Facilitating Resilience through Relationships: How Structured Mentoring Programs Support Children and Adolescents of Incarcerated Parents

Background and Purpose: This phenomenology explored the mentoring experiences of children and adolescents with incarcerated parents participating in the 2023 Visiting Mentoring Program in South Korea. Despite the challenges and risk factors associated with parental incarceration, individual differences among children can lead to varying outcomes. While some children experience difficulties, others demonstrate resilience by employing various coping mechanisms. To foster resilience in children and adolescents with incarcerated parents, interventions should adopt a resilience framework that emphasizes developing and supporting children’s coping strategies for successful adaptation. Despite efforts to develop mentoring programs, few studies have explored the lives of children and adolescents with incarcerated parents in South Korea, particularly regarding their resilience processes or participation in mentoring. The research aimed to illuminate mentees’ experiences and relationships within the structured program to offer guidance for implementing mentoring initiatives that foster positive outcomes and successful adaptation.

Methods: Nine mentees and four mentors participated in in-depth interviews in November 2023, toward the end of the mentoring program. This study analyzed the participants’ lived experiences in the mentoring program, which included multiple outings and overnight camps. The study employed Epoche, or bracketing, a phenomenological analytic process originating from Husserl’s methodology using the Family Stress-Proximal Process model as a theoretical framework. MAXQDA (2022) software was used for qualitative data analysis.

Results: Four major categories were identified in our findings: facilitating learning experiences through supportive relationships, leveraging positive mentorship as an outlet for stress, fostering personal growth through mentorship, and mentoring as liberation. Findings uncovered that mentees experienced emotional and personal growth through close relationships with mentors and peers, enjoying new activities that fostered social skills, self-determination, and career aspirations. Mentors served as sources of joy, positive adult role models, and trusted confidants, to whom mentees disclosed personal stories and challenges, including those related to their incarcerated parents. These relationships helped mentees overcome societal stigma, develop a sense of hope, and envision stable futures. The program was a turning point for many mentees, filling emotional voids and fostering a sense of liberation from societal labels.

Conclusions and Implications: While highlighting positive developmental outcomes for mentees that emerged naturally, the study suggests the need to clearly define mentors’ multifaceted roles in cultivating long-term, supportive relationships. These findings underscore the potential of well-structured mentoring programs to positively impact vulnerable populations and provide actionable insights for program development.