Effectiveness of Mentorship Programs

In psychology, mentor or coach is the person who acts as an instructor as well as a trainer of the performer by conducting proper instruction, practice and demonstration in terms of making personal and psychological development of the person. Based on the psychological point of view, mentorship and coaching program is a highly effective process for clients not only in terms of improving their mental and physical health but also to develop their skills such as decision-making ability, problem-solving power, analysing skills and judgemental approach. this assignment is going to make a critical analysis of the effectiveness of the mentorship program in the given case study, that is conducted for women who approach release into the community from HMP Send, seeking psychology dissertation help. Through using relevant resources this assignment is going to highlight how the Making Connection mentorship programs will reduce the chances re-offending acts for these women who are going to be released from the custody. In addition to the analysis, this assignment will show both the benefits and limitations of coaching and mentorship process in improving the psychological condition and re-develop personal skill of the performer for shaping their future roles in the society.

In the given case study, the analysis of re-offending behaviour of women who are going to be released into the community from the custody has shown that the women who are exposed to Making Connection mentorship program, are less prone to show re-offending acts rather than who are not exposed to this program. Based on this information in the given case study it can be stated that mentorship and coaching program is associated with setting positive behaviour within people which assists them to form creative thoughts and positive ideas in term of dealing with social issues. In the given case study, 83 women who are trained through the mentorship program have developed positive personal skills which are associated with improving their moral and ethical values. That is the reason why these women are less prone to re-offend than the other women who are not exposed o the Making Connection mentorship program. Accruing to Gatling (2014), mentors can conduct such treatment process for their client which assist the client to develop their problem, solving skills, innovating thoughts, fresh ideas and positive characters. In the given case study, the mentorship program assists the women who are under the custody, to promote their professional and personal development in terms of making their proper rehabilitation in the community when they will be released from the custody.

When it comes to analysing the impact on mentorship and coaching on people, the different psychological model can be used such as Grow model and Oscar model. based on Grow model, mentorship and coaching process is associated with four important aspects, such as goal, reality, option and will. Based on this model it can be stated that, in the given case study, mentors have set smart goals for the women, which is to improve their behaviour and psychology in terms of reducing the chances of re-offences. According to Hunt et al. (2016), the mentorship program is not only associated with improving the behaviour of the performer but also it is associated with improving the intelligence as well as analysing skill of performer (McIntosh et al. 2014). By analysing the case study, it can be stated that the specific goal that the mentor has set for the women is conducting Making Connection mentorship program in terms of developing positive behaviour in these women so they will be able to go back into their community with proper dignity and respect. The second element of Grow model is realty, which will assist the mentor in the given case study to set effective communication and discussion with the women prisoners in terms of making them m aware of social realities such as social challenges that they are going to face after realising from the custody. The social challenges that the women in the case study are going to face are social discrimination, bullying, disrespects from neighbours and family members and social bias. In addition to this, by using the Grow model, the mentors in the given case study can be able to prepare the inner strength on the women who are going to be released into the community by providing them proper psychological counselling and training. The third factor that is described in the Grow model is Option, which assists the mentor to select proper strategies that are important for achieving their goals (O'Boyle, 2014). In the given case study, the Making Connection mentorship program is one of the most important strategies or options that the mentors have taken in improving personal skill, psychological strength and professional skill of the women. In this aspect, mentors need to analyse the use of mentorship program in terms in term of reviewing the impact of this program on the behaviour and psychology of the women. On the contrary McIntosh et al. (2014) argued that sometimes mentors have to face some constraints in terms of selecting and implementing the suitable options to strategies for improving the overall physical and mental health of the client. In the given case study, it can be seen that the Making Connection mentorship program is proved to be effective in reducing the re-offence of women who are going to be released from the custody. From the statistical database presented into the case study it can be seen that out of every 100 participants, the mentorship program had reduced the number of re-offenders from 4 to 20 during the one year. from this statistical analysis, mentors can be assured about the fruitfulness of implementing the Making Connection mentorship program in jail. The fourth element of the Grow Model is Will, which assist mentors to assist people in developing effective ideas which would be able to assist people in dealing with issues in their professional and personal life. In the given case study, it is seen that the overall frequency of re-offences by the participants are reduced is impressive rates (out of 100 participants, the number of re-offences is reduced between 53 to 96 offences). Therefore, it can be stated that mentors in the case study can successfully develop inner willpower within each participant for transforming their negative thoughts as well as offensive behaviour into positive thoughts.

In this context, another important model for mentorship and coaching can be used, the Oscar Model. this model has four important elements including outcome, situation, choice, action and review. By implementing this model into the given case study it can be stated that mentors and coaches need to focus first on the desired outcomes of the overall mentorship program. Through analysing the case study, it is known that the desired outcome of the Making Connection mentorship program is reducing number if re-offences by the prisoners. On the contrary, Edwards (2016) argued that there are several criticisms on this process of determining the desired outcomes, as it is based on assumptions of the mentors and coaches which can be far from the reality. In this context, mentors and coaches in the given case study need to be highly careful while setting strategies for meeting their desired goals. Here it can be stated that, along with conducting the Making Connection mentorship programs for women, mentors can arrange counselling and psychological training program for the women which will assist them to improve the behaviour, characters, habits and personal skills of the participants. Based on the Oscar model, secondly, mentors in the given case study need to analyse the current situation of the client. In this asset, it can be stated the mentorship program that has been conducted in the given case study is although able to reduce the chances of re-offences by the prisoners, it is failed to remove the chances entirely due to lack of analysing the proper psychological situation of prisoners. The women who are going be released from custody might have faced different social, psychological and physical issues which spoil their soft corner and positive ides. In terms making the positive transformation of all participants, mentors need to analyse the current psychological condition of the mind of the participants, through analysing their mind, the mentors would be able to set strategies that can be relevant to promoting new ideas, thoughts, innovative decision in the kind of the prisoners. In case of the third element, the Choice, the mentors in the given case study does not apply wide ranges of choices or options in terms of promoting behavioural transformational of the women, rather they focus on in conducting the Making Connection mentorship program which is unable remove the chances committing re-offences entirely by the participants. That’s why the case study is shown in its statistical data that, the frequency of reduced re-offences is between 53 to 96 offences instead of reducing 100%. On the contrary Gassmann et al. (2014) argued that mentorship and coaching is process of promoting the willpower, innovative ideas and creativity in people, but it can not assure the entire behavioural transformation of any person, as the behavioural transformation is also dependent on the own consent of the client whether he or she is ready to have his or her behaviour. In the aspect, it can be stated that mentors in the given case study need to motivate the women for promoting their understanding and willpower to change their mindset and behaviour. Based on the Oscar model, the next step that mentors in the case study need to follow is taking effective actions or strategies. By analysing the statistical database of participant regarding the number and frequency of re-offence, it can be stated that the actional that is performed by the mentors in the case study is useful in terms of developing personal and professional skills among the women. As stated by Dobrea and Maiorescu (2015), through promoting professional and personal skills it can be assured that mentors able to changes the psychology and mindset of the client. In this context, mentors in the case study might have ben unbale to promote the behavioural transformation and changes in mindset if the participants who are still prone to commit re-offence. Therefore, it can be stated that mentors can take some additional strategies such as regular interaction with prisoners, their cross counselling, interaction with the supervisor of prisoners, commutation with a family member if the women and conducting behavioural transformation program. Based on Oscar theory, the last step that mentors need to follow is a review of the entire mentorship and coaching process, in terms of evaluating its usefulness. In this context, it can be stated from analysis of the database in the given case study that, the Making Connection mentorship program is proved as a most useful process which has assisted the women prisoners to develop positive decisions, innovative ideas and creative thoughts. This is why the statistical report of re-offence in the case study shows a sharp reduction of chances and frequency of re-offence. On the contrary Fararah et al. (2014) argued that the usefulness mentorship program can be measured only by determining the overall impact on the behavioural transformation of clients, rather mentors and coaches need to determine whether the program can develop positive cognitive skill in client which is most important skill for making psychological transformation of them. In this context, it is obscure whether mentors in the given case study focus on the cognitive behavioural transformation of participants, as some participants are still show their tendency towards committing re-offences. Therefore, it can be stated that coaches and mentors in the case study need to focus on different aspects such as cognitive development, social awareness, professional development and personal development while conducting mentorship program for the prisoners.

From the above-mentioned discussion, it can be concluded that mentors and coaches are important persons who provide training, instruction and guidance to the client in term of developing their professional, cognitive behavioural and personal development. Mentors and coaches are assigned to conduct several mentorship programs such as counselling, psychological training, self-evaluation training and connection making program, which help their client to make the positive transformation of their behaviour, decisions and mindset. Moreover, mentors and coaches also act as teacher, counsellor and guardian of clients who prepare the clients for dealing with social issues such as discrimination, bias and violence. last but not the least, mentorship and coaching is an effective process which improves the living standard and professional values of clients.

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