The Role of Community Development in Reducing Extremism and Ethnic Conflict by August John Hoffman Saul Alamilla & Belle Liang

Author:August John Hoffman, Saul Alamilla & Belle Liang
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

Outcomes

Research in the mentoring field has tended to frame the question about whether race matters in terms of whether youth prefer or naturally gravitate toward mentors of the same racial or ethnic background, and whether same-race matches are associated with better outcomes than cross-race matches. Studies on formal mentoring programs comparing the benefits of same-race and cross-race matches have produced mixed findings. For example, Ensher and Murphy (1997) found that youth in same-race matches, compared with those in cross-race matches, reported receiving more instrumental support. Matching by race, however, was not associated with youth-reported levels of emotional support or youth’s satisfaction with their mentors. Instead, this study suggested that mentees in cross-race matches might be just as satisfied as those in same-race matches if they perceive themselves to be similar to mentors in other ways. Moreover, in a study of 476 African American, Latino, American Indian, and Asian American youth, Rhodes and colleagues (2002) compared same-race and cross-race matches (where all cross-race mentors were White) in the Big Brothers Big Sisters national survey. Minority youth in the two groups did not differ on any of the 16 outcome variables at the beginning of the study. At the end of the study, only one group difference stood out: adolescents in same-race matches were somewhat more likely to report the initiation of alcohol use than adolescents in cross-race matches. Moreover, parents and guardians held slightly better impressions of cross-race relationships —they were more likely to report that the White mentors helped to build on their children’s strengths, to improve their peer relationships, and to provide social and recreational opportunities. When matches were based on shared interests, geographic proximity, and youth and parental preferences for same-race pairs, cross-race pairs were just good as the same-race pairs in terms of frequency of meetings and duration of relationships.

In fact, youth in cross-race matches felt that they could more often “talk to their mentors” when things were bothering them and felt that they received more unconditional support. Some evidence suggests that such preferences for White mentors may have to do with racial identity status and unconscious bias among mentees and their parents. For example, African American youth with strong racial identities showed greater trust toward same-race mentors than toward White mentors, whereas those with weak racial identities were closer to White mentors (Linnehan, Weer, & Uhl, 2005).

Researchers in the field have at times taken these findings as support for cross-race matches, and at the least suggested that matching by race may not make a difference in mentoring outcomes (Rhodes et al., 2002). Indeed, such conclusions would provide relief for those concerned over the disproportionate number of minority mentees and mentors. Nevertheless, we caution that interpreting the outcome research this way may be misleading for a number of reasons, including the fact that outcome research may not be sensitive enough to detect the nuanced dynamics of mentoring relationships.

For example, in a study by Spencer, Basualdo-Delmonico, and Lewis (2011), several parents of color wished for a same-race match but did not express this desire to the agency for a variety of reasons.

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