Addressing Masculinity Issues in College Students through Culturally-Responsive Outreach Interventions

1. Addressing Masculinity Issues with College Students through Culturally-Responsive Outreach Interventions Stephen Chen David Emmert Karisman Roberts-Douglass San José State University

2. Objectives • Identify common stressors for male students • Learn about innovative programs that are instrumental to redefining masculinity and increasing social responsibility • Provide culturally responsive services that promote trust, self-disclosure, recognition, and validation to improve the mental health of male students

3. Why this issue should be important to University Counseling Centers . . . • Latino and African American men (in general) are not succeeding as well as others on most college campuses. • Despite the lack of success, these populations are not known for seeking services from counseling centers as a way of increasing their chances for success. • Past research has found that students who utilize counseling center services have better academic performance and higher rates of retention. (Choi, Buskey, & Johnson, 2010; Lee, et. al, 2009; Berry & Turner, 2000)

4. Defining Gender Role Strain • Stress related to a gender role. • A consequence of the contradiction between roles men are expected to play in society, as provider and protector, and the reality of limited opportunities to fulfill these roles. (Norwalk et. al., 2011)

5. Consequences of Gender Role Strain: • Chronic Stress • Negative Self Image • Low Self Esteem • Substance Abuse Problems • Difficulties in Developing a Healthy Male Identity (Cose, 2002)

6. Reducing the impact of gender role strain • Help clarify and identify areas of conflict in their development of masculinity • Examine positive and negative functions these scripts serve for the student. • Help the student become more flexible in the enactment of masculine scripts that are causing distress to reach positive outcomes • Consider how masculine scripts may intersect with racial identity

7. Three Levels of Prevention • Universal (primary)—General population before problems occur • Selective (secondary)—those at higher risk of developing a mental disorder than average (as evidenced by biological, psychological, or social risk factors) • Indicated (tertiary)—“high-risk” who have signs or biological markers indicating predisposition for mental disorder (Munoz et al, 1996)

8. Discussion Prompt • What successes, and challenges, have you encountered with reaching out to male students?

9. Primary Interventions • A Thousand Stars- Suicide Prevention program • Mental Health Ambassadors • “Men to Mention” Selection

10. A Thousand Stars: Protective Factors to buffer against suicide • A number of studies have found that: Racial pride and cultural identity function as powerful protective factors. Sources: Fischer & Shaw, 2003; Leong & Leach, 2008; Sellers & Shelton, 2003.

11. Mental Health Ambassadors • MHA’s act as liaisons and student representatives of our counseling center to: • Promote Counseling • Increase mental health literacy & awareness • Reduce Sigma and enhance social justice • MHA Handbook (Lee, 2008): http://www.sjsu.edu/counseling/Training_Program/Peer_Prevention_Programs/Mental_Health_Ambassadors/Mental%20Health%20Ambassadors%20Handbook.pdf

12. Secondary Interventions • Men Creating Change (MCC) • Fraternity Mentorship

13. Men Creating Change • Commenced in the fall of 2008. • Partnership with the Office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development, the national organization “Men Can Stop Rape,” and Associated Students. • Target audience is undergraduate male-identified students. • The Men Creating Change motto is: “Creating Campuses Free From Violence!”

14. Goals of Outreach and Education • Build men’s capacity to challenge harmful aspects of traditional masculinity • Inspire collegiate men to help protect against and end sexual violence • Facilitate long term culture change • Inform and encourage campus community of services and resources

16. Programs and Events Weekly Discussion Group Educational Workshops Campus Collaboration Community Awareness

17. Fraternity Mentorship

18. Masculinity in Greek Life • Leadership • Philanthropy • Cultural Awareness Yet… • Hypermasculine scripts • Hazing • Objectification of women • Substance abuse

19. Costs of Challenging Traditional Notions of Masculinity • Strain some relationships with peers. • “This isn't from DSP. This is from Men Creating Change (MCC) and Associated Students (AS).” • Risk backlash, may lose the community they wish to effect. • “Who the hell are these crusaders telling women they can't take pictures displaying their attractiveness, because it perpetuates what they deem as negative stereotypes.” • Painful realizations and burnout. • “After reviewing H's facebook page, I feel that maybe he should have participated in the Beauty Bowl as well. I mean after considering that all of his pictures expresses the "hey look how attractive I am" look.”

20. Benefits of Challenging Traditional Notions of Masculinity • Transform relationships with self, other men, and women. • Prevent the perpetration of hypermasculinity and sexual assault. • Become a leader, apply skills to other areas.

21. Tertiary Interventions • Groups/Workshops- Men’s Group • Individual Counseling

22. Men’s Group

23. Recommendations for Counselors The following guidelines are also recommended for multicultural counseling proficiency to work with men of color: • Adopt a systemic approach – (primary, secondary, tertiary) • Assess and address the help-seeking process Example: “What parts about coming for counseling make you feel uneasy or skeptical?” • Maintain an open and supportive counseling environment Example: know that a racially diverse staff can be interpreted as a signal of institutional inclusion

24. Recommendations for Counselors • Bring men of color in by using services they find less threatening (e.g. educational counseling) • Continually review your values and biases • Intentionally market counseling services to be male-welcoming • Help identify opportunities to be engaged in social action

25. As a group, let’s discuss: • How could you envision applying one of these ideas with your students? • Please share your thoughts, recommendations, reflections…

26. Resources and Links • Mental Health Ambassadors Handbook: http://www.sjsu.edu/counseling/Training_Program/Peer_Prevention_Programs/Mental_Health_Ambassadors/index.html • Men Can Stop Rape: www.mencanstoprape.org