BOYS AND YOUNG MEN One Wrong Turn February, Feb, 2 nd, 2016

THEMES  Setting the context  Some broad messages from the research  Hearing the messages from a recent research project  Relationship based practice with boys and young men

At risk and a risk: boys are a problem! Concerns about boys They are at risk : poor school attainment, suicide, alcohol and substance misuse They are a risk : criminality and violence Varying explanations advanced for why – lack of male role models in private and public life is a relatively recent common one

Other suggestions  Changing gender roles  Changing economies – differing skill sets needed  Masculinity as a problem( risky behaviours, vulnerability issues, policing of vulnerability)  An important issue may be that boys know they are viewed as a problem!!!!  Black boys and white services????

Research evidence  Historical evidence suggests that some of the concerns are not new  Not all boys are equally vulnerable and not all are equally scrutinized  Some recent work of interest which locates boys within a broader men’s health movement and which does explore gender

 This is important for a number of reasons in order to  Help boys to grow into healthy men at best and at worst to tackle and reduce numbers of male suicides  There is also an important discussion to be had about the contribution men/fathers can make to boys’ emotional health

Seven ‘Big ideas’  Treating people as individuals – the role of gender  Stigma  Support and intervention in the early years  Promoting Services  The role of third parties  Joined up services  Knowledge and training

Gender  What is it?  How does it relate to the individual?  This is complicated  Example from our recent research

Stigma  Mental ill health is much more more stigmatised than most forms of physical ill health.  The damaging experience of stigma is commonly reported by mental health service users of both sexes.  There has been little work to examine whether stigma affects men and women in different ways and/or in different degree.  It is at least possible that, in general, men may feel stigma more strongly than women, and that public attitudes may be more prejudiced against men with mental health problems than women.  A greater understanding of the relationship between stigma and gender is needed.  Some good developments in this area

Early years  Many of the attitudes and beliefs that underpin people’s mental health behaviours are established in childhood  There is much more that could be done to support boys during childhood, especially those boys whose circumstances may increase their potential lifetime vulnerability to mental health difficulties and may reduce their capacity for seeking help.  Supporting the development of good mental health is not currently a shared objective for health, education and social service providers

The role of third parties  Third parties may have a very particular role in supporting men and boys and encouraging men and boys to seek help  The help-seeking literature is pretty clear on the gendered differences in terms of help-seeking behaviours  Friends, family and so on  Peer –support- Men in Sheds movement

Promoting services  The evidence suggests that men tend to under-use mental health services. There is probably no single explanation for why this should be.  It is probable that a more sophisticated and nuanced approach to the promotion and delivery of services could improve male uptake. Men who find help-seeking difficult are not going to change in the short term – but mental health services can.

Joined up approaches  Men in mental distress often exhibit difficulties in other areas of their life and functioning. Alcohol and drug misuse – which may have been used as a coping mechanism – are common. Relationship problems, social disengagement, offending behaviour, and difficulties with work (chronic unemployment or work-related stress) also occur. “Whole-life” problems need whole-life solutions. Joined-up approaches which include the involvement of social care, employment, and housing providers may be of particular value for men, who sometimes lack supportive networks of their own.

Training and knowledge  Training in relation to the most important issues in male mental health may be particularly useful  Beyond developing practitioner expertise however, we believe that there is a good case to be made for the development of a much greater professional and academic knowledge base  There is little dissemination of good practice, and the academic literature is sparse

Beyond male role models?  Brief outline of the rationale  50 boys and young men –  Across a range of services and parts of the country

Key findings  Family  Place  The role of services as a ‘third space’  Relationship based practice – the role of gender etc

Family  Fathers were often disappointing  But mothers and grandmothers important  Early deaths and loss  Developing a family of their own

Place  Different opportunities and constraints economically  The’ street’  Danger from other boys but also from police (especially for black boys)  Public displays of hyper masculinity

The role of services  ‘third space’  Warmth, food and practical help  Legitimation of a different kind of masculinity  Role of different types of workers modelling different behaviours

Workers  Relationships were built on the basis of trust reliability, consistency  Shared background a plus  But not essential  CARE

References Wilkins, D and Kemple, M (201) Delivering male: Effective practice in male mental health, Robb, M., Featherstone,B., Ruxton, S. and Ward, M. (2015) Beyond male role models, Milton Keynes, The Open University