67
limitations. Another evaluated segment was the level of personal motivation to participate in the mentoring
program.
The trainings for the mentors were planned and conducted on basis of the Manual - Mentoring
Program and Training Manual for mentoring program, designed and printed with the support of UNICEF
during the implementation of the mentoring program in 2011/12. The training material was distributed to all
participants/ potential mentors. The first training was conducted with participation of all employees from the
CSW – Department for children and youth from the cities of Skopje, Kumanovo and Veles. Two two-day
trainings were held on 22-28 November and 7-8 December 2013. The training was attended by 45 students
who expressed interest to become potential mentors. The main objective of the training was to introduce the
participants with the juvenile justice system on basis of the mentoring programme, the activities of the
mentor, establishment and maintaining boundaries in the mentorship relations, building and development of
self-confidence and trust,
types of communication, social services – mentoring programme activities with the
families
and the local communities, supervision and evaluation.
The first training was facilitated by Prof. Dr. Gordana Buzharevska and Prof. Dr. Sunchica
Dimitrijoska, the Programme manager, two representatives from the Inter-Municipal Centre for Social Work
Skopje - Department of Children and Youth (social worker and psychologist) and two participants (mentor
and coordinator) from the mentoring program implemented in 2011-2012. The training was very positively
appraised by the participants. The topics were extremely important for the mentors and the employees from
the CSW. Knowledge was gained mainly through the interactive learning process. The participants also had
opportunity to receive clear guidelines and instructions about the methodology for work with children in
conflict with the law. The joint participation of the CSW staff and mentors in the training process enabled
possibility for conducting good assessment of the mentors.
Before the selection of the mentors, the project team selected the children in conflict with the
law with
whom the mentors would work. Those were children at the age of 14 to 18 who were sanctioned by the court
with the measure “Enhanced
supervision by the CSW, who were under sanction with this
measure at the time
of the project implementation. The screening process was decisive for pairing the children in conflict with
the law with the mentors. Detailed analysis was made during the selection of the mentors for purpose of
elimination of pairing of children and mentors that could be harmful for the children in conflict with the law.
The project team and the employees from the Inter-Municipal Centers for Social Work from Skopje,
Kumanovo and Veles selected the mentors out of the pool of educated potential mentors. The selected
candidates had the favorable expertise, such as willingness to help and abilities for respecting individual
capacities of each person, valorization of the accomplished success, responsibility and persistence for
achieving the ultimate goal.
The basic criteria used for establishing the mentoring relationship were as follows: compatibility
(similar interests), abilities (auxiliary role in the area in which the mentor has previous experience),
consistence, continuity, closeness and orientation. The project team used a special form from the Manual -
Mentoring Program to check the possibilities for linking and establishment of the mentoring relationship.
The second planned training for the mentors was organized on May 2, 2014 by the project coordinator.
The main topic was termination / finalization of the mentoring relationship. The education was a good
preparation for finalization of the mentorship relation. Few of the mentors needed support during the
finalization of the mentorship relation due to the high level of linkage of the mentors with the children in
conflict with the law. This indicated that there the mentors were well prepared to successfully finalize the
mentorship relation. Total of 39 mentors (12 male and 27 female) were involved in the mentoring
programme. Having in mind that most of the children in conflict with the law were male, the pairing could
not be done on basis of the same gender since there was insufficient number of male students / mentors from
the Institutes for social sciences that applied and were selected as mentors.
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Figure No 1. Number of mentors in the 3 cities involved in the mentoring programme by gender
Number of mentors in the 3 cities involved in the mentoring programme
by gender
Gender
of the
mentor
Involved
in
the
Inter-
Municipal Centre for Social
Work Skopje
Involved
in
the
Inter-
Municipal Centre for Social
Work Kumanovo
Involved
in
the
Inter-
Municipal
Centre
for
Social
Work
Veles
Male
10
2
/
Female 24
1
2
Total
34
3
2
In terms of the gender of the children in conflict with the law involved in the mentoring programme it
can be concluded that there are more male juveniles (34) compared to а 10 female juveniles.
Figure No. 2 Number of children in conflict with the law in the 3 cities involved in the mentoring
programme by gender
Number of children in conflict with the law in the 3 cities involved in the
mentoring programme by
gender
Involved
in
the
Inter-
Municipal Centre for Social
Work Skopje
Involved
in
the
Inter-
Municipal Centre for Social
Work Kumanovo
Involved in the Inter-
Municipal
Centre
for
Social Work Veles
Male
25
5
4
Female
9
1
/
Total
34
6
4
In the process of pairing the mentors with the juveniles only one male mentor from Kumanovo was
paired with a female child. 11 male mentors were paired with male children and 9 female mentors with
female children. The remaining 14 female mentors were paired with male children. It can be concluded that
pairing different genders at the start of the mentoring relationship required a longer period for establishment
of good mentoring relationship, but at the end it gave good results. The gender was the main criteria in the
process of screening for pairing but consideration was made in terms of the interests and the characteristics
of the children and those of the mentors that were supposed to provide the required support. But those were
only the initial criteria that were not necessarily decisive. Successful mentoring relationships can be
established regardless of the differences as long as the mentors are patient, prepared for the cultural
differences, stabile, have developed empathy, do not have prejudices, love these children and respect their
rights. After the initial pairing (selection of mentor-mentored child) there was informal 30-minute face-to-
face meeting for getting acquainted which actually marked the mentorship relation.
The meetings of the mentors with the children in conflict with the law started with the introductory
sessions in the Centers for social work which were also attended by one of the parents of children in conflict
with the law who gave written consent for inclusion of the children in the mentoring programme. The initial
meetings were attended by the case coordinators from CSW. The introduction of the parents with the
mentoring programme ensured enthusiasm among the parents, and reduced the fear from the established
relation mentor / child. It also enabled opportunities for explaining the rules of procedure in terms of the
mentoring relationships and the roles of the mentors as well as the type of support provided for the children.