University Students’ Relationship-Based Mentoring in School Settings

Abstract

How university students perform the tasks of mentoring, and the kinds of activities that are successful and unsuccessful in relationship-based mentoring interactions when mentors are instructed to “first establish relationships and then use the relationship to promote prosocial thinking and behaviors,” remains an unfamiliar area of youth mentoring. Thus, the purpose of this study is to develop some understanding of steps criminal justice majors took and the behavioral goals and objectives they pursued during their semester-long mentoring interactions with primary, middle, and high school pupils within a local school district. Conventional content analysis methods were used to systematically identify, classify, and code themes and patterns of self-reported activities. Results show that student-mentors overwhelmingly engaged in activities that addressed known risk factors associated with antisocial thinking, attitudes, and behaviors. The results provide insights into the dynamics of this form of mentoring that emphasizes the importance of healthy relationships between protégés and mentors and advance reasons for further investigation of the effectiveness of a relationship-based mentoring approach.