An exploratory study of a mentoring project for African Caribbean boys with behavioural and emotional difficulties

It is increasingly recognised that the African Caribbean community are disadvantaged in multiple domains including health, education, housing and employment. Indeed, statistics relating to the penal system and the mental health system indicate that Black boys and men are over-represented in both. This highlights the need to work with young Black boys with emotional and behavioural difficulties, deemed 'at-risk' of developing difficulties in later life. Mentoring schemes, aimed at working with disaffected youth, are becoming increasingly popular throughout the UK. There is a body of evidence suggesting that the presence of an adult mentor, particularly for those boys who lack a father or a father figure, is valuable in helping young people through the transitions from adolescence to adulthood. However, this literature is largely quantitative and focuses on the teachers' and parents' reports of the impact of mentoring schemes that are aimed at fostering adolescent academic ability and potential employment. This thesis considers boys' and their mothers' individual experiences of a mentoring project called boys2MEN for African Caribbean boys aged 8 to 13 with emotional and behavioural difficulties who lack a father figure. The research was concerned with exploring the impact of the project on behaviour and identity and the interpretations of the mentee-mentor relationship. Semi-structured interviews were carried out individually with eight boys and six mothers and the data analysed by means of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The analysis of the boys' interviews revealed two superordinate themes: the relationship to the project and developing self-regard. The superordinate themes to emerge from the mothers' interviews were forming relationships with help providers and the role of boy2MEN. The participants' experiences of boys2MEN were frequently contrasted strongly with their experience with professionals at a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) for which the accounts suggest a more negative experience. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed and suggestions are made for future research and practice within CAMHS