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Journal Article

Citation

Matz AK. J. Juv. Justice 2014; 3(2): 83-101.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, In Public Domain (U.S. Department of Justice OJJDP), Publisher CSR)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Mentoring relationships represent one of the oldest community-based youth interventions, dating back to the genesis of the first juvenile court in Chicago during the late 1800s when probation officers provided guidance and supervision to youthful offenders in lieu of more damaging alternatives such as institutionalization (Blakeslee & Keller, 2012; Tanenhaus, 2004). Indeed, such formal interventions were rooted in the progressive era as a response to increased poverty at the hands of industrialization, immigration, and urbanization. The highly renowned Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBS) mentoring program, for example, began in 1904 in New York City and today consists of over 375 agencies serving more than 210,000 youth across the United States (Blakeslee & Keller, 2012). However, not until the past two decades has a growing body of empirical literature begun to develop and mature from which to better understand the goals, operations, and outcomes of youth mentoring programs.

This article summarizes the literature, beginning with a brief overview of relevant theories, followed by a summary of mentoring programs' effectiveness as derived from the empirical literature. The article continues with a short examination of vulnerable populations, problems of connecting at-risk youth with mentors, guidance for future program evaluations, best practices for mentoring programs, guidance for mentors, and an international comparison of effectiveness. The article concludes with advice pertinent to researchers, program administrators, and funding organizations. This article is designed to introduce the many complexities of youth mentoring. Readers are encouraged to seek out the various sources contained throughout for more detailed information on a given subject area. This article reviews the empirical literature on youth mentoring. The literature reveals, despite the championing of BBBS as an evidence-based program, youth mentoring programs have varying outcomes but overall tend to show a positive, yet weak, impact on educational outcomes and delinquency (Jolliffe & Farrington, 2007). International comparisons are similarly mixed, with educational outcomes and developmental perceptions more commonly studied and cited than delinquency outcomes. Best practices in program administration, mentoring, and evaluation are highlighted.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Adam K. Matz, American Probation and Parole Association, Council of State Governments, 2760 Research Park Drive, Lexington, KY 40578. E-mail: amatz@csg.org


Keywords: mentoring programs, parental incarceration, intervention programs, juvenile justice, prevention programs


Language: en

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