Persoonlikheid as voorspeller van doeltreffende portuurhulpverlening

Abstract

English: Many children experience emotional problems and seek help for these problems from their friends rather than from professional people or their parents. This process, where people help their peers of the same age, social status and background, is called peer helping. The peer helping movement was developed in an attempt to structure this informal spontaneous process in order to make the process of peers helping their peers more effective. This was done by selecting peer helpers at the hand of certain criteria and training them formally in the process of helping others. The purpose of this study was two-fold. The first objective was to determine whether the HSPQ could be used to select peer helpers and the second objective was to determine whether the HSPQ could be used to predict the effectiveness of selected peer helpers. The study sample consisted if a group of volunteers (n = 19) from a local high school. These volunteers were subject to a selection process and were then trained as peer helpers. The results demonstrated that the HSPQ could be used to speed up the selection process and a regression equation to be used in the selection of peer helpers was developed. Effective peer helpers were shown to possess the following characteristics: they were emotionally stable, able to handle frustrations, self-assured, ambitious and disciplined, while not being overly self-assertive or depressed. It is recommended that research into aspects of peer helping is continued in order to promote the knowledge about peer helping. In this way peer helping could be structured and made more effective and more available to children in need of emotional help.

Afrikaans: Die emosionele nood waaronder baie kinders gebuk gaan, noop hulle om by hul maats, eerder as by hulouers of professionele persone hulp te soek. Hierdie proses word portuurhulpverlening genoem, en verwys na die hulp wat persone by hul vriende van dieselfde ouderdom, sosiale status en agtergrond ontvang. Daar word tans pogings aangewend om hierdie proses, wat spontaan ontwikkel en informeel plaasvind, te struktureer, ten einde dit meer doeltreffend te maak. Dit word gedoen deur portuurhulpverleners op grond van bepaalde kriteria te selekteer en formeelop te lei. Die doel van hierdie ondersoek was om te bepaal in watter mate die HSPV gebruik kan word om die doeltreffendheid van die keuringsproses, sowel as die doeltreffendheid van die gekeurde portuurhulpverleners te voorspel. 'n Groep vrywilligers van 'n plaaslike hoërskool, wat aan 'n keuringsproses en opleidingsprogram onderwerp is, is as proefpersone gebruik (n=19). Die resultate het getoon dat doeltreffende portuurhulpverleners emosioneel stabiel is, frustrasies kan hanteer, selfversekerd, ambisieus en gedissiplineerd is. Daar word voorgestel dat ondersoek na portuurhulpverlening voortgesit word ten einde die hulp wat kinders van hul maats ontvang, te struktureer, meer doeltreffend te maak en aan soveel kinders as moontlik beskikbaar te stel.