ABSTRACT
The idea of empowering young people to offer support to peers in distress can at first glance be viewed with suspicion by professionals in the field. The growing body of research evidence indicating the importance of sibling relationships across the life span also offers useful insights into our understanding of peer relationships. Conflict and cooperation are woven into the complex web of relationships which children and adolescents form with their peers, and learning how to understand the many facets of their social world is an essential part of growing up. The peer group is important to the young person and lack of acknowledgement or affirmation from that social group can lead to the internalisation of profound feelings of unworthiness, loneliness and despair. Peer relationships are extremely important for the young people concerned and the effects of the quality of relationships with the peer group can endure right into adulthood.
