Student Mentors of Incarcerated Persons: Contribution of a Mentoring Program for Incarcerated Persons

Abstract

This study evaluates the impact of a student program for mentoring incarcerated persons. Mentoring has multiple goals for both incarcerated persons and mentors; this article focuses on its contributions to incarcerated persons. The program encourages incarcerated persons to think positively and constructively, apply anger management, and learn about the normative society they will enter. Twenty-one incarcerated persons participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews in this qualitative research. The findings show that the students eventually became significant others for the incarcerated persons, most of whom reported on forming excellent relations with the students, and learning to act more deliberately and less violently due to the students. They also described reducing their self-absorption, expanding their horizons, and better understanding their criminal choices. Some mentioned acquiring more structured worldviews and improving their behavior. The findings point to significant benefits gained from the incarcerated person–student interaction in the mentoring framework, and the importance of expanding the program.