Sample Abstracts about the ManKind Project

Theses/Dissertations:

Anderson, C. A. (2000). Changes in masculinity associated with participation in a men’s movement experience: Sexual prejudice, restrictive affectionate behavior between men, and gender orientation in relationships and social supports. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

The study asked whether there were beneficial changes in men who participated in the programs of the ManKind Project (MKP), a men's movement organization. Participation in the MKP involves attending the New Warrior Training Adventure (NWTA), an intense weekend-long men’s movement experience, receiving training in working with other men in a mutual help group, and ongoing participation in a support group. Men who participated in eight NWTAs over a period of two years were followed up for at least 18 months to assess how they changed. The criterion variables in this study were three measures of troublesome aspects of masculinity: restrictive affectionate behavior between men (RABBM), sexual prejudice (SP), and gender orientation in supportive relationships (GOSR).

The study found positive changes in all three variables at immediate post-NWTA follow up. Age did not moderate the changes associated with MKP participation, but heterosexual men showed more change in all three variables than the gay and bisexual men. The results indicate that participation in the MKP is associated with positive changes in men. The study did not find evidence for the important developmental changes that have been proposed as occurring within men at midlife, nor did it provide strong evidence for differences between heterosexual and homosexual/bisexual men in the impact of the MKP on gender role conflict or gender orientation in social support. Differences in SP across sexual orientation groups were found.

This was a study of men who had chosen to undertake personal change through participation in the New Warrior Training Adventure, the ManKind Project's intense weekend-long initiation experience. My primary aims in the study were to enhance understanding among those who seek to promote change in men and to provide information that would aid the organization to formatively evaluate its program. Toward that end, I modeled the basic premises of The ManKind Project's program, in terms derived from the contemporary psychology of men and masculinity, and assessed through research instruments whether predictions derived from the model were consistent with the observed changes reported bymen over time. The basic aims of The ManKind Project program that I modeled were (1) to change the negative conventional culturally defined masculinity into which men have been socialized into a positive masculinity and (2) to thereby improve their psychological well-being. In addition, I included in the model, based on the research results, the ManKind Project's claim that participation in the integration groups that the organization provides is necessary for the benefits of participation in the New Warrior Training Adventure to be fully realized.

This study is a qualitative exploration of the participation of 17 individuals in three men’s support groups. One group was an open men’s peer mutual support group (where membership is free and open to anyone who wishes to participate); the second group was a closed men’s peer mutual support group of the ManKind Project, called an I-Group (which has a restricted membership); and the third group was a Father’s Rights group, which provides information on divorce, child support, parenting time, and other family issues.

The men, who agreed to be interviewed for this study, were individuals seeking major change in their lives, for one reason or another. They had initially joined the support groups to help them progress through the levels of confrontation of their emotional issue(s), self-examination, and, finally, resolution and healing in order to reach transformation in their lives and relationships. They shared a common trait, in that they were regular participants and gave two main reasons for their consistent involvement, which were: “giving and receiving support” and the “benefit and value” they received from their participation.

An interview questionnaire was administered to the men in 1996 with an interview protocol follow-up administered in 2001 and 2002, which was then used as the basis for this study. By 2002, 14 of the 17 men moved into another support group from the one in which they were members in 1996 and 11 of the 17 men were still participating in a support group.

A recommendation of this particular study is that, in a time of declining mental health benefits due to managed care with its reduced third-party payments for traditional therapy, and the reluctance of some men to seek traditional therapy, because of their perception of it as being ultimately unhelpful, it is important that community resources such as those provided by the ManKind Project be made available for establishing support groups which could serve as forms of alternative therapy. This recommendation comes from the evidence in this study that determined that, based on the valuable support the men reported receiving from their participation in the men’s peer mutual support groups (especially in the first two groups, Open and MKP I-Group and unexpectedly in the fathers rights group), community-centered men’s support groups could successfully serve as therapy surrogates.

The existing empirical literature consistently shows that younger, college aged men with higher levels of Gender Role Conflict (GRC) report higher levels of depression, anxiety and lower levels of self-esteem (O'Neil et al, 1995). However, in the fewer studies done with older men, the relation between GRC and psychological well-being is more tenuous (O'Neil et al., 1995). The present study examined the link between the reported levels of GRC and well-being in a sample of non-college aged men (mean age=43.92) scheduled to attend a weekend workshop offered by the ManKind Project, a mythopoetic men's organization. Participants were sent a questionnaire before the weekend, part of which contained the depression and anxiety subscales of the Brief Symptom Inventory, the Rosenburg self-esteem scale (1979), and three of the subscales of the Gender Role Conflict Scale (GRCS). As predicted, higher levels of GRC were related to significantly lower levels of well-being (Q< .01) in this older sample of men. A modest statistically significant relation was found between age and two of the GRCS subscales (GRC declining with higher age). However different levels of GRC were found in the present sample when compared to both older and younger previously studied samples. In addition, a significant link was found between participants' level of therapy experience and GRC, with higher GRC associated with current therapy experience, a direction opposite to that predicted. Future research directions are discussed.

Many authors state that men are in a state of "crisis" (Levant, 1995), with the male gender having higher rates of addiction, incarceration, disease, and suicide as well as shorter life expectancy. There have been various perspectives that have attempted to understand and more clearly address these conditions (Clatterbaugh, 1997). This study is an examination of an organization that comes from one of those perspectives, The ManKind Project (MKP), part of the mythopoetic branch of the "men's movement." Participation in the MKP begins with an intensive, experiential "Training Adventure Weekend" (TAW), followed by voluntary participation in a peer-led Integration group (I-group) that meets on a regular basis (1-4 times a month), with various workshops and activities also being offered.

One hundred men completed a pre- TAW questionnaire, an interview one year or more post-TAW, and an 18 month or more post-TAW long-term follow-up (LTFU) questionnaire. The study examined the aggregate effects of participation and explored whether certain pre-existing characteristics (i.e., age, prior self-help group participation, recent life change, and pre- TAW agreement with MKP beliefs) as well as characteristics that might have been affected by participation (MKP beliefs at LTFU, social support at LTFU, I-group participation, and non-I-group MKP participation) were associated with improved outcomes on the criterion variables--depression at LTFU, two subscales of the Gender Role Conflict Scale (O'Neil, 1995) at LTFU, and satisfaction with life at LTFU.

T -tests revealed that for the men who chose to participate~ there was significant improvement on virtually all of the constructs examined~ suggesting that for this population~ participation in the MKP has a positive impact. Multiple regression analysis revealed that pre-existing characteristics were not predictive of improved outcome. However, the results showed that agreement with MKP beliefs at LTFU significantly predicted improved outcomes on all criterion variables, and social support at LTFU significantly predicted improved outcomes on 3 of the 4 criterion variables. Neither 1-Group participation nor non-I-Group MKP participation were predictive of outcome. Possible explanation for the findings and the need for further research in this area are discussed.

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The literature on masculine gender role stress suggests that men who strongly endorse many of the popular male gender role attributes are at risk for a number of psychological and physiological problems. These problems include increased hostility, emotional numbing, poorer health behaviors and increased cardiovascular reactivity. The stereotyped male identity, and its problematic attributes, has also been a central focus of the contemporary men’s movement, which has attempted to change these stereotypical attitudes through such forums as the popular press, self-help groups, and in specific men’s group retreats. Much of the empirical evidence linking male gender role adherence and stress comes from research using the Masculine Gender Role Stress (MGRS) Scale developed by Eisler and Skidmore (1987). The present study used this scale to examine the effect of a particular men’s group training program, the New Warrior Training Adventure upon the reported level of masculine gender role stress. A group of men were assessed for their level of MGRS before and after an intensive men’s group program (New Warrior Training Adventure) and they were compared to a waiting list control group. It was found that the men involved in New Warrior Training showed a decrease in MGRS following the training weekend, while the control group’s scores underwent a significant increase. These results offer strong support for the hypothesis that New Warrior Training is an effective means for reducing the harmful effects of masculine gender role stress.

The stereotypical male masculine identity and role, with its attributes that are claimed to be problematic, has been a central focus of the contemporary Men's Movement. Organizations have developed over the last fifteen years which attempt to address contemporary men's feelings of a loss of manhood through initiation and training activities that emphasize modified Jungian psychology, native American lore, rituals, myths, story telling, and weekend retreats. These mythopoetic organizations seek to redefine and rekindle the masculine identity and role among its new enrollees in a manner that will serve them well in a society altered by technological change and the new and enhanced role of women. The present study used the Bem Sex Role Inventory, The BASIS-A, and the Early Recollections Rating Scale to examine the psychological impact of the New Warrior men's organization's initiation and training program (NWTA) upon perceptions, identifications, and reported behaviors of participants.

Groups of men were assessed on fifteen dependent variables before and three months after the completion of the NWTA weekend initiation and training retreat. Outcomes were compared to established norms and a highly similar control group. It was found that the NWTA group showed statistically significant increases in the identification and acceptance of stereotypical masculine and feminine characteristics. In contrast no statistically significant changes over time were shown for controls. Other limited changes that may be of practical importance but were not of statistical significance also occurred. These results provide support for the contention that the New Warrior initiation and training activities provide a unique additional therapeutic method for bringing about beneficial changes among adult males with concerns about their masculine identity and role.

This is an exploratory qualitative study of eight men who participated in the ManKind Project’s New Warrior Training Adventure, of the ManKind Project, an element of Mythopoetic Men’s Work. The weekend long New Warrior Training Adventure is a highly structured experiential learning and initiation process. Three questions guided the research, motivation for attending, impacts on the men, and were impacts on primary relationships observed? The most important findings show that the men’s positive behavior changes in relationship to significant others was attributed to their New Warrior Training Adventure. Pathways to these changes are identified from the numerous personal impacts the men described. Integral Theory’s All Quadrant All Level framework is used to map the changes, interpret the pathways.

TITLE: Men's Organization's Impact on Life Goals, Gender-Role Conflict and Self-Development , Presenter; Kenneth I. Maton This paper will report preliminary findings from a longitudinal study of the impact of The New Warrior Network (NWN) on participants. Beginning in summer 1997, all men signed up to take part in the NWN, Washington D.C. area "Training Adventure" (TA) weekends were sent a 12-page baseline questionnaire prior to attending the weekend training. Follow-up questionnaires are completed 1 month, 6 months, and 18 months post-weekend. Men are interviewed at 12 months, and nominate two peers to complete rating scales 6 months and 18 months post-weekend.

Measures include items to assess various life goals (developed for this research), three Gender Role Conflict subscales (O'Neill et al., 1986), the Depression and Anxiety subscales of the Brief Symptom Inventory (Derogatis), items to assess aspects of self-development consistent with the NWN mission (developed for this research), and items to assess various attitudes towards women (selected from existing scales or developed for this research).

To date, preliminary findings are available for 14 men who went through the TA in June and August, 1997, and who completed both pre-weekend and one-month post-weekend questionnaires (Table 1). For these men, the follow-up questionnaires revealed: 1) higher levels of helping-other-men and social-justice life goals; 2) lower levels of gender role conflict; 3) lower levels of negative affect towards women; and 4) enhanced identity as an esteemed, responsible, and expressive male.

These findings are clearly preliminary, pending a larger sample size and longer-term follow-up (by August, 1998, a sample size of 50 men and follow-up through 6 months will be available). Reliance only on self-report, use of single-item measures, and the absence of a comparison sample represent additional limitations, to date. Nonetheless, these findings are suggestive of a substantive impact of New Warrior on men--an impact with the potential to contribute in important ways to men, families, and the larger society.

Table 1
Pre-Weekend and Post-Weekend Means (and standard deviations) on Life Goals, Gender-Role Conflict, Affect and Self-Development

For more information about the research that has been conducted about the ManKind Project, contact the Reasearch Chair, Ed Barton at research@mkp.org.