Posts

Creating birds of similar feathers: How emphasizing similarities can improve matches

Editors note: This study has important implications for mentoring and other PYD studies. The simple act of emphasizing similarities improves relationships and leads to better outcomes. This should be a routine part of describing the “why” behind matches, for both mentors and mentees.  Gehlbach, H., Brinkworth, M., King, A. M. , Hsu, L. M., McIntyre, […]

Support in transition: The characteristics of natural mentors for youth in foster care

Duke, T., Farruggia, S. P., & Germo, G. R. (2017). “I don’t know where I would be right now if it wasn’t for them”: Emancipated foster care youth and their important non-parental adults. Children and Youth Services Review, 76, 65-73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.02.015 Summarized by Justin Preston Introduction As of 2015 in the United States, nearly 428,000 […]

Embedded mentoring: An important new approach to helping today’s youth

by Jean Rhodes My friend Rick recently shared a graduation photo with his long-time mentee that conveyed so much love and pride I was moved to tears. Rick and Kevin were paired through a program that embraces the “friendship” model. Rather than take a focused, skills approach, Rick was tasked only with forging a close, […]

What we can learn from a “glittering ounce” of good news

“Good news is rare these days, and every glittering ounce of it should be cherished and hoarded and worshiped and fondled like a priceless diamond.” -Hunter S. Thompson by Jean Rhodes Let us take a moment to recognize an extraordinary mentoring program that recently produced remarkably promising findings. The Arches Transformative Mentoring program has delivered […]

Tipping points and a path to more effective mentoring

By Jean Rhodes In a recent JAMA psychiatry paper, Boston University researchers described a very effective strategy for helping depressed, overwhelmed low-income young women engage in active problem solving. In just six 45 minute one-on-one sessions, the women learned how to discuss the daily “sticky points” in their lives and then, as the lead author […]

It takes two: New research investigates reciprocity in the teacher-student mentoring relationship

Ferguson, S. (2017). Ask not what your mentor can do for you…: The role of reciprocal exchange in maintaining student-teacher mentorships. Sociological Forum, 1-23. DOI: 10.1111/socf.12406. Summarized by Justin Preston   Introduction In the present study, the author seeks to underscore a framework for relational processes that make social capital, or the goodwill available to […]

Empowering girls and women in these confusing times

Jean Rhodes Issues of sexual misconduct are in the limelight. With each new celebrity revelation, far too many everyday women and girls are reminded of own own, painful and often buried story. The sad truth is that most women have a story to tell. And like the recent accusers, many feared the repercussions–personal, social, professional–of […]

Why “intentional” mentoring is so important

by Jean Rhodes I’d like to make the case make for intentional mentoring in all youth settings, but let’s start with a an example from youth sports. The National Council on Youth Sports estimates that more than 45 million youth between 8 and 19 participate in some form of youth sports each year, making it one of […]

Natural mentors for youth: Leveraging a familial asset for drinking prevention and intervention

Strunin, L., Díaz-Martínez, A., Díaz-Martínez, L. R., Kuranz, S., Hernández-Ávila, C. A., Pantridge, C. E., & Fernández-Varela, H. (2015). Natural mentors and youth drinking: a qualitative study of Mexican youths. Health education research, 30(4), 660-670. Summarized by Rachel Rubin   Background It is widely documented that family attitudes and patterns influence youth behaviors and outcomes, such as […]

Youth-initiated mentoring: An idea whose time has come

by Jean Rhodes A growing number of studies have demonstrated the benefits of youth-initiated mentoring (YIM). Rather than being assigned a mentor, young people are provided with the skills and scaffolding to recruit caring adults from within their own networks. Last week, we highlighted a study in which Dutch researchers successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of this […]