Österreichisches Jahrbuch für Soziale Arbeit

Perceived Challenges and Related Coping Styles Developed by Mentors in Formal Youth Mentoring Relationships

Zusammenfassung

This paper discusses the characteristics of coping styles that are developed to deal with perceived mentoring challenges during mentors’ experiences in formal youth mentoring bonds. Data is drawn from an extensive study on mentoring relational processes conducted in the Czech youth mentoring programme Big Brothers Big Sisters/P?t P between 2010 and 2017. In-depth semi-structured interviews with ten mentoring matches were conducted three times over one year of mentoring involvement. Qualitative Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) focused on mentors’ experiences and perceptions when occupying a mentoring role, and the subsequent relational characteristics and dynamics of the ten mentoring bonds. The reported results contribute to the theory on formal and natural mentoring relationships in a child-and-youth-centred perspective and address gaps in the knowledge on good evidence-based practice in formal youth mentoring interventions. – This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sk?odowska-Curie grant agreement H2020-MSCA-ST-IF-2020 No. 101027291 ENCOUNTER: Experiences of Youth in Natural Mentoring Relationships