Young men at risk

Home: K to 12: Respect Protect Connect Program: Information for educators

This is an extract from the Respect Protect Connect workshop manual, by Timothy O'Leary and Russell Pratt.

Young men living in rural areas and low-income households are at high risk of child abuse, suicide, poor health and substance abuse. There are, however, also more specific factors that place young men at risk. This section outlines in detail these influences. For more information on the help seeking behaviours practised by young rural and urban men, see 'I'd Rather Talk to Someone', a report by Glen Bond, from Moreland CHS.

1.7.1: Gender and risk factors

Traditional male gender roles have created stress on men's psychological and physical health. In the early 1970s, David and Brannon (1976) identified four injunctions that influenced western men's thinking and behaviour:

1. No sissy stuff: men should never be feminine or 'sooks';
2. The big wheel: men should always compete and win;
3. The sturdy oak: men should never be in need of help; and
4. Give 'em hell: men should actively seek risks and adventure and sometimes do so violently.

These injunctions get in the way of men acknowledging their needs and seeking help and support.

Respect, Protect, Connect (RPC) aims to assist young men to:

• Rethink what it means to be a 'real man' and about women being 'inferior';
• Change what it means to be a man, so that they can be true to themselves and their ethics; and
• Practice new ways of being in terms of resilience, connecting, knowledge, respect, friendships, sexual relationships, assertiveness, accepting help, taking a stand against violence and dealing with stress and anger.

Respect, Protect, Connect is about encouraging and empowering men within the knowledge that they may be living in difficult socioeconomic conditions and/or abusive families.

Respect Protect Connect is ideally used within a 'Communities that Care'/ 'Whole of Community' approach. Ideally, in this approach, children and young people are valued and respected without unrealistic expectations being placed on them, whilst their caregivers have social and professional support.

SEE: Activities and workshop sections for RPC practical strategies.

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1.7.2: Risk and protective factors in the lives of young men

"About 18-20% of young people will engage in one or more serious problem behaviours between the ages of 12 and 18. " (Centre for Adolescent Health/DHS, 1999)

Research into the lives of 9000 young Victorians by the Centre for Adolescent Health (CAH) resulted in the release of 'The Victorian Survey of Risk and Protective Factors' (CAH/DHS, 1999 For more details: www.dhs.vic.gov.au/commcare). It stated that "the more 'risk factors' in a young person's life, the greater likelihood of that person engaging in problem behaviours." 'Protective Factors', however, "offset risk factors and promote social development, wellbeing and resilience". (CAH/DHS, 1999)

Ten protective factors and 25 risk factors were identified in the four groupings of 'Community', 'School', 'Family' and 'Peer/Individual'. These risk and protection factors interact at each stage of a child's development within their community and family experience.

Protective factors help a person deal with problems. In the survey, 60% of adolescents with only 0-1 protective factors drank alcohol compared with 18% of adolescents who had 7-10 protective factors. Protective factors include rewarding community involvement, positive school participation, and positive attachment to family and caregivers. On the individual and peer level, protective factors included social skills, religiosity and moral beliefs (CAH/DHS). Furthermore, a 'degree of school success' (social, sporting and academic) was seen as a factor in helping sexually abused children have less difficulties in adulthood (Mullen & Flemming, 1998). A positive sporting experience was found to have a protective influence on psychiatric conditions for all adolescents.

Unfortunately, the findings from a long-term study by Professor Margot Prior (2000), found that for a small percentage of boys, school is not a positive time "socially and academically they do not feel good about themselves and they feel that they do not quite fit into the environment." Prior suggests that this may in part be due to difficulties for boys with a curriculum that favours verbal reasoning skills. She queries whether disaffected boys were experiencing "a normal part of male adolescent development or an indicator of a more serious social problem" (Prior, 2000, p16).

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1.7.3: Resilience

Resilience can be thought of as a young person's ability to bounce back after difficult experiences. Those who overcome odds despite difficulties and stay calm and able to function under stressful conditions are said to be resilient. Since the mid-1980s, psychologists have been investigating resilience. Their work suggests that connectedness to others, in terms of stable family, peers and school life influences a young person's resilience level. The information and workshops contained in Respect, Protect, Connect aim to promote resilience through connection to others and through connection to young men's inner selves and resources.

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1.7.4: Connectedness

William Friedrich, argues that "attachment theory is essential to understanding all aspects of interpersonal behaviour" (1995, p.42). He believes that workers need to be aware of two processes that will be played out by the young male client who is insecurely attached. First, the child's role in the relationship (e.g., 'Am I desirable and worthy of support, or not?') and second, the care giving role in the relationship (e.g., 'Can I count on this person to be accessible and caring or not? p.22).

Alongside attachment issues is the wariness that many men have of connection, of initiating intimacy and of asking for help. It is an area fraught with anxieties and tensions over how much of themselves they should reveal to those in close proximity. These anxieties include how they might be judged and whether they are entitled to support. Young men often introduce difficult issues with "it's probably nothing, but" which serves as a warning of a forthcoming disclosure of minimised, yet serious, issues.

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1.7.5: Purpose and meaning

"Research into the construction of masculine culture suggests that what is most seriously absent in male social development is the capacity for empathy and emotional connectedness with the experience of other people not simply an ability to express one's own feelings". (McLean, 1996).

If young men are to be resilient and connected, then it is dependent to some degree on them having a sense of meaning and purpose in their lives. When a crisis occurs in a young man's life, he may be angry and hurt. This comes across in a 'f**k everything' type of attitude. If the young man does not have a solid foundation beneath him, everything in his life may be affected by this crisis. The challenge is to make the meaningful and positive things in his life a focus for him - as well as providing support through the crisis.

Connect:
To help agencies become more accessible to young men, Glenn Bond and the Bendigo and Moreland Community Health Services developed the YMAC Self-Assessment Tool which investigates ways to improve young men's access to health and welfare services by assessing the service. For a copy of the report, phone Moreland CHS.

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1.7.6: Risk factors

Risk factors are negative influences in a young person's environment that increase the chance of things turning into, or exacerbating, a problem. For example, only 15% of young people who are exposed to 0-1 risk factors drink alcohol, compared with 80% of young people with 10 or more elevated risk factors (CAH/DHS). Risk factors identified include low neighbourhood attachment, poor parenting, abusive family environment, easy access to drugs, rewards for antisocial behaviour, and whether an individual has favourable attitudes towards antisocial behaviour, drug use, gangs and rebelliousness (CAH/DHS).

The above findings highlight the need for both school and community development plus family support work. Often young men are seen as 'problem kids' within families or schools. It is their behaviour that is the problem. The way that educators, parents and mentors react to these behaviours can negate these young men's positive potential. Conversely, it can wipe away the societal risk factors around them.

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1.7.7: Young men and crime

"Prisons are not great places to rehabilitate non-dangerous, low-level offenders. Prisons are universities for crime." (Andre Haermeyer, cited in McIntyre (2000) The Big Issue #15, Universities for Crime.)

Men, and in particular young men, are overrepresented in Australian prisons. Over 95% of Australian prisoners are male. Aborigines, whilst only comprising 2% of the country's population, make up 10% of the prison population (Denborough, 1994). During 1990 and 1991, males made up 93.3% of total prison admissions (DEET, 1995).

Young men committing crimes are more likely to come from abusive and neglectful backgrounds within low socioeconomic groups. The majority of their criminal activity will be drug-related. These young men are likely to act out their anger in destructive ways and to view the future with a sense of hopelessness. They may be trying different ways to deal with their issues, sometimes to find themselves in deeper trouble.

Scientific research into criminal justice approaches during the last twenty odd years, that emphasise severe punishments or increased police numbers and 'get tough' sentencing policies, largely "fail to effect significant reductions in crime". Indeed deterrence approaches work better if they respect the individual's human rights and are low-key (Homel, 1994; cited by NCP 1999b, p.4).

Cashmore (1999) suggests that a more effective approach to crime prevention is a developmental approach which takes into account the characteristics of a young man's family, social network, community and wider societal influences during his developmental journey from infancy to adulthood.

It is unrealistic to expect these young men to show openness to rethinking masculinity, as they may have to be constantly 'armoured up' with a mask of masculinity among peers and family. It may be a familiar method which they have relied on to cope with, or at least avoid, their issues.

It is important to empower these young men with realistic alternatives and help them find safe places to rethink their lives. They may be able to access 'islands of safety' - places where they know they can be safe such as youth centres, youth refuges, a safe family or friend's place. When they are between these 'islands', they may be unsafe, or at risk.

• Young people are more likely to be the victims of personal crime than any other age group.
• There is no evidence that the proportion of crime committed by young people is increasing.
• Assault is the most common offence committed against persons in Australia.
• Young men and women aged between 15 and 24 years are at the highest risk of being a victim of assault.
• In 1999, police recorded over 133,000 assaults - an average of one assault every 15 minutes (Attorney General's Department).

The number of Australians in jail has risen by 60% over the last 10 years. McIntyre (2000) stated that more than 50% of prisoners currently serving sentences had previously been in jail.

Connect:

Australian Institute of Criminology: http://www.aic.gov.au

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1.7.8: Young Indigenous men

As non-Indigenous workers, we have noticed how young Indigenous men continue to battle against inherited social conditions that get in the way of their connections with meaning and purpose as defined by their age-old culture. To this day, it seems that many young Indigenous men are pressured to assimilate to the dominant masculinity.

Racism harshly coexists with the dominant masculinity: For example, when a young white guy is drunk in public, it is likely to go relatively unnoticed, whereas a young Indigenous man who is drunk in public may be stereotyped as 'typical'. Young Indigenous men have the right to refuse the dominant western masculinity and racism directed at them. They have a right to experience themselves as healthy and valuable young men.

The plight of young Indigenous men is well known, but warrants some reminding here:

• Male life expectancy: Indigenous -57 years, non Indigenous - 75 years;
• Year 12 retention rate (1998): Indigenous - 32.1%, non Indigenous - 72.7%;
• In 1997 only 25% of Aboriginal male students successfully completed Year 12 compared with 50% of non-Aboriginal male students (Taylor 1997, p. 6);
• Research in 1996 suggested that young Koori males who left the education system at Year 9 level were 34 times more likely to be detained by police than non Indigenous young men. Research indicated that young Aboriginal males were arrested at a rate six-times higher than non-Aboriginal males (Pegler, 1996).
• Prior to colonisation, suicide was uncommon in Aborigines and Torres Strait Islander communities. After colonisation the Indigenous suicide rate has become the highest in the country. Most Indigenous suicides are committed by men.
• Over a third of all deaths in custody between the years 1990 to 1997 were due to suicide. Of these, 35% were prisoners aged between 15 - 24 years. 66% of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islander deaths in custody were young men aged between 15 -19 years.
• Over 95% of Australian prisoners are male. Aborigines, whilst only comprising 2% of the country's population, make up 10% of the prison population (Denborough, 1994).

Connect:

"Working with adolescents to prevent domestic violence: Indigenous rural model 1999", by Dr Harry Blagg. National Crime Prevention http://www.crimeprevention.gov.au/

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1.7.9: Young men as children of Vietnam veterans

Children of Vietnam veterans have a suicide rate three-times that of the national average - 80% are male. Vietnam veterans returned to a shaming or secretive homecoming response, with many suffering serious war-trauma. Support services were only established in the 1980s, despite high rates of marriage breakdowns, substance abuse and mental illness in veterans' families.

Connect:

Vietnam Veterans Counselling Service.

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1.7.10: Young men and homelessness

Many young homeless men leave their homes due to family violence, only to find themselves at an equal, or greater, risk of violence. For many, substance abuse, crime and suicidal behaviour are a result of being homeless (Davis, 1995; cited in NCP, 1999a).

In 1998, the Salvation Army estimated that more than 50,000 young people were unable to find accommodation on any given night. Young homeless men are a difficult population to engage with on issues of gender and violence. These young men are generally from backgrounds of abuse, have usually left school and, increasingly, have a history of substance abuse.

When engaging young homeless men in group work it is important to be flexible enough to structure discussion around activities with plenty of breaks. In our experience, these young guys are often in fight/flight mode and may wish to blurt out their experiences of abuse, only to discover themselves feeling too exposed to the rest of the group. It is important to help them have a sense of pace and control over their disclosures. Most importantly it is important to help contain the young man after a disclosure that warrants a referral (e.g. to a sexual assault service) so that the young man does not revert to substance abuse or flight tendencies.

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