Dying To Be Men ─ Psychosocial, Environmental, and Biobehavioral Directions in Promoting the Health of Men and Boys

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.

Will Courtenay, PhD, WSW, is Director of Men's Health Consulting in Oakland, California. He has served on the clinical faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and the University of California, San Francisco, Medical School.

Part I: Why Men and Boys Get Sick and Die Young. Key Determinants of the Health and Well-being of Men and Boys: An Overview. Behavioral Factors Associated with Disease, Injury, and Death Among Men and Boys. Part II: Why Men and Boys Do the Things that Make Them Sick and Kill Them. Introduction: Who are the Men in "Men's Health"?Engendering Health: The Social Construction of Gendered Health Beliefs and Behaviors. Constructions of Masculinity and Their Influence on Men's Well-being: A Theory of Gender and Health. Part III: Specific Populations. Introduction: Ethnicity Matters. Rural Men's Health: Situating Men's Risk in the Negation of Masculinity. College Men's Health. Preventive Health Strategies for Men in Prison. Part IV: Emerging Research on Men, Masculinity, and Health. Introduction: Youth Violence? Let's Call it What It Is.Gender and Ethnic Differences in Health Beliefs and Behaviors. Masculinity and Gender Role Conflict: Influence on Men's Likelihood of Engaging in High-risk Behaviors. Measurement of Men's Help Seeking. The Drive for Muscularity and Masculinity. Part V: Reaching Men. Introduction: Making Health Manly: Social Marketing and Men's Health. Counseling Men about Their Health: An Evidence-based Practice Guideline. Designing Effective Programs and Services for College Men: Applying the Six-point HEALTH Plan and Other Evidence-Based Strategies. Part VI: Looking Forward. Introduction: Teaming Up for the New Men's Health Movement. A Global Perspective on the Field of Men's Health.