Forming an Alliance: Mentor's Perspectives on the Role of Family and Social Networks in Mentoring Relationships with Black Youth

Background and Purpose: In the United States, the largest demographic of families who participate in community-based programs identify as Black/African American and come from working class economic backgrounds while the largest demographic of volunteer mentors identifies as Non-Hispanic White and come from middle class economic backgrounds. Little is known about how mentors’ interactions with youths’ families and broader social networks influences the mentoring relationship while considering differences in race and socioeconomic status. The research question examined in this study is: How do non-Black volunteer mentors interact with the family and social networks of Black youth in their mentoring relationship and how do these interactions influence the relationship?

Methods: This study utilized a constructivist grounded theory to examine how non-Black volunteer mentors perceive their interactions with the youth’s family impacted the youth mentoring relationship while utilizing the Systemic Model of Mentoring as a theoretical framework. According to the Systemic Model of Mentoring, the quality of interactions that occur between the youth’s parents/caregivers and other influential individuals can dictate the success of the mentoring intervention. 28 interviews were conducted with former and current volunteer mentors from six different Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) mentoring programs across the United States. Theoretical saturation was reached after 23 interviews and five more interviews were conducted to check for outlier themes.

Results: The findings highlight the importance of mentors establishing a connection with youths’ families and social networks along with the importance of forming an alliance to promote positive outcomes. Further, findings underline some of the difficulties in the mentoring relationship that come from not having buy in from youths’ families and viewing the family and community as a deficient. Further, some mentors perceived their race as a barrier in building trust with the youth’s family and others struggled with maintaining boundaries despite the financial needs of the youth’s family.

Conclusions and Implications: The findings highlight the importance of mentors establishing a connection with youths’ families and social networks along with the importance of forming an alliance to promote positive outcomes. Further, findings underline some of the difficulties in the mentoring relationship that come from not having buy in from youths’ families and viewing the family and community as a deficient. Findings underscore the importance of considering the intersectional identities of the mentor, specifically race and class, when considering the implementation of cross-racial mentoring relationships among Black youth and families in community-based youth mentoring programs.