Mentoring Young People Leaving Care Someone for Me by Jasmine Clayden and Mike Stein - Literature review Example

A TAPUPA critique of the research “Mentoring Young people leaving care ‘someone for me’” by Jasmine Clayden and Mike Stein The projects were a response to the vulnerability of young people leaving care during transition to adult hood. The young people felt isolated due to lack of proper support especially from family. This was associated to possible mental health problems. The need for additional services at the time of transition was cited as a reason for the research. The mentoring process was of varied lengths ranging between six months and three years. Collection of Information was through a file search and in depth interviews between adolescents and their mentors. Mentoring relationships which had terminated two to four years earlier were also explored. Transparency There was a clear description of planning, goal setting and the results of the mentoring relationship. The adolescents were allowed to choose their own mentors. Further, in depth interviews were employed. The interviews were useful in planning setting goals. Local and government authorities were involved and relevant legal permission was obtained. The researcher observed various ethical principles necessary in research work. There was complete disclosure parents of the adolescents involved in the research. Accuracy The selected adolescents were involved in throughout the research process. This minimized room for any conflict due to ignorance. Conflicts would undermine the accuracy of the research. The adolescents were given advice to make decisions out of their own free will and not to please the researcher. As a safety precaution, there was the establishment of a distress call number for use by the adolescents whenever they felt the need to speak to anyone. Two thirds of the adolescents who participated in the research had a mentoring experience of at least six months. This experience coupled with gender and ethnicity could contribute to successful matching (Clayden and Stein, 2005, pp 56). Goals were set by both the mentors and the adolescents (Clayden and Stein, 2005, pp 56). Frequent meetings for prolonged periods were held for longer term mentoring relationships. These processes helped to improve accuracy as well as achieve intended goals. Purpositivity Social workers had identified a gap in their provision of services to young people leaving care (Clayden and Stein, 2005, pp 13). The adolescents felt they did not have enough support during their transition to adulthood. Those feeling caused high incidents of mental health problems among the young people (Clayden and Stein, 2005, pp 13). The objectives the research were: to offer adolescents between the ages of 16-21 leaving care support through a mentor of their choice; and to introduce the care leavers to a range of opportunities through the prince trust grant (Clayden and Stein, 2005, pp 5). The research was fit for the purpose. Utility The study was useful in providing hope of a possible strategy to help youth make successful and easy transitions into adulthood. The mentoring relationships were mostly voluntary and involved one to one mentoring. Two approaches were involved. The first one was the traditional adult mentoring approach (Clayden and Stein, 2005, pp 77). The aim was to compensate vulnerable young people for the absence of a consistent and caring adult. The traditional approach was influenced by Rutter’s research on resilience (Rutter, 1987) (Clayden and Stein, 2005, pp 77). The second approach was peer mentoring. This was in recognition of important contributions made by care givers who have themselves experienced the same vulnerability (Clayden and Stein, 2005). Propriety There was matching of adolescents with mentors within reasonable time. Some adolescents referred themselves to a mentor of their choice while others were referred. The referral criteria were based on a variety of reasons such as: wanting a listener or role model; need of help with independent living skills; need for general support among others (Clayden and Stein, 2005 pp77). The mentors worked on the young people on instrumental areas which comprised of educational, training areas and employment areas. Mentors also worked with young people on expressive areas which dealt with confidence and self esteem issues (Clayden and Stein, 2005 pp77). Accessibility Mentors took an informal approach as opposed to a distanced professional stance with the young people. The mentors were more accessible and less judgmental (Clayden and Stein, 2005 pp 52). Some young people felt they could contact their mentors at any time they needed (Clayden and Stein, 2005). This was very different from professional mentoring relationships were mentors are advised not to give out personal contact details. The young people felt they could talk to their mentors about anything without problems. The mentors were available for the young people entirely. The young people highly valued this accessibility, attention and informality of the mentoring relationship as opposed to professional help (Clayden and Stein, 2005 pp 57). A TAPUPA critique of “Natural mentoring and psychosocial outcomes among older youth transitioning from foster care”, by Michelle R. Munson and J. Curtis McMillen In the current world, young people have to undergo major challenges before they become mature. The situation has been perfected by the disappearance of parents in their search for a better life in terms of wealth and money while leaving the children on their own emotionally and socially. The lack of direction and high level delinquency has been attributed to lack of mentorship. This research, involving adolescents that were taken through a mentoring process, was in a quest to find a solution. The study examined the non-kin natural relationships with older foster care youths. It explored the psychosocial outcomes as a result of those relationships. Youths aged between 18 to 19 years participated in the study. The study examined the relative contributions of demographic characteristics, clinical characteristics, custody status and mentoring on outcomes (Munson & McMillen, 2009 pp 105). The study proposed that long term mentorship with a non kin adult would contribute to better psychological and behavioral outcomes in young people in transition to adulthood. In the study, it was also proposed that the quality of the relationship between the non-kin natural mentors would affect the outcomes. Transparency The study did not provide clear processes for participation of both the youth and the mentors. No involvement is seen on the part of the participants whether in the planning, goal setting, choosing of the mentors and such. This interferes with effective analysis of the project. The research used mentors that the participants had known for one year before that time. This was to ensure that there was open communication among participants and their mentors (Munson & McMillen, 2009). However, this might have compromised their view and behavior based on the personal attributes of the mentor, as they would have been less objective due to how they perceived their mentors. Other stakeholders like local authorities, parents and guardians do not appear to have been involved in the study. Accuracy The lack of direction and high level delinquency among young people has been attributed to lack of mentorship. On the other hand, the research done by Michelle R. Munson and J. Curtis was based on the behavioral outcomes. However, the behavior of people always varies depending on their personal attributes, which may compromise the outcomes. This is because different people deal with stress differently. For example, someone who is more resilience may only show signs of stress under extreme circumstances while a weak person may show them even when the stress level is on a negligible level (Munson & McMillen, 2009). The study examined the non-kin natural relationships with older foster care youths. It did not consider that the older foster care youths might have had other meaningful relationships which might have affected the outcome. This research was not well grounded. Purpositivity The aim of the research was to make contributions to literature focusing on natural mentoring among high risk youth (Munson & McMillen, 2009 pp108).The researchers felt the need to determine the existing findings generalized the samples of young people leaving care (Munson & McMillen, 2009 pp 108). They experienced challenges in achieving the original purpose of the research. The challenges were due to inadequate funds and the inconsistent nature of most of the adolescence children (Munson & McMillen, 2009). Propriety The study mainly focused on contributions of demographic characteristics, clinical characteristics, custody status and mentoring on outcomes (Munson & McMillen, 2009 pp 105). The study had several limitations. It oversimplified conditions of older youth in foster care from eight counties of Missouri. Relational Health Indices-Mentor (Liang et al., 2002b) was utilized in the study to measure mentoring relationship quality. The research used mentors that the participants had known for one year before that time. However, this might have compromised their view and behavior based on the personal attributes of the mentor, as they would have been less objective due to how they perceived their mentors. This may have compromised the propriety of the research Utility The study provides a good starting point for examining the importance or possible effects of natural mentoring to youth exiting care. The research hypothesized that mentoring offers young people leaving care complementary relationship from formal professional support. The research especially emphasized importance of mentoring young people who are coping with the challenges of transition to adulthood without family. The study was useful in providing hope of a possible strategy to help youth make successful and easy transitions into adulthood. Accessibility The study does not indicate the availability of the mentors to deal with the concerns of the youth. It is not clear what the nature of the relationship was between the mentors and the youth. References Clayden, J 2005, mentoring young people leaving care – Someone for me, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, New York. Munson, R 2009, Natural mentoring and psychosocial outcomes among older youth transitioning from foster care, Children and Youth Services Review, vol. 31, 104–111 Rutter M., 1987, Psychosocial resilience and protective mechanisms, American journal of Orthopsychiatry, Vol. 57, pp 316-31 Liang B., Tracy, A. J., Taylor C. A, Williams L. M., Jordan J.V., & Miller J. B., 2002, The Relational Health Indices: A Study of Women’s Relationships. Psychology of Women Read More