ABSTRACT
The Circle of Friends approach provides a rich opportunity for seeing that people's behaviour cannot always be taken at face value. Sometimes the most aggressive people are the most frightened or sad. The Circle's meetings allow the focus child to express in a safe environment their thoughts and feelings regarding their problems and to seek support. Creating Circles of Friends for children who are experiencing difficulties with school life is a powerful and exciting process. This approach achieved a great deal in Daniel's situation and it has proved to be effective in many other cases. The climate within the Circle is a non-judgemental, hopeful one and enables a child who has previously been at odds with others to feel more accepted and liked. The power of the peer group in affecting a child's behaviour is acknowledged and the aim is to mobilise this force to encourage the child to behave in more socially acceptable ways within the school.
