The Impact of Youth Mentoring Relationships on Children, Parents, and Mentors

The Impact of Youth Mentoring Relationships on Children, Parents, and Mentors Mariko Anne Morin Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology McGill University Montreal, Canada December 14, 2012 A Thesis Submitted to McGill University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in School/Applied Child Psychology © Mariko Anne Morin 2012 Exploring the Impact of Youth Mentoring 2 Acknowledgements This dissertation is a culmination of many years of work. I am fortunate to have been surrounded and supported by people who shared with me their rich knowledge and passion for education and research. I would foremost like to thank Bruce M. Shore for believing in me. His patience, generosity, and encouragement throughout the past two years have been invaluable. There are a number of people that I wish to thank: Jeeseon Park, for guiding me throughout the first years of this research; members of my committee, Professors Steven Jordan and Victoria Talwar, for insightful feedback throughout the project; Professor Mark W. Aulls, for guidance concerning case-study analysis; Sarah Fraser, for assisting with inter-rater reliability; Emma Naujokaitis, for helping in the initial analysis; Brendan Holland, for all things technical; Nathalie Benjamin, Lois Gosse, and Carol Morin, for proofreading; Ginette Sauvé at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Montreal, for insight into the functioning of the mentoring programme and allowing me to conduct research within the organisation; caseworkers, for taking time from their busy schedules to speak with participants about this project; and last but not least, the participants—the Little Sisters, Little Brothers, Big Sisters, Big Brothers, and parents, for sharing their experiences. Their transparency and candidness enabled me to gain insight and understanding into their experiences in order to transform their words into findings. Funding for this research was supported by a doctoral award from the Fonds de recherche du Québec—Société et culture (FQRSC) and a Margaret Gillett Award from the McGill Centre for Research and Teaching on Women. As always, thank you to my parents for their never-ending support. And, last but not least, Elliott. I share my sense of fulfillment in the completion of this dissertation, with you, through many more hours of play! Hooray! Exploring the Impact of Youth Mentoring 3 Abstract The present qualitative, multiple-case study research (a) explored the relationship processes in youth mentoring relationships with children, mentors, and parents, and (b) explored the perceived impacts of participating in the mentoring relationship on children, mentors, and parents. This study combined the tenets of two current theoretical models of youth mentoring, namely, developmental (Rhodes, 2005) and systemic (Keller, 2005b), in order to obtain a holistic view of mentoring relationships. In-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 child-mentor-parent triads participating in a formal, traditional mentoring programme, and whose relationships had been established for one or more years. A thematic cross-case analysis was carried out. Nine different themes relating to the system and another nine themes relating to perceived individual impacts emerged. The inter-relatedness of the system throughout the relationships and its impacts on individuals became apparent. Globally, mentoring relationships can provoke positive, life-altering changes in children, mentors, and parents, when placed in the context of a healthy system in which participants work in concert with each other, collaborating in the children’s best interests. Participants addressed the complexities of maintaining this positive momentum, and many experienced difficulty adapting and negotiating the new roles they had to play. Misunderstandings on either side may have negative consequences and initiate a negative spiral that could take considerable effort to turn around. Caseworkers play a large role in helping participants maintain their roles and deffusing difficulties. The use of matched triads to explore both impacts and relationships in the mentoring process yielded important insights and indicated that multiple perspectives greatly contribute to the understanding of the field of youth mentoring. Exploring the Impact of Youth Mentoring 4 Résumé La présente étude de cas multiples a exploré deux facettes: (a) les processus de relations qui existent entre enfants, mentors, et parents qui participent dans un jumelage de mentorat, et (b) les impacts perçus de la participation au jumelage sur les enfants, mentors, et parents. Afin d'obtenir une vision globale des relations de mentorat, cette étude a tenu compte des principes de deux modèles théoriques actuels sur le mentorat auprès des jeunes, soient le modèle développemental (Rhodes, 2005) et le modèle systémique (Keller, 2005b). Des entrevues semi- structurées ont été menées auprès de 12 triades enfant-mentor-parent qui participaient à un programme formel de mentorat traditionnel. Les relations étudiées étaient établies depuis au moins un an. Une analyse thématique de cas croisés a été réalisée. Neuf thèmes différents relatifs au système et neuf autres thèmes relatifs à la perception des impacts individuels ont émergé. L'interdépendance du système à travers les relations et les impacts sur les individus ont été mis en évidence. Globalement, un jumelage de mentorat peut provoquer des changements positifs chez les enfants, les mentors et les parents, lorsque les relations entre les participants sont saines et lorsque les participants travaillent de concert les uns avec les autres dans le meilleur intérêt des enfants. Les participants ont abordé la complexité et les défis associés à la continuité des relations triadiques positives. L’adaptation et la négociation de leurs nouveaux rôles représentent des défis majeurs. Des malentendus entre participants peuvent entraîner des conséquences négatives sur tous. Ainsi, les intervenants cliniques jouent un rôle important en aidant les participants à maintenir leurs rôles et leurs limites et à désamorcer les difficultés. Les multiples perspectives ont aidé à mieux comprendre les impacts et les relations entre participants, et contribuent à la compréhension globale des relations de mentorat auprès des jeunes. Exploring the Impact of Youth Mentoring 5 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... 2 Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Résumé ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ 5 List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ 13 List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... 14 Preface........................................................................................................................................... 15 Chapter 1: Review of the Literature .............................................................................................. 18 Defining Mentoring .................................................................................................................. 18 Natural and Planned Mentoring Relationships ......................................................................... 19 Natural mentoring. ................................................................................................................ 19 Formal mentoring.................................................................................................................. 20 Mentoring Contexts and Goals ................................................................................................. 21 Theoretical Models of Youth Mentoring .................................................................................. 22 Developmental model of youth mentoring. .......................................................................... 22 Systemic model of youth mentoring. .................................................................................... 24 Mentees ..................................................................................................................................... 25 Impacts of natural (nonformal) mentoring on mentees......................................................... 26 Impacts of planned (formal) mentoring on mentees. ............................................................ 26 Meta-analyses ................................................................................................................... 26 Big Brothers Big Sisters of America: Traditional formal mentoring ............................... 28 School-based mentoring.................................................................................................... 29 Mentors ..................................................................................................................................... 30 Impacts on mentors ..............................................................................................................

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