Building relationships between mentors and youth in the Big Brothers Big Sisters programme: a dialogic social work perspective

Abstract

This article aims to reveal the development of a dialogical relationship between volunteer mentors in the Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) programme and young people experiencing difficulties. The study demonstrates how Martin Buber’s existential dialogue theory underpins dialogical practice in the context of social services. It provides an opportunity to examine how volunteers build friendships with young people, evaluate their role in their lives, and grow personally through this interaction. The relationship between volunteers and young people is viewed as a dialogical space in which they grow together. The results of the study show that, in creating trust-based relationships with young people, volunteers adhere to a dialogical attitude: they accept young people without criticising or judging them; give them as much time as they need to communicate more openly; and strive to be authentic and open in their relationships. As their relationships with young people deepen, the study participants’ experiences show they begin to open up about sensitive and complex experiences. Volunteers respond empathetically, listening, hearing and providing emotional support.