Peer counseling in a private school: Status passage in a social structure

Abstract

Status passage theory is used to explore and describe a peer counseling program in a private school. Current status passage theory articulates behavior within a status passage. This study provides the substantive basis for an extension of status passage theory to describe the interaction between a status passage and the social structure within which the status passage occurs. The role of the social worker as agent of the status passage is highlighted.;The research relies on three theoretical properties from status passage theory. Through the desirability of the passage and the shape of the passage, the researcher gains access to the perceptions, interests, feelings, goals and visions of the passagees, and the legitimator in the status passage. Through the collective awareness of the passage the researcher investigates the development of the passagees as a group, and their increasingly independent understanding and determination to shape the status passage in new ways.;Interaction between the peer counseling program and the headmaster is seen as the interaction between the status passage and the social structure. Through application and extension of status passage theoretical concepts, the research uncovers the dynamic tension between the status passage and the social structure, and the consequent requirement for mediation by the agent of the status passage, the social worker.