69
During the introductory process with the mentors two of the children expressed dissatisfaction, namely the
children did not want to take part in the programme due to lack of support from their parents. As a result of
lack of knowledge about the mentoring programme by some of the parents and lack of desire to cause
positive change at their children, these children were not included in the mentoring programme and new
pairing was conducted (new mentoring pairs were formed).
The process of getting familiar with each other between the mentors and the children lasted for a
month and a half (December - January 2014). In this period the mentors and the children managed to find
common areas of interest and developed a plan of action (how many times a week they would meet, what
activities and where they would implement them). In this period the mentors appraised the current condition
of the children and at the same time the pairs managed to work in building confidence in subtle, unobtrusive
and completely natural way.
The mentor for a child was selected on basis of the interests and the trust of the child in order to
overcome the specific obstacles that he / she encountered. Although the mentors were trained how to build
confidence sometimes they used personal methodologies to cope with the situation by being hones to each
other, slowly revealing piece by piece of their “I”, constantly working on building confidence in each other.
The beginning of the mentoring relations was the most important moment in the mentoring programme
because it set the foundation for the mentoring relationship (child-mentor). The process of building
confidence was gradual, through getting to know each other, exploring common interests, discussions and
actions to show the juvenile that the mentor is there for him / her, to orient and help him / her properly. The
building of the confidence and trust was done through different actions.
The juveniles managed to gain the trust of the mentors, although sometimes this trust was severely put
in question, but in principle the trust was always there between them, since it would not have been possible
to establish proper and sincere relationship without it. The gaining of the trust and confidence facilitated the
future mentoring relationship. Having in mind the profile of the juveniles, as well as the established
confidence and trust with them, this enabled the mentors to fell the balance and the stability of the overall
mentoring relationship.
The next step was creation of individual plans for work with the juveniles which was done in
partnership with the juveniles depending on their interests and abilities. These activities were incorporated in
the individual plans for work with the children in conflict with the law developed as compulsory documents
of the inter-municipal Centers for social work. The individual activities with the children were planned
during the implementation of the mentoring programme on a proposal of the mentors and on basis of the
capacities of the children, with approval from the staff of the inter-municipal Centers for social work who
worked with the children in conflict with the law.
The activities were most frequently implemented in four key areas for guiding the mentoring
relationship which were mutually interdependent in the process of implementation of the set objectives. The
first area was focused on
building the socio-emotional capacities of the child in conflict with the law. The
main objective was the child to form a positive picture about him / her, to increase the level of self-
confidence and self-respect, in order to look into life with more energy, enthusiasm and curiosity so
the child
could reach its full potential. To accomplish of this objective, different psychological exercises and
techniques were used, as well as constructive discussions and continuous instigation: hearing out the
thoughts, opinions and emotions of the juveniles and placing them in concrete situations which could result
with success and feeling of satisfaction from their own success and seeing that they are capable of achieving,
as well as subtle personal presentation of themselves and their experiences, as an additional model for
identification. The answers to the question of the mentor “According to you, which of the below listed
activities and how frequently did you implement them as a mentor during the mentorship relation?, were as
follows:
70
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
We have
carried out
such
activity
Several
time so far
Once per
month
Two times
per month
At every
mentoring
meeting
Acquisition of life skills
0
25
11.36
34.1
29.54
Healthy life style
0
29.54
25
9.1
36.36
School attendance and discipline
11.36
0
0
6.82
81.82
Study help
9.1
6.82
11.36
36.36
36.36
Vocational training
0
29.54
43.18
9.1
18.18
Planning leisure
13.64
34.1
0
52.27
0
Advices for improving the
emotional state
0
9.1
18.18
27.27
45.45
Support for visiting physician
11.36
6.82
0
36.36
45.45
Support for continuing/finishing
part-time studying
54.55
2.27
0
20.45
22.73
Acquiring communication skills
0
0
15.91
38.64
45.45
Chart 1. Type and frequency of mentoring activities conducted within the Mentoring Program
Within the activities with children in conflict with the law, the activities for acquisition of life skills
were most frequently implemented
by all mentors, namely at least twice a month with 34.10% of the
children
and on each mentorship meeting with 29.54% of the children. Mentors worked with children on acquiring
healthy lifestyles with 36.36% of the children, twice a month. A lot of time for implementation of activities
within the Mentoring Program was dedicated to the planning of leisure time, that is, with half of children in
conflict with the law (52.27%), twice a month.
The mentors worked on improvement of the emotional condition with all children in conflict with the
law (with 45.45% of the children at every meeting and with 27.27% of the children at meeting every other
meeting or twice a month. In terms of development of communication skills, the mentors worked with
45,45% of the children on each meeting or twice a month with 38,64% of the children. The children did not
show particular interest for learning when they were included in the mentoring programme, due to the
unsupportive environment and lack of personal initiatives, habits and willingness to learn. Due to this, the
second area of work was focused on
improvement of the performance in the school, mainly through
motivation and raising interest of children, i.e., orienting them to perceive the importance and benefit of the
education. Mentors supported the children in learning the school material, particularly for subjects in which
the children had bad grades or they expressed particular interest for studying. The learning process was done
by utilization of creative and modern techniques for gaining knowledge (technique “grapes”, technique I
know / don‟t know and I want to know, illustration material, development of power point presentations and
Internet resources). The children expressed interest for such type of learning and therefore the mentors
utilized this approach continuously.