Mentoring for social inclusion: a call for social work to engage with an emerging model of social intervention

ABSTRACT

A new form of volunteer-based intervention is mushrooming across Europe: social mentoring. Such programmes turn ‘ordinary’ citizens into mentors for individuals from disadvantaged groups. Related initiatives are becoming more institutionalised and social mentoring has gained popularity as a social policy measure, especially in the face of crises. However, the social work discussion has taken little notice of this burgeoning phenomenon adjoining our professional field. There is a lack of concepts and data that could fuel a debate at the intersection of mentoring for social inclusion, human services, and welfare policies. This paper presents a first attempt to outline what social mentoring means, why social work should engage with it and how we can research into it. It offers theoretical reflection on ongoing developments in the EU, based on observation of the literature and field. To expand the available knowledge, it is suggested that research should pay equal attention to all three constituent elements of the topic: personal relationships, programmes, and policies. In line with critical traditions, this paper suggests a holistic, multi-scalar perspective that is sensitive to social inequalities and power imbalances, while also embracing innovative and transformative aspects of social mentoring as a ‘popular’ form of social problems work.

KEYWORDS:

• Social mentoring
• civic engagement
• social intervention
• changes in social policies
• institutionalisation of informal support

Disclosure statement

The author reports there are no competing interests to declare.

Notes

1 https://orient8.eu/

2 Access the livecast here: https://app.livecasts.eu/mentoring-in-europe/program

3 For the ‘Sello de la Mentoría de Calidad’, see www.qualitymentoring.org.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Eberhard Raithelhuber

Raithelhuber, Eberhard, Dr. habil, is Professor of Social Intervention and Transformation at Bertha von Suttner Private University, Austria, where he teaches in the Social Work Study Programme. His main fields of work are migration and mobility, child and youth care, informal social support and intervention, social mentoring, social policy and the welfare state, disadvantaged social groups and social exclusion, and transitions in the life course. In 2023, he was appointed as Member of the Researchers Committee of Mentoring Europe, based in the Netherlands. Starting in December 2023, he will assume the role of Project Manager for the ERASMUS+ Cooperation Partnership ‘Ment4EU - Mentoring for Social Inclusion in Europe’.