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Youth mentoring relationships in context: Mentor perceptions of youth, environment, and the mentor role

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  • Lakind, Davielle
  • Atkins, Marc
  • Eddy, J. Mark

Abstract

Youth mentoring is primarily understood as a relationship between mentor and mentee, yet mentors often enter into home, school, and other community settings associated with youth they serve, and interact regularly with other people in mentees' lives. Understanding how and why mentors negotiate their role as they do remains underexplored, especially in relation to these environmental elements. This qualitative study drew on structured interviews conducted with professional mentors (N=9) serving youth at risk for adjustment problems to examine how mentors' perceptions of their mentees and mentee environments informed their sense of how they fulfilled the mentoring role. Mentors commonly characterized problems youth displayed as byproducts of adverse environments, and individual-level strengths as existing “in spite of” environmental inputs. Perceptions of mentees and their environments informed mentors' role conceptualizations, with some mentors seeing themselves as antidotes to environmental adversity. Mentors described putting significant time and effort into working closely with other key individuals as well as one-on-one with mentees because they identified considerable environmental need; however, extra-dyadic facets of their roles were far less clearly defined or supported. They described challenges associated with role overload and opaque role boundaries, feeling unsupported by other adults in mentees' lives, and frustrated by the prevalence of risks. Community-based mentoring represents a unique opportunity to connect with families, but mentors must be supported around the elements of their roles that extend beyond mentor–mentee relationships in order to capitalize more fully on the promise of the intervention.

Suggested Citation

  • Lakind, Davielle & Atkins, Marc & Eddy, J. Mark, 2015. "Youth mentoring relationships in context: Mentor perceptions of youth, environment, and the mentor role," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 52-60.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:53:y:2015:i:c:p:52-60
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.03.007
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hennie Boeije, 2002. "A Purposeful Approach to the Constant Comparative Method in the Analysis of Qualitative Interviews," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 391-409, November.
    2. Spencer, Renée & Basualdo-Delmonico, Antoinette, 2014. "Family involvement in the youth mentoring process: A focus group study with program staff," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 75-82.
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    4. McMorris, Barbara J. & Doty, Jennifer L. & Weiler, Lindsey M. & Beckman, Kara J. & Garcia-Huidobro, Diego, 2018. "A typology of school-based mentoring relationship quality: Implications for recruiting and retaining volunteer mentors," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 149-157.
    5. Limor Goldner & Adar Ben-Eliyahu, 2021. "Unpacking Community-Based Youth Mentoring Relationships: An Integrative Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-29, May.
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    7. Erdem, Gizem & DuBois, David L. & Larose, Simon & De Wit, David J. & Lipman, Ellen L., 2024. "Associations of youth mentoring with parent emotional well-being and family functioning: Longitudinal findings from a study of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    8. Yoo-Yeong Seonwoo & Yun-Duk Jeong, 2021. "Exploring Factors That Influence Taekwondo Student Athletes’ Intentions to Pursue Careers Contributing to the Sustainability of the Korean Taekwondo Industry Using the Theory of Planned Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-16, September.
    9. Dutton, Hilary & Deane, Kelsey L. & Bullen, Pat, 2018. "Distal and experiential perspectives of relationship quality from mentors, mentees, and program staff in a school-based youth mentoring program," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 53-62.
    10. Busse, Heide & Campbell, Rona & Kipping, Ruth, 2018. "Examining the wider context of formal youth mentoring programme development, delivery and maintenance: A qualitative study with mentoring managers and experts in the United Kingdom," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 95-108.

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