Mentoring jako metoda wsparcia społecznego

Abstract

In this paper I present mentoring as a method of social support. Mentoring - a developmental, friendly relationship between a more experienced person and a less experienced child - comes from the United States of America, where it has been an approved therapeutic method for children at risk as well as a method supporting the development of young people since the eighties. Recently in Poland mentoring has been treated as a supporting method for young people, mainly due to the only one program based on mentoring - Big Brothers Big Sisters that has been carried out in Poland for a few years. According to my own research concerning the importance and the effectiveness of Big Brothers Big Sisters program, positive results of mentors' work have been proved. From the analysis of the research, it follows that mentoring is the effective method of social support. Because of that, promotion of mentoring is advisable, as well as the continuation of Big Brothers Big Sisters program in Poland in order to help more people in need. It is also necessary to subject mentoring to further analysis.