Mentoring children and youth: Principles, issues, and policy implications for community programmes in New Zealand

Mentoring is becoming an increasingly popular strategy for addressing the n eeds of young people who are considered at risk for failure in mainstream c ontexts, and many schools and social set-vice agencies in New Zealand now c onduct mentoring programmes. We suggest various psychological mechanisms fo r understanding the possible processes involved in effective mentoring. The literature evaluating mentoring programmes is selectively reviewed, and wh ile the evidence is less convincing than might be expected from the confide nce that some policy agencies place in mentoring, there is nevertheless ind ication that mentoring can have valuable outcomes, depending on how it is d one. In general, the benefits for children and youth will be seen in educat ion and the acquisition of specific life skills, rather than being a preven tative panacea for all social problems. We argue that natural environments which are mentor rich are preferable to artificially designed programmes wi th short-term or haphazard matches between mentor and young person. Thinkin g carefully about the psychological processes and principles involved in me ntoring should allow the development of innovative programmes that are suit ed to the unique cultures of Aotearoa/New Zealand, rather than simply imita ting overseas models.