Mentoring in the social context: Mentors' experiences with mentees' peers in a site-based program Julia Pryce a, ⁎, Samantha Giovannetti a , Renée Spencer b , L. Christian Elledge c , Grace Gowdy b , Marisa L. Whitley c , Timothy A. Cavell d a Loyola University Chicago, United States b Boston University, United States c University of Tennessee, United States d University of Arkansas, United States abstract article info Article history: Received 16 February 2015 Received in revised form 23 June 2015 Accepted 23 June 2015 Available online 26 June 2015 Keywords: Youth mentoring Mentors Site-based mentoring Aggressive children Peers Qualitative research The primary mechanism by which mentoring promotes positive outcomes is typically considered to be the one- to-one relationship between mentor and youth. However, many mentoring relationships, particularly those in site-based programs, unfold within and are influenced by the larger contexts in which mentoring takes place. In the present study, we examined 161 first-person accounts written by college students serving as Lunch Buddy mentors in an elementary school-based mentoring program. This examination aims to glean insights into mentors' experiences of and responses to their mentees' peers as they carried out the mentoring relationship in a school cafeteria setting, and the ways that mentors' engagement of mentees' peer networks might have influenced the mentoring process. Our analyses delineate the different approaches taken by mentors to engage mentees' peers, and the challenge of focusing on the mentoring relationship while also managing interactions involving mentees' peers. Findings shed light on how the contexts in which mentoring relationships occur shape the course and function of mentoring, and expand our understanding of the processes through which mentoring relationships can promote positive change for mentees. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Mentoring interventions are typically conceptualized as a dyadic relationship between a mentor and youth (e.g., Rhodes, 2002). Howev- er, in site-based programs, the mentoring relationship unfolds within the larger social ecology of that particular setting. In many school- based programs, for example, mentoring takes place during the regular school day and in view of or even in the midst of mentees' peer network. The impact of these larger social ecologies on mentoring, and the strat- egies mentors use to navigate relationships within these settings, have received almost no empirical attention to date. In the present study, we examined first-person accounts written by college students serving as lunchtime mentors in an elementary school-based mentoring pro- gram. We sought insights into mentors' experiences of and responses to their mentees' peers as they carried out a mentoring relationship in this setting. We also hoped to learn how mentors' strategies for engag- ing with mentees' peer networks might influence the mentoring process. 1.1. Youth mentoring and the social context The degree to which social contextual factors influence mentoring process and outcomes is underappreciated and understudied, in part perhaps given the traditional focus on the mentor–mentee bond as the critical mechanism of change in mentoring (e.g., Rhodes, 2002). Yet mentoring relationships do not exist in isolation; mentor–mentee interactions are embedded within the social network of the mentor, the mentee, or both (Keller & Blakeslee, 2013). Scholars have begun to consider how broader social networks (e.g., families) and other mean- ingful relationships (e.g., parents, teachers) shape and are shaped by youth mentoring relationships (Keller, 2005; Keller & Blakeslee, 2013; Spencer, Basualdo-Delmonico, & Lewis, 2011). There is a small body of evidence suggesting that youth outcomes are influenced by interactions between mentors and parents, by the quality of mentees' social relationships, and by the quality of relation- ships between mentor program staff and school personnel (Morrow & Styles, 1995; Schwartz, Rhodes, Chan, & Herrera, 2011; Spencer et al., 2011). Empirical data also suggests that having a mentor can lead to improvements in children's relationships and interactions with peers and parents (Craig et al., in press; Dubois, Holloway, Valentine, & Cooper, 2002; Elledge, Cavell, Ogle, & Newgent, 2010; Karcher, Davis, & Powell, 2002), as well as that academic benefits accrued to youth Children and Youth Services Review 56 (2015) 185–192 ⁎ Corresponding author. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.06.015 0190-7409/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Children and Youth Services Review journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth