This case study examines the way an adolescent Black boy extends his kinship network as a part of navigating and demonstrating agency in mentoring relationships with nonparental adults. We purposively selected one participant, Bodos, from the sample of a larger mixed-method study involving youth, aged 12 to 18 years, in the southeastern United States. Drawing on narrative methodology, we used a holistic-content approach to analyze Bodos’ responses to semistructured interviews. Bodos used several narratives to describe his experiences. We offer three findings: (a) Fictive kinship is a positive feature of Black adaptive culture that can be leveraged by Black youth as a tool for creating a distinct relational dynamic with their mentors, (b) adolescent Black boys possess skills and knowledge that both preexist and emerge within positive mentoring relationships, and (c) youth agency and expectations manifest in mentoring relationships to inform and influence those adults’ significance. This case study furthers the field’s understanding of how cultural practices can positively influence relational development and create a unique relational context and experience.

本案例研究探讨了一个黑人少年扩展其亲属关系网络的方式，以此作为指导和演示与非父母成年人之间关系的指导机构的一部分。我们有意从美国东南部12至18岁的青年参与的一项较大的混合方法研究的样本中选择了一名参与者Bodos。利用叙事方法，我们使用了一种整体内容的方法来分析Bodos对半结构化访谈的回应。博多斯用几种叙述来描述他的经历。我们提供了三个发现：（a）虚构亲属是黑人适应文化的一个积极特征，黑人青年可以利用它作为与导师建立独特关系动力的工具，（b）青春期的黑人男孩拥有在积极的指导关系中既已存在并出现的技能和知识，并且（c）在指导关系中表现出青年才能和期望，以告知和影响这些成年人的重要性。该案例研究使人们进一步了解了文化实践如何对关系发展产生积极影响，并创造了独特的关系背景和经验。