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      Changing what it means to ‘become a man’: participants’ reflections on a school-based programme to redefine masculinity in the Balkans

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          Abstract

          Calls to engage men and boys in efforts to promote health, prevent violence and advance gender equality have grown in recent years. However, there remains little evidence or reflection on how most effectively to change harmful norms related to masculinity. The study addresses this gap by exploring the perspectives of participants in the Young Men Initiative (YMI), an innovative programme that aimed to promote healthier masculinities among boys attending vocational high schools in several Balkan countries through educational workshops, residential retreats and a social marketing campaign. Qualitative data were collected through 37 in-depth interviews and 11 focus-group discussions with boys, youth facilitators and teachers. Findings from four schools (in Belgrade, Sarajevo, Prishtina and Zagreb) suggest that several elements of the programme resonated strongly with participants and supported their meaningful engagement in project activities. Five themes emerged as most salient in identifying how and why specific aspects of YMI positively influenced participants: personal reflection, experience-based learning, connections with youth facilitators, new peer groups and aspirational messaging. Building on these insights, the study highlights potentially useful strategies for other programmes seeking to reach boys and transform their understanding of masculinity.

          Résumé

          L’appel à l’implication des hommes et des garçons dans la promotion de la santé, la prévention de la violence et les progrès vers l’égalité des genres s’est renforcé ces dernières années. Cependant, les preuves et la réflexion sur la manière la plus efficace de modifier les normes préjudiciables de la masculinité sont encore limitées. Cette étude traite de ces lacunes en explorant les points de vue des participants au programme Young Men Initiative (YMI). Celui-ci est un programme innovant qui avait pour objectif la promotion d’une plus saine masculinité parmi les garçons fréquentant des lycées professionnels dans plusieurs pays de la région des Balkans, à travers des ateliers pédagogiques, des retraites et une campagne de marketing social. Des données qualitatives ont été collectées au cours de 37 entretiens en profondeur et de 11 groupes de discussion thématique avec des garçons, des animateurs pour les jeunes et des enseignants. Les résultats obtenus dans quatre écoles (à Belgrade, Sarajevo, Pristina et Zagreb) suggèrent que plusieurs éléments du programme trouvaient un écho parmi les participants et confortaient leur engagement significatif dans des activités du projet. Concernant la manière selon laquelle et les raisons pour lesquelles certains aspects spécifiques de la YMI influençaient positivement les participants, cinq thèmes prédominants ont émergé : la réflexion personnelle, l’apprentissage fondé sur l’expérience, les relations avec les animateurs, de nouveaux groupes de pairs et des messages suscitant les aspirations. En s’appuyant sur ces observations, l’étude met en lumière les stratégies potentiellement utiles pour d’autres programmes destinés à des garçons et visant à transformer leur compréhension de la masculinité.

          Resumen

          En los últimos años ha aumentado el llamamiento a favor de que hombres y chicos participen en fomentar la salud, evitar la violencia y avanzar en la igualdad de sexos. Sin embargo, hay poca evidencia o reflexión sobre cómo cambiar de manera más eficaz las normas perjudiciales relacionadas con la masculinidad. En este estudio abordamos este vacío al analizar las perspectivas de los participantes en el innovador programa para hombres jóvenes Young Men Initiative (YMI) cuya finalidad es fomentar masculinidades más saludables entre los chicos que asisten a escuelas secundarias de formación profesional en varios países de los Balcanes mediante talleres educativos, convivencias y una campaña de publicidad social. Se recabaron datos cualitativos a través de 37 entrevistas exhaustivas y 11 charlas en grupo con chicos, facilitadores para jóvenes y profesores. Los resultados de cuatros escuelas (en Belgrado, Sarajevo, Pristina y Zagreb) indican que varios elementos del programa tuvieron un gran efecto en los participantes y apoyaron su implicación positiva en las actividades del proyecto. A la hora de identificar cómo y por qué determinados aspectos del programa YMI influyeron positivamente en los participantes surgieron cinco temas destacados: reflexión personal, aprendizaje basado en la experiencia, conexiones con facilitadores para jóvenes, nuevos compañeros y mensajes ambiciosos. A partir de estas perspectivas, en este estudio ponemos de relieve las estrategias potencialmente útiles para otros programas que tienen como finalidad llegar a los chicos y transformar su concepto de masculinidad.

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          Most cited references50

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          From work with men and boys to changes of social norms and reduction of inequities in gender relations: a conceptual shift in prevention of violence against women and girls.

          Violence perpetrated by and against men and boys is a major public health problem. Although individual men's use of violence differs, engagement of all men and boys in action to prevent violence against women and girls is essential. We discuss why this engagement approach is theoretically important and how prevention interventions have developed from treating men simply as perpetrators of violence against women and girls or as allies of women in its prevention, to approaches that seek to transform the relations, social norms, and systems that sustain gender inequality and violence. We review evidence of intervention effectiveness in the reduction of violence or its risk factors, features commonly seen in more effective interventions, and how strong evidence-based interventions can be developed with more robust use of theory. Future interventions should emphasise work with both men and boys and women and girls to change social norms on gender relations, and need to appropriately accommodate the differences between men and women in the design of programmes.
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            Gender and Power: Society, the Person, and Sexual Politics, R.W. Connell. 1987. Stanford University Press. 334 pages. Index. ISBN: 0-8047-1429-0. $39.50

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              Gender violence in schools in the developing world

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Cult Health Sex
                Cult Health Sex
                TCHS
                tchs20
                Culture, Health & Sexuality
                Taylor & Francis
                1369-1058
                1464-5351
                16 October 2015
                19 November 2015
                : 17
                : sup2 , Beyond Working with Men and Boys
                : 206-222
                Affiliations
                [ a ]Raising Voices , Kampala, Uganda
                [ b ]Independent Researcher
                [ c ]CARE International Balkans , Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
                [ d ]CARE International Balkans , Prishtina, Kosovo
                [ e ]International Center for Research on Women , Washington, DC, USA
                Author notes
                [* ]Corresponding author. Email: sophie@ 123456raisingvoices.org
                Article
                1070434
                10.1080/13691058.2015.1070434
                4706040
                26680537
                7f151ee6-b30c-4578-b377-da5782cae2f9
                © 2015 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis

                This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.

                History
                : 20 October 2014
                : 5 July 2015
                Page count
                Figures: 3, Tables: 1, Equations: 0, References: 36, Pages: 17
                Funding
                Funded by: Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
                Award ID: grant REF-10/0074
                Funded by: CARE Norway and CARE International Balkans
                Award ID: IOP-01/2012
                This research was supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs under grant REF-10/0074; and CARE Norway and CARE International Balkans [grant number IOP-01/2012].
                Categories
                Article
                Articles

                Sexual medicine
                masculinity,gender attitudes,young men,violence,balkans
                Sexual medicine
                masculinity, gender attitudes, young men, violence, balkans

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