Engaging Men Across the Violence Prevention Continuum

An Exploratory Study

Authors

  • Brian Hansen
  • Lana Wells Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary
  • Caroline Claussen University of Calgary

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18060/24458

Keywords:

Violence prevention, men and masculinity, social work training, intimate partner violence

Abstract

Men have a role to play in the prevention of violence against women; however, there is increasing awareness that the social service sector has failed to adequately engage men in violence prevention programming and advocacy. This study used semi-structured interviews to explore the challenges that a sample of Canadian violence prevention practitioners and organizations face in engaging men in preventing violence and generating practice recommendations for what is needed to better equip practitioners. At an organizational level, findings indicate that more capacity-building around emerging research, strategies, and tools in working with and engaging men in the prevention of violence is required. Challenges around recruiting male staff, in what is primarily considered a female-dominated profession, were also noted. Practitioners also discussed the role of masculine gender norms as barriers to men’s help-seeking and engagement in violence prevention advocacy. Recommendations include expanding social work curriculum and training to include information and resources on working with men, as well as increased research on best and promising practices to support organizations and practitioners in their engagement efforts.

Author Biographies

Brian Hansen

Brian Hansen is a community-based researcher interested in developing and evaluating health and social service interventions for vulnerable and underserved populations. He is currently the Evaluation Lead for Calgary Zone Primary Care Networks.

Lana Wells, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary

Lana Wells is the Brenda Strafford Chair in the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary, Canada. She is currently leading Shift: The Project to End Domestic Violence (www.preventdomesticviolence.ca).

Caroline Claussen, University of Calgary

Caroline Claussen is a post-doctoral fellow in the Faculty of Arts, Department of Psychology at the University of Calgary. 

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Author note: Address correspondence to Caroline Claussen, Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. Email ccclauss@ucalgary.ca

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Published

2021-06-14