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This research examined associations among characteristics of relationships formed in two community-based mentoring programs and their linkages with ratings of perceived benefits for youth. Volunteer mentors in a Big Brothers/Big Sisters program completed a questionnaire on a monthly basis for a period of six months, whereas undergraduate students serving as mentors through a service-learning course completed a questionnaire on one occasion only. Mentors' ratings of emotional closeness with youth were found to be associated with reports of fewer contacts with program staff and relationship obstacles in each program. Reports of more extensive amounts of mentor-youth contact and feelings of closeness were, in turn, each associated with ratings of greater benefits for youth. Findings also indicated a tendency for mentors in longer term relationships in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program to perceive greater benefits for youth, but this was evident only after controlling for a countervailing tendency of mentors in these relationships to report spending less time with youth. Implications for the design and evaluation of youth mentoring programs are discussed.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/(SICI)1520-6629(199705)25:3%3C227::AID-JCOP1%3E3.0.CO;2-T/abstract

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This essay discusses the roots, current shapes, and social and operational implications of mentoring young people in poverty. After an introductory first section on mentoring and the new voluntarism, Section II, "Recurring Fervor," notes recent increased interest in mentoring and traces the early manifestations of mentoring to 19th Century "friendly visiting" campaigns. Section III, "From Mythology to Policy," describes various cultural permutations of the role of the mentor. Section IV, "The New Wave of Mentoring," describes currently operating mentor programs at the state, local, and private levels. Section V, "Exploring Mentoring's Rise," traces the current social causes for the mentoring movement's rise. Section VI, "Great Expectations," looks critically at the movement's great fervor and high expectations. Section VII, "A Modest Intervention," explores actual possible accomplishments through a review of research results and insights from mentors themselves. Section VIII, "Mentoring's Crossroads," considers the gap between enthusiasm for the concept and the modest results and current lack of infrastructure. Section IX, "Implications of Mentoring," discusses the long-term importance of the movement for poor and disadvantaged youth and its implications for raising other societal issues. A list of 128 notes arranged by chapter heading is included.

http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED341749&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED341749