may cause others to question our motives and methods. Although dedicated and capable, we can seem like Boy Scouts insistently helping older people across the wrong street. Knowing ourselves – our strengths and weaknesses – would seem a prerequisite to addressing the task of altering the values or perceptions of others. The Therapeutic Community Anxiety, Confrontation and Other Stuff. Most children who exhibit habitual or repeated behavioral problems are emotionally and ideologically dedicated to an anti-social value system. Before they will abandon that system they must question its usefulness to them. Consequently, disturbed/disturbing children must be allowed to experience the inherent conflicts between conventional and anti-social systems. So, you see, one does not "raise anxiety" in some cavalier fashion; one relieves it by helping students address the discomfort they feel from naturally occurring dissonance. This can best be achieved in an environment which permits the free expression and examination of feelings – anti-social as well as social.
"Rewards" for honesty and candor must exceed those provided by either the anti-social peer group or by staff members simply seeking "good," conforming behavior. In this way students may compare conventional and anti-social life styles, making personal choices and changes without fear of retaliation. Since our students are typically unable to sustain meaningful interpersonal relationships, communication is more productive than confrontation.
Positive Peer Culture offers an especially unified, cohesive social system in which both students and staff are devoted to responsible, lawful behavior. On the one hand, staff must not merely reject or condemn, perpetuating an adversarial student/staff relationship; on the other hand, they must avoid rewarding skilled manipulations or conformity. Effective, firm limits are as necessary with PPC as with any other treatment system but those limits must not be applied punitively or capriciously, and problems must be viewed as opportunities for change.
WILLIAM C. WASMUND
Wasmund, W.C. (1988). Positive peer culture: Tapping an invaluable resource. Journal of Child Care, Special Issue. pp. 31-32.
