Men's Lack Research Articles

Male involvement in reproductive health among scheduled tribe: experience from Khairwars of central India

Indian tribal men's lack of participation in reproductive health not only damages their own health, but also contributes to the reproductive ill health of their female partners and children. In India the involvement of men in such matters is a new concept. There is a paucity of data particularly on Scheduled tribesmen's knowledge and the extent of their participation in reproductive health. This inhibits planning. The present study aims to understand the involvement of Scheduled tribesmen in reproductive health and the barriers to their involvement by generating a database from the Khairwar tribe of Central India. A door-to-door survey on knowledge, attitude and practice relating to aspects of reproductive health was conducted by canvassing a pre-designed interview schedule among 15-40 year old, currently married Khairwar males in the Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh, India. As far as reproductive morbidity is concerned, only 17% of the respondents had heard of HIV/AIDS, and most had no proper knowledge of its transmission. Although 74% of the respondents had heard about reproductive tract infections, the majority of them were unaware of the mechanism of transmission and seriousness of the problem. The duel role of condoms, both as a method of family planning and a protective measure against sexually transmitted infections, was also unknown to them. Approximately 59% of the males were aware of family planning but only 13% were using any method (mostly female sterilization) at the time of survey. Their view on the ideal number of children (3.56) exceeded the actual number of children born and living. High infant and child mortality influenced their preference for higher fertility. Very few among them (29%) had knowledge of antenatal care. They expressed faulty knowledge, myths and unhelpful attitudes towards sexual health matters. The study revealed the male Scheduled tribe population's lack of knowledge and misinformation regarding male sexual health issues, the gender inequality in Indian society, and a lack of male-oriented reproductive health services, all of which deter men from sharing the responsibility.

What's the Problem? A Look at Men in Marital Therapy

This study examined the premise that men's lack of awareness of relational problems contributes to their reluctance to consider, seek, and benefit from couple therapy. Ninety-two couples reported on couple and family problem areas using the Dyadic Adjustment Scale and the Family Assessment Device. No gender differences were found either in the frequency or pattern of initial problem reports or improvement rates during ten sessions of couples therapy at a university training outpatient clinic. Implications for treatment and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Domestic Violence: Assessment of Attributions, Types and Reactions

The present research discusses various aspects, e.g., the attributions, the types and the reactions to domestic violence by their partners, of domestic violence in some families in Tehran. Specifically, one hundred couples were randomly selected from couples referring to four family courts in Tehran seeking divorce due to family violence. The present results showed that while men believed spouses' indifference and spouses' complaints about food were two factors which caused disagreement between them and their wives, women believed that men's lack of cooperation in home-related matters were the main causes of their differences with their husbands. Regarding the types of violence, the study indicated that, when stress levels were high for a couple, women resorted to physical violence more than men. Also, regarding reactions exhibited by husbands and wives towards their spouses' violence, the present results showed that women, mostly, adopted psychological strategies in response to their husbands' violence. These results are discussed in the context of Iranian culture and some possible explanations for their occurrence are offered.

Identifying Problems Faced by Spouses and Partners of Patients With Prostate Cancer

To describe problems chosen as targets of problem-solving therapy by spouses and partners of patients with prostate cancer. Descriptive, cross-sectional. Spouses' and partners' homes. Spouses and partners (N = 66) aged 32-79 years (mean = 60 years). The sample was predominantly Caucasian (82%) and African American (8%). As part of a randomized clinical trial, women received problem-solving therapy to help manage issues related to their husbands' or partners' prostate cancer. The issues they chose to address during therapy and the categorization of the issues fell into four groups: treatment and side-effect issues, patient issues, family issues, and spouse issues. Scores on the Social Problem-Solving Inventory-Revised, which measures everyday problem-solving skills, and the Profile of Mood States, which measures mood disturbance, were contrasted with the problems women chose to address. Problems faced by spouses and partners of patients with prostate cancer. The most frequently reported categories were spouse issues (e.g., women's emotional wellness, balancing their medical concerns with their husbands' condition) and patient issues (e.g., men's lack of communication, fear, or depression). Findings of this study alert nurses to a variety of key problem areas for spouses and partners of patients with prostate cancer. Spouses and partners play a critical role when their loved ones have cancer. Understanding the problems spouses and partners face can help nurses design optimal supportive care interventions.

Exploring older adolescents' and young adults' attitudes regarding male hormonal contraception: applications for clinical practice.

Male hormonal contraceptive methods (HCM) are in Phase I clinical trials in the USA. International studies report that adults have positive attitudes regarding male HCM, but little is known about US minority young peoples' attitudes--a population that experiences high unintended pregnancy rates. Thirty urban African American young persons [50% males; mean age = 18.8 (SD = 2.5)] participated in semi-structured interviews to explore attitudes regarding male HCM. Data were independently analysed by two researchers according to qualitative research methodology, including transcript coding for content, categorization of codes, performance of content analysis for theme development, and corroboration of findings by a third researcher. The data revealed five major themes that can facilitate and/or hinder male HCM adoption: (1) impact of reversing roles in HCM use; (2) men's lack of involvement in health care; (3) men's reliability to use HCM effectively; (4) perceived responsibility of men who use HCM; and (5) men's apprehension to use new medicines. Overall, participants had positive impressions about male HCM (67% male; 67% female) and female partner trust of males' use was high (85%), as were males' intentions (60%). Findings provide a foundation for clinical interventions including: (1) increasing males' involvement in reproductive health; (2) helping males to overcome apprehensions about male HCM safety; and (3) standardizing male HCM education in the clinical setting. Future research efforts should examine whether study findings hold for other populations.

Differences in men's and women's responses to short-term group psychotherapy

The authors examined the role of patient gender in the process and outcome of 2 forms of short-term group psychotherapy: interpretive and supportive. The sample consisted of depressed outpatients who were also experiencing complicated grief after a variety of death losses. Findings indicated that women generally had better outcomes in both forms of group therapy compared with men. In addition, men were less committed to their therapy groups than women and were perceived by other group members to be less compatible than women. This suggests that men may derive less benefit from group psychotherapy than women. This gender effect may be partially mediated by men's lack of commitment to the group and perceived incompatibility with other group members.

The young, the rich, and the beautiful: Secrecy, suspicion and discourses of AIDS in the South African lowveld

This article investigates emic accounts of the AIDS deaths that have occurred in a village in the Bushbuckridge district of the South African lowveld. I argue that whilst AIDS was publicly hidden and shrouded in secrecy, private gossip created moral scripts about those suspected of having died of AIDS. Details of 47 AIDS deaths revealed that young women and relatively wealthy, sometimes powerful men were vulnerable to AIDS. I suggest that AIDS constitutes a moral crisis; peoples' sexual secrets and desires for commodities and sex featured prominently in local AIDS discourses. The article explores the similarity between AIDS and witchcraft as a metaphorical analogy. Both were highly secretive, and subjective, and circumstantial evidence identified witches and AIDS victims. AIDS and witchcraft were also concerned with the problem of unnatural and uncontrolled desire. The article explores these themes with regard to men and women's experiences respectively. Young ‘beautiful women’ who used sex to acquire wealth were said to ‘buy their own coffins’ (die of AIDS), yet relationships with wealthy men ensured household survival. Relatively affluent men were labelled incorrigible ‘womanisers’ who spread AIDS. Discourses of masculine sexuality focussed on men's lack of agency in sexual decision making. The article points to the tendency to ignore men's vulnerability and its implications for AIDS prevention.

Images of the body and the reproductive system among men and women living in shantytowns in Porto Alegre, Brazil

This paper presents the results of anthropological research on graphic and verbal images of the reproductive system carried out among 99 women and 703 men living in four shantytowns in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Interviewers were instructed to ask for the drawings in the course of interviews lasting 12–20 hours. Some 55 drawings of the female reproductive system by men and 99 by women were produced and are analysed here together with information from the interviews and observational data. The majority of the men's drawings of women's reproductive system tended to include ‘external’ body parts only, in contrast with the ‘hidden’ nature of the internal body parts, which were commonly depicted by the women. Women have been more exposed to the health system than men and the majority made basic biomedical types of drawings. However, their verbal representations were sometimes informed by other notions and values and their physical experience of their bodies. Lack of contact with the health system does not fully account for the men's apparent lack of knowledge about the reproductive body. Rather, biomedical knowledge was simply not a point of reference for the men's understandings of the body. The majority of drawings made by men of the female reproductive body portrayed the primacy of sexuality in their view of the reproductive system.

Men in Families

This study assesses the effects of the family environment on men's job satisfaction and self-esteem. The results indicate that men's family environment as measured by the Family Environment Scale (Moos & Moos, 1974) predicts only three aspects of job satisfaction as measured by the Job Descriptive Index (Smith, Kendal, & Hulin, 1975). In addition, results indicate that the family environment has a limited effect on men's self-esteem as measured, by the Four Component Self-Esteem Scale (Hampilos, 1988). The authors conclude that the limited relationship between these measures may be due to men's lack of involvement in their family and that men continue to have a traditional view of their role in the family as that of provider and disciplinarian. Implications for counseling are discussed.

Bald Men Lack Confidence—Proved at Last!

Bald Men Lack Confidence—Proved at Last!

Positive, powerful PORNOGRAPHY

Pornography is not the means by which men achieve power over women but proof of men's lack thereof, believes MARLENE WASSERMAN. She advocates more power for women in the production and distribution of sexually explicit material

Beyond Maternal Blame

This study begins with an examination of why men have been left out of physical child abuse research. An attempt is then made to include them by focusing on the motivational processes and social structures that differentiate men's physical child abuse from women's. It is argued that widespread gender imbalances in power, men's lack of role models and rewards for nurturant activity, and their socialization to violence, bear a direct relationship to children's risk of physical abuse. The methodological problems involved in accurately comparing male and female caregivers' rates of physical child abuse are discussed and a strategy for assessing these gender differences is introduced.

Exploring the Roles of Men Caring for Demented Relatives

1. Men are under-represented among family members providing care to a demented relative. 2. Few differences were noted among the male caregivers: men with demented relatives at home spent more time daily on caregiving tasks although both groups of men tended to rely on others for the "hands-on" care needed; institutionalized demented relatives were rated as being more impaired than those at home; and men caring for relatives at home seemed determined to continue in their role. 3. It is possible that men find it more difficult to become caregivers because of lack of support from other family members, the impairment of the relative and the need for direct care, and men's lack of involvement in providing direct care. 4. Nurses involved in dementia care should offer instructional sessions aimed at men, provide assistance in working through emotional problems, and encourage their participation in future research on the male caregiving experience.

Women in Management in Italy: More than an Emerging Issue

The why and how of the changing relationship between women and work in post‐war Italy is examined as a preliminary to consideration of the emergence of women in management. Research and literature on women in management is scarce in Italy; the data presented here are from only two sources. Information is provided on the personal backgrounds, marital status, employment sectors and professional fields of women managers. The problem areas of family commitments, men's attitudes, organisational discrimination and lack of role models are discussed. The article makes detailed proposals for actions can be taken to enhance Italian women's career opportunities.

Marital relations during the transition to parenthood

Abstract Aspects of marital relations over the transition to parenthood were studied as part of a longitudinal study of the experiences of first-time parents. The response of the sample was complex. Marital satisfaction started high and showed only a modest decline overall. Many parents reported gains in their marriage due to having a child. There were, however, more negative features. Uathcr more than one in 10 couples had significantly weakened marriages by the end of the transition period: parental age and length of marriage appeared to be relevant factors in this group, with younger couples and marriages of shorter duration more ‘at risk’. Moreover, this figure may be higher nationally because of the undcr-reprcsentation of certain ‘at risk’ groups in the sample. Finally, it is argued that the roots of further and later decline in many marriages can be seen in the transition period, especially in the areas of sexual relationships and men's lack of understanding of the experiences of women providing fu...

THE PERCEPTION OF OUTCOME‐EFFORT COVARIATION IN YOUNGER AND OLDER MEN

The subjects, 21 younger (average CA = 18.95, SD = 1.13) and 21 older (average CA = 68.62, SD = 4.75) men, participated in a bogus convergent‐thinking task in which they rated their effort expenditure after experiencing varying degrees of success. It was proposed that younger, but not older men would exhibit outcome‐effort covariation. As predicted, results indicated that younger, but not older men perceived that they tried harder when they succeeded relative to when they failed. The findings imply that the older men's lack of outcome‐effort covariation has inimical consequences for their learning in contexts where initial failure experiences are likely. “Attribution retraining” was suggested as a potential intervention strategy. Research with older adults is advocated to examine whether causal ascription of failure to lack of effort is related to persistence at the task.