Future Directions for Intervention Programs Addressing Masculinities and Resilience for At-risk Boys

This paper will address the need for gender issues and the discourses of power to be explored within resilient frameworks for successful outcomes for at-risk males in intervention programs. Due to the western valorisation of traditional masculinities, the 'backlash politics' debate internationally constrains the challenges to the existing gender order within intervention programs. The discussion will deal with the notion of hegemonic masculinities and how boys with behaviour problems act out traditional masculinities to gain a sense of male power. It will focus on the notion of at-risk which defines these boys into the new victims of accepted social values and does not address the issues of how men victimise other men from different ethnic, class and sexual preference minority groups, through violent and aggressive tactics. For these boys to explore the interplay of hegemonic masculinities within society, will enable them to move into connecting protective processes/factors within alternative programs and the community. Finally, I make suggestions for the design and implementation for future intervention/preventative programs that will integrate gender construction and resilient protective processes/factors.