Older and Wiser: New Ideas for Youth Mentoring in the 21st Century

Jean E. Rhodes

Published by Harvard University Press 2020

Older and Wiser

New Ideas for Youth Mentoring in the 21st Century

Jean E. Rhodes

https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674250123

Overview
Contents

About this book

Adult volunteers try to do their part by mentoring young people in need, but ample empirical research shows that their efforts rarely pay off. Psychologist Jean Rhodes offers evidence-based suggestions for better mentorship. Above all, she argues, mentors should focus on building rapport while also teaching useful skills.

Reviews

Rhodes has demonstrated why she is regarded as the foremost authority on youth mentoring in the U.S. and internationally. Her singularly broad and deep knowledge of the science and her unparalleled understanding of the program and policy implications of mentoring research are crystallized magnificently in this important and timely book. Accessible to scholars, practitioners, students, parents, and other caregivers, this book will quickly be seen as a classic.
-- Richard M. Lerner, Director, Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development, Tufts University

Rhodes is not only a pioneer in mentoring research but she has always looked around corners for where the power of relationships can be harnessed most effectively so our young people can thrive and strive. She sheds light on innovative approaches that can amplify and refine mentoring to do what it has the potential to do at its best: provide the connections that meet young people where they are with the personalized support we all need for healthy development.
-- David Shapiro, CEO, MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. In Older and Wiser, Rhodes forces us to slam the brakes on ineffective practices; not to blame or criticize but to prove and improve an industry that is devoted to the potential of our nation’s children. We’re thrilled to watch how this candid new research and the author’s concrete recommendations will disrupt and redefine how to build social capital and create new pathways to opportunity for youth in greatest need.
-- Michael D. Smith, Executive Director, My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, and Director of Youth Opportunity Programs, The Obama Foundation

This engaging and well-written book is a significant advance in our understanding of when and how mentoring matters. Mentoring is widely recommended as a strategy to help disadvantaged kids get a fairer start in life, but research has often failed to support that strategy, because of conceptual confusion about what ‘mentoring’ means. Jean Rhodes’s new book clears away this confusion and lays the foundations for an approach to mentoring that is both rigorous and rich in new ideas.
-- Robert D. Putnam, author of Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis

A wonderfully thoughtful, engaging, and interesting read. With a lifetime devoted to the study of mentoring, Rhodes delivers a powerful assessment of what is needed to best help young people today. She challenges us to consider a supportive accountability model focused on technology-delivered interventions that may significantly improve outcomes for mentees.
-- Pam Iorio, President and CEO, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. “The Kind of Justice Which Only a Brother Can Give” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	9
2. Mentoring by the Numbers Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	25
3. How Did We Get It So Wrong for So Long? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	43
4. Giving Psychology Away Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
5. Specialized Mentoring Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	87
6. The Promise of Embedded and Blended Mentoring Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	97
7. The Good Enough Mentor Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	110
8. The Road to Rigor Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	122
9. Why We Can’t Leave Natural Mentoring to Chance Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
10. The Future of Mentoring Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	144
Epilogue Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	148
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	153
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	205
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	207

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Pages
- Main content: 240
Keywords: specialized; embedded; blended; natural; formal; nonspecific; targeted; outcomes; counseling; big brothers big sisters; mental health; families; interventions; friendship; paraprofessionals; relationships; parents; therapy; extracurricular activities

eBook

Published: August 18, 2020
ISBN: 9780674250123