The Rise and Fall of Mentoring in Youth Justice

Journal Title: Prison Service Journal
Journal Issue: Issue 170, p20-24
Author: Porteous, David

Summary: This article discusses the ups and downs of one form of community based work with young offenders, mentoring. In the space of about ten years, this has become an integral element of provision across the spectrum of youth justice. And yet, recent research has raised question marks over its effectiveness such that its transition from being ‘what’s promising’ to ‘what works’ looks in doubt. The article revisits the context in and process by which mentoring grew to prominence and suggests that factors such as marketing and rebranding might have had a more important role than impartial research evidence.

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