Needs of Youth and Parents From Multi-Problem Families in the Search for Youth-Initiated Mentors
Koper, Natasha; Creemers, Hanneke E.; Van Dam, Levi; Stams, Geert Jan J. M.; Branje, Susan
(2023) Youth & Society, volume 55, issue 3, pp. 420 - 446
(Article)
Abstract
Youth-initiated mentoring is an innovative youth care approach in which youth recruit supportive adults from their social networks as a mentor for youth and a partner for parents and professionals. This qualitative interview study documents what youth (n = 15) and parents (n = 13) from multi-problem families look for
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in a mentor, what mentors (n = 8) believe they have to offer, and whether what mentors believe to offer matches youth’s and parents’ needs. Youth and parents indicated that a strong connection and trust were most important, or even prerequisites, as youth who were unable to find mentors did not have strong relationships of trust. Youth and parents also voiced preferences for an understanding, sensitive mentor who offered youth perspective by providing support and advice and (according to some) setting rules. What mentors believed to offer matched youth’s and parents’ needs, suggesting that most youth successfully recruited suitable mentors.
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Keywords: YIM approach, interviews, mentors, multi-problem families, needs, selection process, youth-initiated mentoring, Social Sciences (miscellaneous), Sociology and Political Science, General Social Sciences
ISSN: 0044-118X
Publisher: SAGE Publications Inc.
Note: Funding Information: We would like to thank the youth mental health care organizations and their employees for their full cooperation: Enver, Jeugdformaat, Foundation Juzt, and Levvel. We are grateful for the collaboration with Utrecht University, University of Amsterdam and the YIM Foundation. We also want to thank our students and research assistants who contributed to data collection. Special thanks to research assistant Kelly, who helped in the coding process. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The work described in this article was supported by funding from five youth mental health care organizations in the Netherlands, that is Enver, Jeugdformaat, Foundation Juzt, GGz Breburg and Levvel. The funders had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2021.
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