Date of Award
2020
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Lisa Harlow
Second Advisor
Kathleen Webster
Abstract
Ten Men is a primary prevention strategy, which involves a group of prominent men in the community who want to change the social norms around masculinity in Rhode Island and educate other men on the link between toxic masculinity and intimate partner violence (IPV). One way to accomplish this goal of social norms change is by having the Ten Men members, both current and alumni, communicate with men in their local communities about these topics. I evaluated the effectiveness of men’s communication utilizing a mixed methods approach, which incorporated both causal methods applied to network analysis (quantitative) and focus groups conducted with the Ten Men members (qualitative) to learn more about how they communicate with other men in their communities. I used a convergent mixed methods design, where the qualitative and quantitative data are collected at the same time, analyzed, and then the results are combined in a matrix to identify meta-themes. I found that Ten Men influence the attitudes of men in their communities. This is supported by the findings that Ten Men members and men in their communities are less accepting of violence and less tolerant of gender inequity, when compared to Control group men, and the themes of having positive interactions with community men, focusing on relationship-building and empathy in those interactions, and engaging with men in their communities in a multiplicity of ways derived from the focus group discussions, which are combined into the meta-theme of spheres of influence. I also identified the meta-themes of shared attitudes and Ten Men as leaders.
Recommended Citation
Ryan, Valerie, "A MIXED METHODS STUDY OF COMMUNICATION AMONG TEN MEN MEMBERS AND COMMUNITY MEN" (2020). Open Access Dissertations. Paper 1149.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss/1149
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