Examining the Social Effects of Community-Based Mentoring on At-Risk Adolescent Girls

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study is to examine which strategies of mentoring, if any, have a positive impact on adolescent girls who engage in potentially at-risk social behaviors, which may negatively affect their self-esteem academic performance. The female students who participated in this study attend a large high school in Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, are between the ages of 15 and 18, and are mentored by volunteers of The TurnAround Agenda Outreach Center. The study is informed by two theroretical frameworks which seeks to guide a study of human interactions: social learning theory (Bandura,1997) and attachment theory (Bowlby, 1980). Findings indicate the benefits of the program model and confirm that mentor strategies have a positive impact on student self-esteem and academic achievement, and thus contribute to diminish their at-risk behaviors.