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An Investigation Of Volunteer-Student Relationship Trajectories Within School-Based Youth Mentoring Programs, Thomas Keller, Julia Pryce

Julia Pryce

This prospective, mixed-method study investigates the development of school-based mentoring relationships using direct observations, in-depth interviews, and questionnaires from the perspective of mentors and students. A pattern-oriented analysis of qualitative data explores the diversity observed in the life-course of mentor-student relationships. Systematic variation in developmental trends across relationships revealed four distinctive groupings. Some relationships showed progressive improvement in strength and quality. Others started well but reached a plateau and did not become particularly close. A third group struggled throughout to make a connection. Finally, some relationships succeeded after a breakthrough to overcome their challenges. These inductively derived categories are corroborated …