Below is a list and general description of books and edited volumes related to men and boys published by D51 members published recently. We are working on a way to make this a searchable database based on a book's content. In the meantime, please check out these quick summaries.
The Masculinity Workbook for Teens
Discover What Being a Guy Means to You
Foreword by Michael G. Thompson
Published by: New Harbinger Publications
Get it here: LINK TO ORDER.
Conforming to gender stereotypes is a choice, not a requirement—you decide. This timely workbook provides a road map to help you discover what kind of man you want to be.
As a teen, you may be under intense pressure to conform to society’s stereotypes of masculinity—often referred to as the “guy code.” Limiting and unhealthy gender stereotypes and social practices are pervasive, even across cultures, and research shows that strict adherence to the rules of the code—or extreme forms of “traditional” masculinity, such as suppressing your feelings, acting tough and in control, and objectifying girls and women—can lead to emotional issues, aggression, low self-esteem, more risk taking, misogyny and homophobia, and even negative health outcomes, like depression and anxiety. So, how do you navigate these mixed messages?
This is the workbook you need. You’ll find fun and engaging activities that will empower you to define what being a guy means to you—whatever that is. You’ll learn all about how our world views masculinity—the good, the bad, and the toxic. You’ll find tips and tools to help you face difficult thoughts and emotions, rather than trying to avoid them, and ask for help when you need it.
Most importantly, you’ll discover that there’s no “right” way to be a guy. There’s just what’s right for you.
Parental mental Health: Factoring in Fathers
Authors: Jane I. Honikman & Daniel B. Singley
Parental Mental Health: Factoring in Fathers shifts the focus of the maternal mental health movement to a parental mental health approach that includes the mental well-being of all parents, no matter what the gender. We have written this book because men have not been well-represented in the parental mental health movement. While we have advanced our understanding of maternal mental health, the field, as a whole, has failed to include their partners. We are feminists and see men and women as equals, while acknowledging key differences. The purpose of this book is to include men in the discussion about early parenthood, to foster a gender-equitable, whole-family approach to parental mental health, and to increase awareness about best practices in the care for expectant and new fathers.
The tough standard: The hard truths about masculinity and violence.
Authors: Ronald F. Levant & Shana Pryor. 2020, Oxford University Press.
Men perpetrate violence much more frequently than women, yet the vast majority of men are not violent. The Tough Standard: The Hard Truths about Masculinity and Violence seeks to both expose and explain this paradox. The volume summarizes decades of masculinity research from psychology and the social sciences, as well as highlights current events and national statistics, to explain how masculinity is an important factor in gun and sexual violence.
It also discusses masculinity’s harmful influences on men’s mental and physical health, and sheds light on how men who suffer from trauma often struggle to heal. The Tough Standard offers new-wave suggestions for transforming masculinity to allow all men to grow and thrive, and to make society safer. More information is at TheToughStandard.com
Alphabetized Books and Edited Volumes
APA Handbook of Men and Masculinities
Editors: Stephen R. Wester & Y. Joel Wong
The psychology of men and masculinities is a broad, interdisciplinary field devoted to the study of how men s and boys lives are shaped by biopsychosociocultural influences as well as the constellation of meanings associated with the male biological sex. The use of the term masculinities reflects the editors belief that there are diverse meanings associated with being male that vary across time, situations, social groups, and cultures.
In the past three decades, there has been an exponential growth in empirical psychological research on men and masculinities, although this emerging body of research has yet to be appropriately summarized, synthesized, and critically evaluated. This APA handbook addresses that lack with a strong focus on psychological science.
The handbook is divided into four sections. The first section addresses historical, conceptual, and methodological issues. Readers will be exposed to a wide range of theoretical perspectives on men and masculinities (e.g., biological, evolutionary, social norms, gender role conflict, social constructionist, and feminist) as well as methodological (quantitative and qualitative) approaches to studying men and masculinities.
The second section examines specific populations of men with a strong focus on developmental, cultural, and sexual orientation diversity. The third section focuses on specific topics relevant to men s lives, such as careers, education, sexism, violence, and emotions. The fourth and final section addresses several application domains, including men s helping seeking patterns, physical health, mental health, and experience of psychotherapy.
Each chapter investigates future directions, along with unresolved issues or emerging concerns, as the author view the area in the next 5 years.
You can order the book from here: https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/4311518.aspx
Breaking Barriers in Counseling Men: Insights and Innovations
Editors: Aaron B. Rochlen, Fredric E. Rabinowitz
Breaking Barriers in Counseling Men is a unique collection of personal and engaging contributions from nationally recognized scholars and clinicians with expertise in treating men. The editors have selected men’s clinicians who address areas as diverse as sexual dysfunction, male bonding over sports, father-son relationships, and counseling men in the military. Featuring a mix of clinical tips, personal anecdotes, and theoretical reframing, this book takes clinicians invested in these issues to the next level, breaking down barriers to connecting with men and getting them the help that is so often needed.
Challenging Casanova: Beyond the Stereotype of the Promiscuous Young Male
Editor: Andrew Smiler
In his groundbreaking book, noted expert on teenage and adult masculine behavior Andrew Smiler debunks the myth that teenage boys and young men are barely able to control their sex drives, which may lead to destructive hyper-sexuality, unwanted pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases. Dr. Smiler helps us recognize that the majority of boys and men do not fit this stereotype and that boys sexual development is multi-faceted. He also shows how this shift in attitude could help create young men who are more mature, and have better relationships with partners and friends. * Explains how the Casanova Complex has developed over time and how it can hurt young males * Provides the latest research on male sexuality, including information from the author s own studies. * Offers guidance for parents and counselors of boys who want to help them develop lasting and meaningful relationships, as well as for the parents of girls who are dating.
This book dismantles the stereotype of boys as driven only by an obsession with having intercourse with multiple partners, and calls for deeper growth and understanding of modern masculinity.
Building a Better Man: A Blueprint for Decreasing Violence and Increasing Prosocial Behavior in Men
Editor: Héctor Torres, Ramel Smith, William
Building a Better Man presents a theory and science based discussion of masculinity in modern America, but it also does much more than that―it interweaves a diverse group of compelling personal stories with an exploration of aggression and masculinity in the socialization of boys and men. Where other programs tend to subtly denigrate men as perpetrators and focus on stopping the problematic behavior, Building a Better Man tries to understand the external forces that impinge on the developmental experiences of boys/men and broadens the scope of inquiry into their behavior by reviewing a range of external societal forces that contribute to the problems. Clinicians and group leaders will find that the approach laid out in Building a Better Man leaves clients feeling understood more than judged, which provides a different motivation for change and can set treatment on an entirely different and infinitely more productive path.
Dating and Sex: A Guide for the 21st Century Teen Boy
Author: Andrew Smiler
Written for teen boys, Dating and Sex provides them with the knowledge they need to understand dating, relationships, and sex. It goes beyond basic descriptions of biological processes with a progressive, practical approach that relies on secular ethics and emphasizes sexual health and personal responsibility. The book addresses common questions about what's typical, provides a framework for dating and sex that fits their values and identity, and helps boys identify what feels right for them in a variety of common situations.
Diversity in Human Interactions: The Tapestry of America
Editors: John D. Robinson, Larry C. James
When people who interact do not share the same abilities, orientations, or beliefs, the results are often disastrous, leaving everyone involved feeling misunderstood, underappreciated, and resentful. Why does this happen? How can we find and focus on the strengths in our differences, rather than the weaknesses? How can we accept that our differences bring with them different ways of looking at a problem, and that these different ways of looking at things lead to unique, and sometimes conflicting, solutions to problems?
In this volume, editors John D. Robinson and Larry C. James have assembled renowned leaders, scholars, and educators in order to show how these differences can facilitate, not hinder, our progress. They provide thought-provoking and insightful essays about how having different physical abilities, sexual orientations, races, and religions affects how people interact. Each chapter is written by a member of a different group and presents real-life stories about interactions within that group. The universality of these stories allows the reader to empathize with diverse points of view, generating material for group discussion and debate. The book's aim is to enrich interactions among different types of people by exploring how our differences can shape our perceptions of events in particular and life in general by focusing on the strengths in our diversity, rather than the conflicts brought about by it.
Dying to be Men: Psychosocial, Environmental, and Biobehavioral Directions in Promoting the Health of Men and Boys
Editors: Will Courtenay
Masculinity has a powerful effect on the health of men and boys. Indeed, many of the behaviors they use to "be men" actually increase their risk of disease, injury, and death. In this book, Dr. Will Courtenay, an internationally recognized expert on men’s health, provides a foundation for understanding this troubling reality. With a comprehensive review of data and literature, he identifies specific gender differences in the health-related attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of men and boys and the health consequences of these differences. He then describes the powerful social, environmental, institutional, and cultural influences that encourage their unhealthy behaviors and constrain their adoption of healthier ones. In the book’s third section, he more closely examines the health needs of specific populations of men, such as ethnic-minority men, rural men, men in college, and men in prisons. Courtenay also provides four empirical studies conducted with multidisciplinary colleagues that examine the associations between masculinity and men and boys’ health beliefs and practices. Finally, he provides specific strategies and an evidence-based practice guideline for working with men in a variety of settings, as well as a look to the future of men’s health.
Medical professionals, social workers, public health professionals, school psychologists, college health professionals, mental health practitioners, academics, and researchers from a broad array of disciplines, and anyone interested in this topic will find it to be an extensively researched and accessible volume.
Men in Therapy: New Approaches for Effective Treatment
Editor: David B. Wexler
How to do better, more effective therapy with men.
Dr. David Wexler presents an honest and valuable overview of the ways in which cultural norms and assumptions color the male experience of psychotherapy. He explains how the traditional notions of masculinity (the “Guy Code”) keep men away from the therapist’s office and inhibit men trying to benefit from counseling and therapy. In this ground-breaking book, therapists are offered a rich understanding of these issues and even richer set of guidelines and strategies for engaging men in new and creative ways.
Men’s gender role conflict: Psychological costs, consequences, and an agenda for change
Editor: James M. O'Neil
Men's gender role conflict is a psychological state in which restrictive definitions of masculinity limit men's well-being and human potential. Gender role conflict (GRC) doesn't just harm boys and men, but also girls and women, transgendered people, and society at large.
Extensive research relates men's GRC to myriad behavioral problems, including sexism, violence, homophobia, depression, substance abuse, and relationship issues. This book represents a call to action for researchers and practitioners, graduate students, and other mental healthcare professionals to confront men's GRC and reduce its harmful influence on individuals and society.
James O'Neil is a pioneer in men's psychology who conceptualized GRC and created the Gender Role Conflict Scale. In this book, he combines numerous studies from renowned scholars in men's psychology with more than 30 years of his own clinical and research experience to promote activism and challenge the status quo.
He describes multiple effects of men's GRC, including
success, power, and competition issues
restricted emotionality
restricted affectionate behavior between men
conflicts between men's work and family relations.
O'Neil also explains when GRC can develop in a man's gender role journey, how to address it through preventative programs and therapy for boys and men, and what initiatives researchers and clinicians can pursue.
The Psychology of Men and Masculinities
Editors: Ronald F. Levant & Y. Joel Wong
Decades ago, the emergence of feminist psychology upended the old order by redefining sex and gender. Soon thereafter, scholars such as Ronald F. Levant recognized the importance of doing a similar critical analysis for men. Now, years later, the psychology of men and masculinities is a thriving, growing field illuminating the impact of sex and gender on the lives of men.
This highly anticipated volume shows how far the field has advanced and what directions it is taking. It explains and evaluates major theories, research, and applications. In particular, the volume addresses the gender role strain paradigm — an empirical, feminist, quantitative, and social constructionist approach — as well as the critical discursive qualitative approach popular outside of the United States.
The chapters also synthesize research on men's mental and physical health, including depression, help-seeking, stigma, body image, and the health effects of performing masculinity. Special attention is given to ethnic, racial, and sexual minority men.
Finally, the book surveys the growing body of work on therapeutic and preventive mental health interventions for men, as well as programs aimed at men's violence, substance use, and lack of self-care.
With such broad and inclusive coverage, this volume will be a standard reference for researchers and practitioners in this field and an essential part of university courses on men and masculinities.
Tough Guys and True Believers: Managing Authoritarian Men in the Psychotherapy Room
Editor: John M. Robertson
Some men are especially difficult to manage in the psychotherapy room. They are controlling, exploitive, rigid, aggressive, and prejudiced. In a word, they are Authoritarian. This book is a guide for therapists and counselors who work with these men, offering an understanding of their psychological development and providing empirically supported recommendations to work with them effectively. In the first part, Robertson describes several versions of authoritarian men. Some are Tough Guys (workplace bullies, abusive partners, sexual harassers), and others are True Believers (men who use religion to justify their authoritarian behavior). Robertson draws from a diverse literature in psychology, sociology, men’s studies, and neurobiology to describe the developmental histories and personalities of these men. Part two offers practical and specific strategies to assess and treat these wounded men—developing a masculine friendly alliance, respecting their personal and religious beliefs, and teaching them self-awareness and self-regulation skills. Throughout, Robertson emphasizes a reality that many therapists doubt: Some authoritarian men want to change their behavior, and are capable of doing so. This book presents an empathic and respectful view of a group of men too often written off as unmanageable and unchangeable.
If you have a book you'd like to see featured here, please contact us.