ABSTRACT
This chapter concerns the mentoring of young people ‘at risk’ of becoming involved in offending, diverted from court, subject to final warning interventions or where mentoring is used as part of an offending behaviour programme. ‘Mentoring’ is an elastic term, which encompasses a variety of approaches:
Helping, coaching, tutoring, counselling, sponsoring, befriending, bonding, trusting, role-modelling, mutual learning, direction-setting, progress-chasing, sharing experience, respite provision, sharing a laugh, widening horizons, resilience-building, showing ropes, informal apprenticeships, providing openings, kindness of strangers, sitting by Nellie, treats for bad boys and girls, the Caligula Phenomenon, power play, tours of middle-class life, and so on and so forth. (Pawson 2006: 123)
It considers some of the issues that have been identified through research, contrasting some very positive outcomes from evaluations of programmes in America with less conclusive outcomes from evaluations of projects in the UK.
