FORMATION OF A LIVING ENVIRONMENT IN A CHILDREN'S HOME: THE MENTORING PROJECT SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Children deprived of parental care and living in orphanages grow up in conditions of deprivation, since it is impossible to ensure the creation of conditions there that are completely similar to those in families. Despite the efforts and professionalism of teachers, children in orphanages have a monotonous living environment, are limited in their personal choice of their space (real and metaphysical), organization of time – arrangement and filling of the room, activities, communication, information, food and other choices of everyday life familiar to families. Children from orphanages face difficulties in socialization and inculturation, having a number of psychological characteristics that interfere with communication. The skills of building stable and trusting relationships in their lives with a significant adult friend - a mentor outside a boarding home and secondary school - become an important resource for a child in an orphanage. In this work, using sociological survey methods using a standardized questionnaire and interviews with experts, an assessment is made of how both the subject-spatial and social components of the living environment of children in orphanages are enriched through communication with mentors. Based on an analysis of the experience of the “Mentoring” project of the Charitable Foundation “Our Children” in the Republic of Bashkortostan, it is shown exactly how communication with mentors occurs and how it is assessed by direct participants in the project, including identifying the features of the project’s impact on children with disabilities. Communication with mentors has a strong influence on all children, and in improving the qualifications of mentors, this has an effect, since its profitability for graduates is greater for children with special needs. Children's health characteristics influence the choice of events with mentors; friendship with them becomes the main opportunity to diversify their living environment.