ABSTRACT
After the stories of the mentor relationships at New Beginnings, set in their wider context, we return with the insights they provide to the issues raised in Chapters 1 and 2. What makes mentoring different from other interventions? How does the element of relationship transform the helping process? In short, how does mentoring work? We saw in those opening chapters that engagement mentoring aspires to empower young people, and that critical studies of mentoring have likewise argued for empowering models of good practice. At the same time, policies on mentoring for social inclusion have advanced a rhetoric of empowerment, but often anticipate a high degree of control over its process and outcomes. The case stories from the research at New Beginnings illustrate this tension well, showing how mentors and mentees experienced both empowerment and control in practice.
