Mentoring as a Therapeutic Intervention for Incarcerated Offenders

• In Event: Correctional Based Dog and Mentoring Programs

Abstract

Mentoring as a criminal justice intervention has received sparse attention and what little attention it has received has been limited in scope. Much of the previous work has focused on mentoring as an intervention for “at risk” youth or juvenile offenders, showing favorable results. Additionally, previous research has assessed the benefits of having a mentor while giving little attention to the benefits of being a mentor. What remains unexamined is whether or not mentoring could be considered a positive intervention for other types of offenders in diverse situations, and what the benefits of being a mentor are. Specifically, it remains unclear if mentoring could benefit offender rehabilitation during incarceration. Given that previous work has shown favorable results for mentoring in reducing offending, it is reasonable to consider using mentorship programs as a therapeutic intervention for incarcerated individuals. The current work seeks to address this possibility by assessing what we know about mentoring as an intervention, what we remain unsure of, and where future research needs to go in order to bridge this gap.

Author

• Stephanie Morse, Arizona State University