Mentoring as service-learning for undergraduates.

Abstract

Service-learning can play a critical role in the professional development of college students majoring in the social sciences. Moreover, it can strengthen relationships between college campuses and communities. We describe the results of the evaluation of a service-learning project designed to facilitate delinquency prevention and to promote resiliency in at-risk youth in our community. The involvement of undergraduate and graduate students has proven instrumental to the overall success of the program.

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Background

Fostering a spirit of academic curiosity and inquiry is the ultimate goal and continuing challenge for instructors in higher education. Service-learning is an exciting approach that has received widespread recognition as an effective method for curriculum enhancement (Shastri, 2000; Zukergood & Lucy-Allen, 2000). As defined by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993, service-learning is a method of learning whereby students learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized service. Specifically, this involves service that is conducted in and meets the needs of communities; that is coordinated with an elementary school, secondary school, or institution of higher learning; that helps foster civic responsibility, and is integrated into and enhances the academic curriculum of the students. It provides a ready complement to instruction based on Kolb's (1984) model of learning, which asserts that there are four stages in the learning process: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. Service-learning can facilitate development in all four stages by providing direct opportunities to apply information learned in the classroom, while simultaneously benefiting those in the community. Students are typically very enthusiastic about experiential learning and demonstrate the highest information retention from such projects. (Cohen & Kinsey, 1994; Eyler & Giles, 1994; Sax & Astin, 1997)

We have implemented service-learning opportunities at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in the Department of Psychology for many years, offering undergraduate course credit for preprofessional practicum. This involves directed experience in the human services on a volunteer basis. A special section of this pre-professional practicum course was created for those interested in participating in a juvenile mentoring program designed for youth considered at risk for delinquency. The mentoring program is co-sponsored by the Department of Psychology and the City of Carbondale Police Department. We are pleased to share the development, implementation and evaluation of this program with those interested in developing similar initiatives.

Mentoring as a Form of Service Learning

Mentoring has been defined as a relationship in which one individual supports, teaches, counsels and assists another on a regular basis over an extended period of time (Saito& Blythe, 1994). Recent evaluations of mentoring programs, namely those based on the Big Brother Big Sister model, which matches youth with caring, supportive adult role models, have demonstrated substantial success in the prevention of drug use and school-related problems (Tierney, Grossman & Resch, 1995). Juvenile Mentoring Program (JUMP) projects, as outlined by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) in 1992 specifically match youth who may be at risk for delinquency, gang involvement, drug use or school failure with an adult mentor to provide support, guidance and to help buffer the risks that may impede healthy development. We based our mentoring program upon this JUMP model.

As required by OJJDP guidelines, mentors participating in JUMP projects must receive training and supervision to be involved in the program. The 8-hour training includes didactic instruction in adolescent development, listening skills, identification of drugs and drug use, mediation strategies for conflict resolution, and anger management skills training. Our training sessions incorporate role plays and applied practice of skill techniques. The majority of our mentors are college students, typically psychology and social work majors, who have completed multiple courses related to mental health and social services. Participation in the mentoring program provides these students with direct opportunities to work with children and to apply concepts and information learned in the classroom. In doing so, they provide a beneficial service to youth and families in our community.

Development and Implementation of the Program

As indicated above, our program is based on the JUMP (OJJDP, 1992) model. We select mentors who are 18 years of age or older and free of criminal histories confirmed by criminal background checks. Interested students are required to complete an application that includes questions pertaining to employment history, volunteer experience, and experience with children. They also complete an activity interest inventory which we use to match mentors to youth based on common recreational interests and preferences. Students are informed that they will be expected to participate in an initial 8-hour training session, and regular supervision meetings with the program director throughout the course of the program. The expectation is that they will meet with their assigned youth at least 3 hours per week on average, and participate with them in monthly group activities, for a minimum of six months.

During the initial training, the SIUC students learn about the risk factors and comorbidity associated with conduct disorder and delinquency. They review coping skills, problem solving skills, and goal setting strategies, and are asked to model and to encourage these behaviors for their youth. They are additionally presented with a model of career development and are asked to assist their youth in exploring vocational interests. Finally, behavior management and crisis intervention procedures are also discussed. Over the course of two semesters, the students acquire paraprofessional experience working individually with youth, collaborating with law enforcement officers, and applying information learned in courses related to child development, education, child psychopathology, and social work. Students can obtain course credit through the Psychology Department by enrolling in the Pre-Professional Practicum course, or through the Social Work Department by enrolling in Field Service Practicum.

The youth in the program are referred by various agencies and individuals in the community, including the schools, the police department, probation department, and the local community mental health center. Their parents complete application and consent forms. Both youth and parents participate in interviews during which they describe the characteristics they would ideally find in a mentor. After all parent and child interviews and all training sessions have been conducted, to the best of our ability we match youth and mentors according to their mutual preferences. The duration of the program corresponds to the academic year, running from the end of August through the beginning of May. During the first couple of months, program activities are primarily centered on recruitment and training of mentors, and completion of parent and child interviews and application forms.

Evaluation of the Program

The evaluation components of our program are multifaceted and include the following outcome variables: satisfaction with the program, reports of delinquency, school attendance and grade reports, parent reports of social, emotional and behavioral functioning. To assess program outcome, we administer satisfaction surveys to youth, parents, and mentors. We obtain reports of juvenile police contacts from the police department, grade reports and attendance from the schools. The parents and youth complete a variety of psychological measures assessing youth self esteem, social skills, behavioral problems, and emotional adjustment. We have observed a number of significant and positive results from the program in many of the outcome variables. However, in the interest of brevity, we will focus specifically on our evaluation of the service-learning component itself, for which we rely primarily on the satisfaction surveys.

Our satisfaction surveys were similarly based on those developed for the OJJDP outcome assessments of JUMP projects. The questions posed to the mentors included: bow often have you usually seen your mentor each month? How much do you enjoy spending time with your youth? How helpful do you fee/you have been for your youth (in general)? How easy was it or how effective did you feel in communicating with your youth's parent or family? Overall, how did you like being a part of the mentoring program? The youth were asked the following types of questions: how well did you get along with your mentor? How well do you feel your mentor understands you? How much do you enjoy spending time with your mentor? How helpful do you feel your mentor was in general? Questions posed to the parent included: how often have your child and his/her mentor spent time together each month? How well do you think your child liked his/her mentor? In general, how helpful do you think your child's mentor has been? As can be seen, similar questions were asked of mentors, youth and their parents. Specific questions also addressed the mentors' ability to assist the youth in avoiding fights and substance use, encouraging school attendance and stronger social skills.

The results from these surveys have been very positive and, when coupled with other outcome data (reductions in police contacts, improvements in social behaviors), really speak to the effectiveness of the program. For example, the results of our most recent surveys indicated that based on the following response choices "not very much," "a little, "pretty much," "a lot," and "don't know," 71.9% (n = 32) of our youth felt that their mentors generally helped them "a lot," 75% believed their mentors understood them "a lot", 68.8% reported enjoying spending time with their mentors "a lot." Fewer than 5% responded with "not very much" to the question, "how helpful do you feel your mentor has been in general?" None of the youth responded with "not very much" to the questions asking, "how well did they get along with their mentor," "how well do you feel he/she understands you," and "how much do you enjoy spending time with your mentor?"

A similar picture is presented with the parent satisfaction surveys. To the question, "'in general, how helpful do you think your child's mentor has been," 53.3% (n= 32) indicated "a lot," and another 30% indicated "pretty much." "A lot" was also endorsed by 43.3% of parents rating how helpful the mentor was in encouraging their children to get better grades, 53.3% of parents rating how helpful the mentor was in discouraging fights, 76.7% of parents rating how helpful the mentor was in providing fun, safe, and valuable activities for the child, and 76.7% of parents rating their overall satisfaction with the program. For the mentors, the results were more tempered as they appeared more conservative in their own ratings of how helpful they perceived themselves to be to the youth and families. Although 75% (n = 32) of mentors endorsed "a lot" for the question, "how well do you get along with your youth," only 12.5% percent endorsed "a lot" as their rating for how helpful they had been to the youth in general. Average ratings for most questions were fairly evenly distributed between "a little," "pretty much," and "a lot." These results are very consistent with findings from the OJJDP (1998) evaluation report. It appears that mentors may often underestimate the value youth and parents see in the relationship. Nevertheless, 65.6% reported enjoying being part of the mentoring program, "a lot."

Pearson correlation coefficients were computed to assess the relationship between satisfaction with the program and success of the mentoring match. Parents', youths', and mentors' levels of satisfaction were analyzed separately. The average hours per month spent in mentoring activities as assessed by monthly log sheets submitted by the mentors correlated significantly with parents' views of how well their youth liked the mentor, r=.50, p<.01, how helpful the mentor was in providing fun, safe activities for the youth, r=.38, p<.01, and how helpful the mentor had been in general, r=.36, p<.05. Parent communication with the mentor was also significantly correlated with the average number of hours spent mentoring per month, r=.53, p=.001. The parents of youth who spent more time per month with their mentors responded more positively to satisfaction items than did parents of those who spent less time together.

Time spent per month in mentoring activities was significantly correlated with how much the youth enjoyed spending time with their mentors, r=.37, p<.05. It was also significantly related to youths' desire to remain in the program the following year, r=.52, p<.01. Youth who spent more time with their mentors each month were more likely to enjoy their time together and indicated a desire to continue in the program in the future. From an academic perspective a final outcome variable is the number of students interested in and committed to participating in the program. We have observed steady rates of participation, with enrollment in the pre-professional placement course ranging from 7 to 15 students per semester (note: not all students need or wish to pay for course credit to participate). They have generally expressed very positive feedback regarding the structure, function and objectives of the program. Most of them have found this to be a very valuable learning experience, regardless of whether they ultimately selected a career in child-oriented service delivery.

In summary, this service-learning project has been largely successful in reaching its objectives and has been well received by the community. We have served approximately 85 youth over the past four years, approximately 25% of which have continued in the program for two years or more. The program has grown tremendously, due in no small part to funding through the Youth Violence Prevention Cooperative Agreements program through the Substance Abuse Mental Health Service Administration. Feedback received from the Carbondale task force on Serious Habitual Offenders and from the Violence Prevention Coalition has been uniformly positive. The juvenile officers at the Carbondale Police Department, in particular, have stated that this is the most effective intervention ever implemented in this community. The rates of youth meeting Illinois State criteria for Serious Habitual Offenders have dramatically dropped in Carbondale since the program's inception. In our assessment, the partnership between the Department of Psychology and Carbondale Police Department was integral to its development, but the involvement of the SIUC students is really the basis of its success. We look forward to the continued enhancement of the program and the opportunities to facilitate positive growth and change among the students, the youth and their families.

References

Cohen, J. & Kinsey, D. (1994). Doing good and scholarship: A service learning study. Journalism Educator, 49(4), 4-14.

Eyler, J., & Giles, D. E. (1994). Research and evaluation in community service: The higher education agenda. Racine: Proceedings from the Wingspread Service Learning Conference.

Kolb, D. (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (1998). 1998 Report to Congress: Juvenile Mentoring Program. Washington, DC: Author

Saito, R. N., & Blythe, D. A. (1994). Understanding mentoring relationships. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.

Sax, L., & Astin, A. (1997). The benefits of service learning: Evidence from undergraduates. Educational Record, 25-32.

Shastri, A. (2000). Examining Content knowledge gains in academic service-learning: A study in an educational psychology course. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 4, 47-53

Tierney, J. P., Grossman, J. B., & Resch, N. (1995). Making a difference: An impact study of Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Philadelphia, PA: Public/Private Ventures.

Zukergood, D., & Lucy-Allen, D. (2000). Utilizing service-learning to incite student passion for learning. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 4, 12-15.

Mary Louise Cashel, Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Clair Goodman, Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Jane Swanson, Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Mary Louise Cashel, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of psychology. Her teaching and research interests focus on adolescent psychopathology, delinquency prevention, and service-learning. Clair Goodman is a graduate student at SIUC in the Department of Psychology and interested in at-risk youth and their families. Jane Swanson, Ph.D., is a full professor of psychology. Her teaching and research interests address career development in adults, college students, and youth.