Pamomong: Journal of Islamic Educational Counseling

Empathy Dysfunction and Risk Factors for Brawl and Klithih Behavior among Muslim High School Students in Yogyakarta City

Tri Sutanti, Uman Suherman, Ilfiandra Ilfiandra, Nurul Hidayati Rofiah — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This study aimed to examine empathy profiles and empathy dysfunction among Muslim adolescents involved in brawl and klithih behavior in Yogyakarta City high schools and to identify factors underlying their involvement. The research used a descriptive design combining quantitative and qualitative data. Participants were seven Muslim students from private high schools selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected using an empathy scale and in-depth interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively using measures of central tendency and dispersion, whereas qualitative data were examined using Miles and Huberman’s model of data reduction, display, and conclusion drawing. The findings indicate that involvement in brawls and klithih is closely associated with empathy dysfunction, which is exacerbated by low emotional regulation and unsupportive family backgrounds. These results inform guidance and counseling services and can guide strategies to develop adaptive empathy among students at risk of violent behavior. The study enriches empirical understanding of adolescent empathy and school violence. This study has limitations in geographical scope, being restricted to Yogyakarta City schools, so the findings may not generalize to adolescents in regions with different sociocultural contexts. The study also focused mainly on individual factors, while external influences such as social environments, educational systems, and institutional roles were not systematically explored. Future research should broaden the participant context across diverse regions and deepen the analysis of structural dimensions that contribute to empathy dysfunction and youth violence. Future studies should also use participatory approaches involving students, teachers, and school communities to build a more holistic and applicable understanding.

Life Skills Counseling within Local Culture-Based Schools Improves Muslim Students’ Self-Acceptance

Syahril Syahril, Sitti Riadil Janna, Bau Ratu, Kushan Indika Rathnasekara — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Many Muslim students in Southeast Asia struggle with self-acceptance, especially around body image with adverse implications for well-being. This study evaluated a culturally attuned life-skills counseling program in an Islamic higher-education setting. Using a quasi-experimental nonequivalent pretest–posttest control design at the State Islamic Institute (IAIN) Bone, Indonesia, 24 undergraduates with low self-acceptance were assigned to experiment group and control group. The intervention followed the DASIE sequence and integrated bibliotherapy and self-talk framed by Islamic virtues (muḥāsabah, shukr, riḍā) and local norms (adab, musyawarah). Self-acceptance was measured with the Husna & Fatonah scale (α=.961). Mann–Whitney analysis showed a significant post-intervention advantage for the counseling group (p=.001) with a large effect, indicating educationally meaningful gains. Mechanisms likely included identification with culturally relevant narratives and practice of faith-consistent self-evaluation. Findings support embedding faith-aligned, skills-based counseling within guidance services and training counselors in religiously attuned cognitive-behavioral methods across Islamic and local culture-based schools. Interpretation is qualified by a small, single-site, quasi-experimental design. Future multi-site randomized studies with longitudinal follow-up should test durability and examine mediators (e.g., self-compassion, perceived unconditional positive regard) and moderators (e.g., gender, socioeconomic status, religious commitment).

Enhancing Students’ Self-Esteem through Psychodrama with Hand Puppets: A Study in Islamic Schools

Ulvina Rachmawati, Nafisah Ainur Rohmah, Danneth Krystel A. Sia — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This study was motivated by the high academic and social demands experienced by students in faith-based schools, which can contribute to low self-esteem. These differentiated demands prompt students to compare themselves with peers in public schools and to evaluate their abilities, physical conditions, and economic status negatively, leading to feelings of inferiority in social interactions and academic performance. This pre-experimental study with a one-group pretest and posttest design examined the effectiveness of a psychodrama hand-puppet intervention in enhancing students’ self-esteem. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 10 students from MA Sirojul Hikmah who had the lowest self-esteem scores based on a self-esteem scale adapted to local cultural values and Islamic principles (Cronbach’s α = .816; item–total correlations > .30). Data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The results showed a 77.6% improvement in self-esteem, with the mean score increasing from 76 prior to the intervention to 135 afterward. The Wilcoxon test indicated that the psychodrama hand-puppet intervention was effective in increasing students’ self-esteem (p = .005). Psychodrama also significantly improved the dimensions of significance (p = .005), competence (p = .005), power (p = .005), and virtue (p = .005). These findings offer practical implications for Islamic schools (madrasah and pesantren) by providing an alternative intervention to foster more positive self-esteem among students. Future research should consider larger sample sizes, alternative research designs, and variation in gender and coping strategies to obtain more comprehensive results.

Counselors’ Multicultural Competence in Working with Male Counselees

Ahmad Abdul Hakim, Andi Wahyu Irawan, Andi Retno Budiarty Nazaruddin — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This study investigates how multicultural competence is understood and enacted by a school counselor, identifies the challenges experienced when working with male counselees from different cultural backgrounds, and examines the adaptive strategies employed to enhance counseling effectiveness and inclusivity at Istiqomah Muhammadiyah 4 Vocational High School in Samarinda. Using a qualitative fieldwork design, the study involved one female counselor and two male counselees from Banjar and Dayak ethnic backgrounds. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, participatory observations, and documentation, then analyzed using ATLAS.ti through open, axial, and selective coding. The findings show that the counselor practices multicultural competence through culturally sensitive understanding, value-based and logic-oriented communication, active family involvement as an ecological support, and contextual adaptation of Western approaches such as CBT and SFBC to local and Islamic principles, including adab, maslahah, and the prohibition of khalwat. The main challenges include restrictive masculinity norms that limit emotional expression, stigma toward counseling, and institutional pressures for rapid problem resolution at school. Adaptive strategies based on relational empathy, cross-system collaboration, and culturally embedded interventions gradually enhanced counselees’ engagement, comfort, and openness. The study indicates that multicultural competence is a dynamic process requiring ongoing self-awareness, ethical sensitivity, and cultural responsiveness. The small sample and single research site limit the generalizability of these results, so future studies should involve more diverse cultural and gender groups, multiple school settings, and mixed-method or comparative designs to further test and refine the proposed adaptive multicultural counseling model.

Evaluating REBT Group Counseling with Journaling Techniques for Improving Self-Compassion in Javanese Students

Resa Pujianti, Eni Rindi Antika, Eem Munawaroh — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Adolescents often labeled as the “strawberry generation” tend to show low self-acceptance and harsh self-criticism, conditions that are closely related to low self-compassion. This study examined the effectiveness of REBT-based group counseling with journaling in enhancing adolescents’ self-compassion. A quantitative quasi-experimental design was employed using a pretest–posttest non-equivalent control group. Participants were 10 tenth- and eleventh-grade students from a senior high school in Central Java, selected through purposive sampling and assigned to an experimental group (N = 5) and a control group (N = 5). Self-compassion was measured using a self-report scale administered before and after the intervention. Data were analyzed using an independent samples t-test. The results showed a significance value of .013 (p < .05), indicating a significant difference in gain scores between the experimental and control groups. The experimental group obtained a mean gain score of 18.4, whereas the control group obtained −1.0, demonstrating that REBT-based group counseling with journaling is effective in improving adolescents’ self-compassion. This study is limited by its small sample size, brief intervention period, and restricted monitoring of changes outside counseling sessions, which may affect the generalizability and stability of the findings. Future research should involve larger samples, longer interventions, and more varied monitoring tools to further optimize and evaluate journaling-based group counseling for adolescent self-compassion.

Peer Support Amplifies the Benefits of Psychological Help-Seeking on Adolescent Well-Being in Indonesia’s Collectivist Culture

Abdul Kholiq, Nirma Latifatul Khafidhoh, Ebony Melzak — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Indonesian adolescents are increasingly exhibiting reduced engagement in psychological help-seeking. This study investigates the moderating role of Peer Support (PS) in the relationship between Psychological Help-Seeking (PHS) and Psychological Well-Being (PWB), with the hypothesis that PS amplifies the positive effects of PHS. A cross-sectional survey was administered to 1,385 adolescents (510 males, 875 females; M = 14.2, SD = 2.1) in Central Java using stratified random sampling. Three validated self-report instruments were employed: the 42-item PWB scale (α = .91), whose six-factor structure was confirmed via CFA in the present sample (N = 1,374; CFI = .962, RMSEA = .042); the 14-item PHS scale (α = .83); and the 23-item PS scale (α = .88). Hierarchical regression controlling for gender and age showed that PHS significantly predicted PWB (β = .35, p < .001, R² = .28). The interaction term PHS × PS accounted for an additional 3% of the variance (ΔR² = .03, p = .002). Simple slope analyses indicated that the positive association between PHS and PWB was stronger among adolescents with high PS (+1 SD; β = .53) than among those with low PS (−1 SD; β = .17), confirming the strengthening effect of peer support. Findings highlight the role of peer support in moderating the relationship between PHS and PWB in collectivist contexts, supporting the use of peer networks to enhance the effectiveness of help-seeking. Practically, these results encourage school counselors to prioritize peer-support training and integrate peer-facilitator programs to strengthen adolescents’ help-seeking and psychological well-being.