Peer Support in Action

Loneliness and Peer Support in a Culturally Different Setting

by Mohammed H. Abu-Rasain, Department of Psychology, The University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX

Context of the Study

The context of this study was a culture very different from the ‘western’ world where most research on loneliness/peer support has been carried out. It took place in Saudi Arabia, which lies at the furthermost part of south-western Asia. Saudi Arabia, as a devleoping country, is at present experiencing an era of rapid change. The change in the culture and more particularly the rate of change is cataclysmic and it was against this background that the research was conducted.

Change and transition are part of human development. Young people today, particularly adolescents, experience a wide range of emotional, behavioural and educational problems. Many of these problems may result from social and economic changes reflecting disparities between traditional and newly imposed ‘alien’ values. Conflict over wide areas could exercise powerful effects on an individual's life. This can not only cause problems, but also influence the behaviour of the individual in coping with the problem itself and in seeking help.

Research into Loneliness

The first aim of the present study was to determine the extent of loneliness among Saudi young people in High Schools for boys. The theoretical rationale led to the assumption that loneliness is a negative problem that affects many individuals during adolescence. Cultural factors, however, are a very important modifier of the problem, which was the reason why the present investigation was carried out with Saudi adolescents. The phenomenon was assessed by means of quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the "meanings" of loneliness. Surprisingly, the results seemed to have many similarities to those of Western studies with respect to several points. Firstly, the state of loneliness was seen as being different from being physically alone. Secondly, a large proportion of the participants stated that they experienced loneliness. Thirdly, the emotion was strong, leading to shattered confidence, loss of self-esteem and feeling alienated and disconnected from others.

Impaired relationships with important figures such as parents, peers and teachers have often been sources of the problem. Consequently, the ability and desire to relate to these figures on an intimate level can be blocked.

An implication of this finding was the need to provide adolescents with a support programme to meet their needs at this critical stage of their development.

Peer support: an alternative counselling strategy

There were a number of rationales for proposing the peer support programme. Throughout the study, it has been argued that the structure and function of current guidance and counselling services in Saudi school settings fail to meet the psychological needs of students. In reality, Saudi people prefer indigenous help such as from family and friends. Reluctance of young people to seek personal help from counsellors might be expected for many reasons. The preference for a friend or peer rather than a counsellor might be a result of the relationships between adults in authority, whether parents or teachers, and adolescents.

In order to help people, particularly youth, it was thought appropriate to focus on developing available resources. Therefore, a helping service would ideally be flexible and available, both designed and carried out by adolescents yet supervised by adults, particularly skilled counsellors. This kind of mutual involvement can be very helpful not only to young people, but also to professional helpers who can widen their related knowledge and benefit in terms of personal and professional development.

Selection of peer supporters

The programme took place in a secondary school in which 531 students were enrolled. With reference to the selection of participants for training, a discussion took place with the Head of School, one of the Deputy Heads and the two student counsellors. On that basis it was suggested that the student counsellors should recruit students. A list of thirty-five names of candidates was submitted by the school counsellors. However, it was felt necessary to test their interest and to assess their willingness, as well as to give them a choice whether or not to participate. Therefore, in a group interview, a brief description of the plan was given, including details of the training and project. As a result of this second phase of recruitment, twenty students were identified to participate in the training: these were in the age range of sixteen to twenty years old.

Training Sessions

The main aim of the training was to prepare those involved to work as peer supporters in the school. The work of Roehampton Institute London has its influence on the present method of training. The training model assumes that the peer supporters use basic listening skills to help their peers. The emphasis is on peer helpers' use of verbal and non-verbal skills to encourage self-focused solutions. Therefore, the content of the training programme consisted of twelve sessions, which were conducted over two weeks and covered the following areas:

• getting to know each other
• ways of helping
• giving an awareness of counselling as a type of helping
• introducing the concept of peer support
• introduction to confidentiality and its limitations
• awareness of feelings of not being listened to
• introduction of attending skills, verbal and non-verbal
• introduction to listening skills with emphasis on feeling focussed responses; reflection and paraphrasing
• awareness of feelings associated with silence
• introduction to self-focused problem solving
• to give a knowledge of social relationships in adolescence

The training was facilitated by the researcher who has extensive training and experience in counselling, the teacher of Psychology at the school and two student counsellors were involved in supervision and monitoring.

Setting up the service

Having trained the peer supporters, a new service was established to provide listening support to students who were in need of help. Therefore, the aims of the programme were as follows:

• To expand the counselling services available to adolescents. Providing different resources of helping in the school community would do this.
• To create a supportive social context in the school community. Support that comes from peers is very significant for young people.
• To prevent or ameliorate the experience of loneliness among adolescents in the school. This could be achieved by fostering a positive age related social support system.
• To promote and increase communication and active listening skills for those who participate as peer counsellors.
• To enhance the self-concept of peer supporters.
• To increase responsibility of adolescents toward their society in general, and the school community in particular.
• To assess the feasibility and applicability of peer support in an Arabic culture, particularly, and specifically in Saudi Arabia.

Evaluation

Implementation of the programme was carried out with comprehensive evaluation, which focused on the peer supporters and the populations they served. Findings were encouraging in relation to both parties.

Those young people who participated as peer helpers reported gains in personal development and said that their participation had benefited their general academic work. They also reported high satisfaction with the service.

Students reported high levels on two areas of social support as measured by Social Provisions Scale, namely guidance and reliable alliance, although a reduction on level of loneliness was not acheived. Additionally, the formal record of the school counsellors showed fewer behavioural and educational problems within the school. Recommendations were made for the introduction of peer support programmes in the Saudi school system as a whole.

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Last Update: August 2, 2004