Mentoring

Natural versus Program-Based Mentoring

A major distinction in the definition of mentors and mentoring relationships is between natural mentors and program-based mentors. Natural mentoring, as the name suggests, emerges naturally. Youth often develop natural mentoring relationships with adults who pay special attention to them, and who provide guidance, encouragement, and a sympathetic ear. In the context of school, natural mentors may include teachers, coaches, counselors, psychologists, administrators as well as many other “older and wiser” individuals. Outside of schools, youth may develop natural mentoring relationships with adults in their extended family, neighborhood, religious organizations, and in recreational settings.

Program-based mentoring refers to a formalized process by which an organization recruits an individual to serve as mentor to a youth. The adult and youth usually have had no prior contact or relationship, and their interaction results from being matched together in a mentoring relationship. Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of America is the largest formal mentoring program in the United States and has been actively recruiting adults to work as mentors with youth for 100 years. Initially, BBBS recruited men to work with boys from fatherless homes, but today this organization serves both boys and girls and reaches beyond those from single-parent homes to support the development of competence and character of youth from a variety of settings.

Community-Based versus School-Based Mentoring Programs

The context of mentoring plays a significant role in shaping the nature of program-based mentoring relationships. The majority of mentoring programs are based on or originate in the community through BBBS and other organizations such as Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations (YMCA and [Page 324]YWCA). However, schools also have emerged as a viable context for mentoring. Some advantages of school-based mentoring programs include significantly lower operational costs. Herrera and colleagues (2000) estimate school-based programs cost approximately half as much as community-based programs. School-based programs also provide increased access to youth, and greater opportunities for school staff and program coordinators to supervise mentors and provide mentors with immediate support, instruction, and feedback. Mentors often prefer school-based mentoring because it is less time-consuming. Typically, school-based mentors meet with their mentees once per week for an hour, whereas community-based programs often encourage weekly meetings of three to four hours.

History of Mentoring

The term mentor has held the same meaning for more than 1,000 years. The word originated from the character Mentor in Homer's The Odyssey (see Baker & Maguire, in press). Mentor was a trusted friend of Odysseus, the king of Ithaca. When Odysseus went to fight in the Trojan War, Mentor was asked to watch over, befriend, and provide council and support to Odysseus's son, Telemachus. For hundreds of years, adults have served as mentors to youth in work apprenticeships. However, formal mentoring programs did not emerge until the early 20th century with the help of Jane Addams and Ernest Coulter, who encouraged the juvenile courts system to address delinquency. Adults working with needy or problem youth became known as Big Brothers, long before BBBS was founded. (Big Brothers was founded in 1904, and Big Brothers and Big Sisters maintained separate identities until 1978 when they merged to become Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.) Perhaps the most public statement in support of formal mentoring programs was President George W. Bush's pledge to commit 150 million dollars to mentoring programs. Although intuitively appealing and a popular approach to intervention, there has been limited research on the effectiveness of mentoring programs to date.

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