Critical Contexts for the Formation of Natural Mentoring Relationships among Economically Disadvantaged African American Adolescents: A Focus on Families and Neighborhoods

Noelle M. Hurd is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology, University of Virginia. Through three interconnected research projects, Dr. Hurd’s grant will examine how family and neighborhood settings support the development of mentoring relationships between economically disadvantaged African-American adolescents and the adults in their everyday lives. This project will develop her skills in the design and implementation of multilevel and mixed-methods studies to assess family- and neighborhood-level influences on natural mentoring relationships. Patrick Tolan, professor at the University of Virginia Curry School of Education, will mentor Hurd in multilevel study design and measurement. Jean Rhodes, professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, and Mary Waters, professor and chair of sociology at Harvard University, will co-mentor Hurd in qualitative and mixed-methods research.