Copyright © 2012

American Institutes

for Research.

All rights reserved.

Mentoring Youth in the

Juvenile Justice System

November 6, 2012

Friends for Youth Mentoring Institute

G. Roger Jarjoura, Principal Researcher

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Consider the Following

Scenario

A mentor and mentee are hanging

out. The mentee says: “I didn’t feel

like going to work yesterday, so I

called in and said I was sick.”

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The “Right” Mentor would Respond:

That reminds me of a time that I

called in sick so that I could go to

the beach with my college friends.

It was a nice day and we picked up

some beer along the way and had

a great time!

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The “Right” Mentor would Respond:

I understand. If I was only making

$7.50 an hour, I would call in sick

too if I didn’t feel like working.

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The “Right” Mentor would Respond:

You are kidding. That was very

irresponsible of you! You will not hold

onto that job for very long playing those

kinds of games.

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The “Right” Mentor would Respond:

What do you think that was like for your

boss and the rest of the staff? Have you

been at work when someone else called

in sick? What was that like? If your

boss gets used to not having you

around, how do you think this might

affect you? Is there some other way you

could have handled not wanting to go to

work?

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Let’s Consider Mentoring in

Context

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Keep in Mind…

• Mentoring is about

Investing in relationship

Choices

Modeling behavior

• Mentoring is about giving, but we can’t take it personally

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Mentoring

• From the research we know that mentoring is an effective intervention for:

Predelinquents

Delinquents

Juvenile offenders returning from incarceration

• When it is done correctly, it is a “Best Practice.”

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Mentoring Programs

Can inspire and guide people to

pursue successful and productive

futures, reaching their potential

through positive relationships and

utilization of community resources

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Mentoring Can be Transformative

• If mentors are properly “prepared”, they

can influence the youth in meaningful and

significant ways

• We may not see immediate short-term

changes, but long-term personal growth

has a lot to do with the adults in their

lives

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Start with a big vision for the

ultimate outcome—

Productively engaged adult

citizens

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Don’t aim too low

• Imagine the son of your favorite sister has landed in either the juvenile justice system or the foster care system—what would you like to see for him in terms of the kinds of support that could be available?

• Should the kids we serve be different in terms of our expectations?

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Employers Would Like…

• Communication skills—verbal and

written

• Honesty/integrity

• Teamwork skills

• Interpersonal skills

• Strong work ethic

How can you have influence here?

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If you believe that it takes a village…

• At the end of the time that the youth

are involved in your program, what do

you want to be able to have in place

for the youth?

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When the Supportive Adults are

Lacking…

Look for ways to introduce the supportive

adults in the new environments that youth are

entering (such as college or trade schools)

The goal is to increase the likelihood of

success for the youth in those new settings

Think about the kinds of support that are

available to middle-class youth and how

important those are

- Then try and substitute your own forms of

support and pay attention to how it is

working

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How does the Mentor Fit In?

• Do you equip your mentors?

• Can you set the structure of the

program so that the mentors know to

seek out resources?

• A Key Skill for the Youth: Accessing

Resources

• Another Key Skill: Asking for Help

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About Those Needs…

• Education

• Employment

• Family Relationships

• Financial Management/Literacy

• Health/Mental Health

• Housing

• Transportation

• Prosocial Use of Leisure Time

• Peer Relationships

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Mentoring

Youth

Engagement

Socio-Emotional

Development

Identity

Development

Positive Outcomes

Model for Youth Mentoring (Rhodes, 2002)

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In Addition…

• Recent research has shown

When mentors incorporate an

advocacy and/or teaching function in

their role, we are more likely to see

positive youth outcomes

the common feature is active guidance

towards objectives, resources, or

relationships

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Let’s Consider:

• What policies/practices related to your

program (or in the programs that you

support) interfere with OR limit OR (better

yet!) enhance the accomplishment of

preparing the youth for their long-term

success?

• What might you do about this?

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Understand adolescent

development and how your

program fits in to the process

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This Means Focusing on Each:

• Competency

• Life skills

• Positive development—Strengths-

based

• Interpersonal skills (emotional

intelligence)

• Accountability

• Decision making and problem solving

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Normal Adolescent

Development

• Impulsivity declines with age

• Sensation-seeking declines with age

• Future orientation increases with age

• As people age, they spend more time

thinking before they act

• Resistance to peer pressure increases

with age

Based on scholarship of Griffin (2010), Northwestern University Law School

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Consider:

From: Gardner and Steinberg (2005) “Peer Influence on Risk Taking, Risk Preference, and Risky Decision Making in

Adolescence and Adulthood: An Experimental Study” Developmental Psychology

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When Kids Experience Trauma

during Childhood

• They experience delays in developmental

milestones

• Have higher rates of learning disabilities

• Experience difficulties with problem

solving

• Are more impulsive and engage in

problem behaviors at higher rates

• Struggle with interpersonal relationships

and emotional intelligence

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Make Sure

• You are preparing your mentors to

understand

• Give mentors the tools to meet kids

where they are at

• Is your program developmentally

appropriate?

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The Mentor-Mentee Relationship is

So Critical…

Let’s consider what an effective relationship

might look like:

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Communication Skills

• Expressing self clearly and coherently,

both verbally and nonverbally

• Listen and learn how the youth feels

• Not responding in a hostile, sarcastic, or

anxious manner

• Observe the youth’s subtle, nonverbal

messages in a very careful manner

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Trust

• Be non-judgmental

• Allow youth to talk about his/her past in his/her own time

• Respect the youth’s confidences as long as they do not affect the health and welfare of the youth and others

• Relating to the youth and understanding feeling without condescension and emotional involvement

• Don’t obsess about the “truth”

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Interpersonal Skills

• recognizes and accepts the diversity of others

• gives appropriate advice

• flexible and adaptable to new situations

• able to suggest but not dictate

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Other Interpersonal Skills

• prepared for disappointments and

setbacks

AND

• uses disappointments and setbacks to

enhance relationship with youth

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Other Interpersonal Skills

• aware of the youth’s ability to

manipulate

• a good sense of humor

• patient

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Commitment

• Mentor should recognize and accept responsibility for time and personal obligations to the youth

• Accept the youth’s right to make suitable or unsuitable (not illegal) decisions

• Know the facts about situations before forming any conclusions

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Be Positive

• Offer frequent expressions of direct

confidence

• Be encouraging even when talking

about potentially troublesome topics

• Offer concrete assistance

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Train Your Mentors to Ask

Questions Effectively

• Asking specific questions can convince youth that a person is qualified to be a mentor If the youth wants help with their future, the

mentor should ask questions about their plans/desires related to work or school

• Open-ended questions are great—behavioral questions are better

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An Example:

• Rate yourself as a student on a

scale of 1-10. (1 would mean you

were a total failure and 10 would

mean you were outstanding). Tell

me why you rated yourself this way.

• What would it take for you to

become a 10?

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• How would you describe a good

worker? Be specific.

• Tell me about the ways you were a

good worker at your jobs. Be

specific.

• In what ways were you not a good

worker? Give examples.

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• Tell me about the last three times

you had money in your pocket.

How much did you have? Where

did the money come from? How did

you spend the money?

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• Rate your relationship with your

mother on a scale of 1-10. 1 means

there is no relationship and 10

means the relationship is perfect.

Tell me why you rated it like this.

Give me some examples.

• What would it take to make your

relationship with your mother a 10?

Be specific.

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Consider:

• What policies/practices related to your

program (or in the programs that you

support) interfere with OR limit OR (better

yet!) enhance the accomplishment of

building mentor-mentee relationships?

• What might you do about this?

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Find the right mentors

(or at least get them

right)

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Mentoring Can Be Challenging

• youth doesn’t return phone calls

• youth doesn’t show up for meetings

• youth is rude and hostile towards the mentor

• youth doesn’t talk to mentor

• youth is sexually promiscuous

• youth breaks the law

• youth shows up high or intoxicated

• mentor doesn’t know what to do with youth

• mentor feels overwhelmed by the youth’s problems

• mentor doesn’t agree with the youth’s values

• mentor is frustrated by lack of impact on youth

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Effective Programs

• focus their efforts on tapping into the

internal motivation of mentors by

helping them become more competent

assessing the relevance of their work

building their sense of belonging to a

worthwhile effort

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Inoculation of Your Mentors

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Things like:

• System-involved youth have been let

down by adults many times. They are

likely to keep the mentors at arms length

for some period of time until the mentor

“passes the test.”

• This is a transient population and the

youths may change residences, have

their phone numbers disconnected or

changed, or may spend very little time at

home making it difficult to catch them.

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And…

Many adults have a hard time with the progress that these youth demonstrate—it is often very slow and can involve several missteps and relapses along the way.

The strongest mentor-mentee relationships grow out of crises and conflicts—yet mentors will be inclined to avoid the youth while they are dealing with conflict and crises.

There are many potentially upsetting elements to working with this population. Mentors need to learn to look for support and not look for the way out of the program.

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Expectations

• In any crisis—big or small—mentors need to know not only who to call and their phone number, but also that they are expected to call

• Without accountability, time together can easily slip into simply “hanging out”

• Key issues: Maintaining contact with mentees

What happens when kids get into trouble or are moved without notice?

Make sure mentors have comprehensive contact information and plans to be in touch!

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Monitor the Progress

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Evidence

• Is important on a number of different levels

• How can you build the case that what you are doing is working? Compile “Good Stories”

• How can you determine IF what you are doing is working?

• Is there evidence that the outcomes are better for the youth? Is it the result of your new strategy?

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This is about things like…

• Are you “impeccable” and thoughtful with your words?

• Are you more likely to ask questions or to lecture?

• Do youth believe that you LISTEN to them? Are they correct?

• What do youth learn by watching your behavior?

• Would you say you are “Mentor-like”?