Urban Girls Revisited: Building Strengths

6. Caring Connections: Mentoring Relationships in the Lives of Urban Girls

6 Caring Connections Mentoring Relationships in the Lives of Urban Girls Jean E. Rhodes, Anita A. Davis, Leslie R. Prescott, and Renée Spencer Adolescents who have adjusted well in spite of profound and persistent stress often attribute their success to the influence of a natural mentor, such as a special aunt, neighbor, or teacher. Anecdotal reports of mentors’ protective qualities are corroborated by a growing body of literature that has underscored the positive influence of nonparent adults in the lives of adolescents. Despite the promise of mentoring, as well as the recent rapid proliferation of volunteer programs across the United States, many questions remain concerning the nature and effects of mentor relationships. In this chapter we will discuss a developing model of the processes through which mentoring is likely to promote positive development for adolescents , and present findings from a series of studies examining the influence of natural and formal mentors. Implications of these findings for future research and preventative intervention are discussed. Background Although adolescents’ relationships with their parents clearly play key roles in their development, nonparent adults can also be quite prominent in adolescents’ lives. In a study of urban youth with diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, 82% reported having a nonparent adult who they could count on and who was a significant influence on them (Beam, Chen, & Greenberger, 2002). In another study of urban youth, predominantly 142 African American, almost 54% indicated they had a natural mentor, and those with mentors reported engaging in fewer problem behaviors and having more positive attitudes toward school (Zimmerman, Bingenheimer , & Notaro, 2002). Research on resilience has called attention to the strong positive force that nonparent adults can be in youths’ lives. Nonparent adults and other extrafamilial sources of support have been consistently identified as contributing to resilience among youth faced with a wide array of challenges, from divorce to maltreatment (Cowen & Work, 1988; Garmezy & Neuchterlein , 1972; Luthar & Ziglar, 1991; Masten & Coatsworth, 1998). Werner and Smith (1982), for example, conducted a longitudinal investigation of children who were exposed to poverty, biological risks, and family instability. Those who developed into competent and autonomous young adults showed an ability to locate an adult in addition to their parents for support. Unfortunately, many of today’s youth cannot easily find supportive nonparent adults in their communities. Shifting family and marital problems , overcrowded schools, and less cohesive communities have dramatically reduced the availability of caring adults (Furstenberg, 1994; Putnam, 2000). The problem is particularly acute in urban centers where many of the middle-class adults who once served as respected authority figures have moved to suburbs, leaving far fewer adults in these communities who are able to pass along vital information and resources to youth who are struggling educationally or economically (Anderson, 1999). A growing body of literature points to relationships with adults, particularly adult women, as being especially important to the healthy psychological development of adolescent girls (Brown & Gilligan, 1992; Debold, Brown, Weseen, & Brookins 1999; Sullivan, 1996; Taylor, Gilligan, & Sullivan , 1995). Gilligan (1990) contends that “relationships between girls and adult women may be particularly critical during the transition into adolescence ” because girls at this juncture are eager to “seek out and listen attentively to advice from women” (p. 6). Nonparent adults may play a critical role in mediating adolescent girls’ dual needs for both independence and guidance. With adults other than their parents, adolescents can gain some autonomy while simultaneously obtaining needed emotional support and advice (Allen, Aber, & Leadbeater, 1990). Chodorow (1992) also notes the influential role of nonparent adults in the lives of adolescent girls. From childhood, girls are more likely than boys to participate in an intergenerational world of women, including their mothers, grandmothers , aunts, and other female kin. Older women “become mediators Caring Connections 143 between mother and daughter, by providing a daughter with alternative models for personal identification and objects of attachment” (p. 6). Intergenerational relationships have long been recognized as an important resource in many urban African American communities (Martin & Martin, 1978; Wilson, 1997). Collins (1987), for example, has described the protective influence of African American women, referring to them as “othermothers.” These women provide guidance to younger members of the community, often acting as surrogate parents. Women-centered networks typically extend beyond the boundaries of biologically related extended families to include “community othermothers” and “fictive” kin (i.e., non-kin who have been absorbed into an existing family structure; Collins, 1987; Stack, 1974). Many Latino families are...