Articles - General and Scholarly
New Male Studies
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On these pages you will find a growing selection of articles both general and scholarly, from a variety of sources, of relevance to Male Health and Male Studies. Some articles are provided in full (with the permission of authors or copyright owners); for others a synopsis or abstract is provided with a link to either an open access source or the source from which the article can be obtained (via a university or other library) or purchased directly.
Contents
Thirteen Reasons it is Unlucky to be Male
Fathers of sons with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy - Dr. Anna Louise Cunniff
Feminism Against Science - Prof. Steven Goldberg
Why Men and Women Should End The Chore Wars - TIME
Transition to Adulthood for Young Men with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
White House Council on Boys to Men
The Tide Has Turned - Prof. Miles Groth
Working With Young Males in Psychotherapy - Prof. Miles Groth
The Study of Man (or Males) – New York Times
Boys and Education - Stolzer, J.M.
Is There Anything Good About Men - Roy F. Baumeister
Psychosocial adjustment, experiences and views of fathers of sons
with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
By Dr. Anna Louise Cunniff
This doctoral dissertation represents the first known U.K. study to investigate the adjustment and experiences of fathers of a son with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD).
The key aims of the study were to 1) investigate fathers’ adjustment and 2) explore fathers’ perspectives on caring for their son. There are few studies investigating adjustment and experiences of families affected by DMD, with available studies focusing on mothers. This dissertation addresses calls for both psychosocial research within the area of DMD, and inclusion of fathers in research designs.
A mixed methodology approach was adopted, incorporating questionnaires, in-depth interviews and written accounts. 50 fathers completed questionnaires and 48 provided written accounts, with 15 participating in interviews. Findings indicate influences on fathers’ adjustment were 1) boys’ emotional and peer problems (child related factors) and 2) involvement with their son and fathers’ friendships (socio-ecological factors).
Interviews and written accounts highlighted the distress and perceived isolation some fathers experience. Fathers’ accounts also allow an understanding of their needs, how they adapt and suggestions for improved support. Overall, results indicate the importance of inclusion of fathers, greater mental health input, and a need for professional awareness.
Dr. Anna Cunniff is a Chartered Psychologist (British Psychological Society) and Registered Health Psychologist (Health Professionals Council) living in Scotland. She completed the study as the final assessed component of a Doctorate in Health Psychology.
Examiners described her research as ‘a robust and novel approach’ to the topic. Anna’s interest in this area developed whilst employed as a Researcher at the Dubowitz Neuromuscular Centre, London. She hopes to pursue a career working with families, and to contribute towards promoting understanding of families’ needs and improved professional awareness.
To read the full article in PDF format, click here.
Why Men and Women Should End The Chore Wars
This TIME cover story examines the "Chore Wars" that take place in most modern marriages, where women have long felt the burden of being overworked.
Ever since women entered the workforce en masse in the 1970s, they've felt the pressures of paid work on top of their pressures of unpaid work such as chores around the house and childcare. Their husbands, by contrast, seemed to move at a glacial pace to increase their fair share.
This pressure on working women has caused many a marital spat.
To read the article, visit the TIME website here.
Transition to Adulthood for Young Men
with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
By David Abbott & Professor John Carpenter
School for Policy Studies University of Bristol
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is an inherited neuromuscular disease which affects boys. During the last few years there have been significant improvements in the ways DMD is managed. As a result, young men with DMD are now living longer than ever before and face a particular set of challenges as they reach adulthood.
Those who are the focus of this study, aged over 15 years old, have reached, or are reaching stages of adulthood that were, at the time of their childhood, largely unexpected and unplanned. Given increases in life expectancy, young people with DMD should be looking forward to living independently, with appropriate support, as adults.
The key objectives of this study were:
- To investigate, from their own perspectives, how the health and well-being of young men living with MD, and that of their parents, can be maximised, particularly at the transition to adulthood.
- To consider the potential contribution of the National Service Framework for Long Term neurological Conditions for this group of people.
To read the full article online, click here.
Proposal for President Obama to Create a White House Council on
Boys to Men
Thirty scholars and practitioners in the US have formed a Commission to request that President Obama create a White House Council on Boys to Men, because of a nationwide crisis – especially in education affecting boys (at school) and men (in colleges and universities).
The Commission, whose chairman is Dr Warren Farrell, has produced an interesting proposal which covers not only education but also focuses on: Jobs, Fatherlessness, Physical Health, and Mental Health.
To read the full article in PDF format, click here.
The Study of Man (or Males)
By Charles McGrath,
New York Times
Writer at large for the New York Times, Charles McGrath, reveals some of the politics and perspectives of a new debate that is emerging about differences of approach in understanding males.
McGrath endeavours to describe the contrast between ‘men’s studies’ (an offshoot of women’s studies or gender studies) - which generally takes a dim view of men, and the new ‘male studies’ which departs from the usual constraints of gender ideology, to take a fresh look at what it means to be male (and the experience of being male) in contemporary society.
Click here to read the full article (this will open the NYT website in a new window).
Boys and the American Education System:
A Bio-cultural Review of the Literature
By Stolzer, J.M.
Source: Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, Volume 10, Number 2, 2008 , pp. 80-95(16)
Publisher: Springer Publishing Company
Abstract:
Over the past 15 to 20 years, feminist scholars, the media, and various governmental agencies have asserted that girls are facing an unprecedented crisis in the American education system. According to this relatively recent feminist-based theory, the American public school system is built on an oppressive, patriarchal foundation, and as a direct result of this foundation, an innate and measurable masculine bias exists in schools throughout America.
This article challenges feminist theory constructs and instead focuses on male children and the problems that they are currently experiencing in the education system throughout the United States. Political, economic, neurobiological, contextual, phenomenological, cultural, and evolutionary corollaries are explored in depth in order to gain new insight into the gender differences that exist in the American education system.
The goal of this article is to offer a theoretically sound alternative to current feminist theory and to challenge the existing perceptions of maleness in the American school system.