The Benefits of Positive Peer Culture

 Review by Marci Brown

The PPC “system of building positive youth subcultures” (xx) strives to create a climate of trust and openness among its participants. It is difficult to create this climate if a young person feels he is going to be attacked for what he says. As the individual gains more information about the PPC system, he comes to understand that his peers are there to help him.

Anxiety is a useful tool as it allows human beings to realize that everything is not okay. Young people who engage in harmful negative behaviors face very little anxiety about their actions. They are comfortable with what they are doing and see no reason to change. When an individual becomes part of the PPC system, this negative behavior will no longer be viewed as acceptable. The young person becomes part of “a climate in which all hurting and self-destructive behavior is challenged” (13). This climate causes him to become upset and frustrated. Through facing these emotions, he will come face to face with anxiety. He will discover that his negative actions have no place in a helpful, caring society.

When a young person participates in the PPC system, he is not expected to dwell on the past.  The PPC system deals with the individuals current issues. When peers observe an inappropriate behavior, the individual is confronted and expected to find a positive, caring way to proceed differently. For many individuals, problems are viewed as defects to their character. This is not the case with the PPC system. Problems are good things. When a person realizes they have a problem they can begin to take ownership of it and become stronger for doing so. In the PPC system, problems are view as “special opportunities” that can lead to a significant change in behavior.

In many of the institutional situations young people participate in, strict adult control is a given.  When a young person expresses problematic behavior, he is often dismissed from important learning opportunities. In the case of PPC, the individual is expected to control their own behavior and when they are unable to do so, the peer group helps the individual “become more considerate of himself and others" (17).

The PPC system offers a unique and helpful approach to teaching young people how to have power over their own lives. It helps them to know that people notice their behavior and expect the best from them. It teaches them that they can overcome their difficulties through their own strengths. It allows them to depend on others and accept that they have value.

Vorrath, Harry H. and Larry K. Brendtro.  Positive Peer Culture, 2^nd ed.  New Jersey:  Transaction Publishers, 1985.