In 2021 No Knives, Better Lives (based at YouthLink Scotland, the national agency for youth work) decided to explore what it’s like to be a boy or young man in Scotland. We know from other research and evidence that men are failing to flourish. Men are more likely to be both the victims and perpetrators of violence, including knife crimes. Men also have poorer physical and mental health than women. When you include poverty in the mix, the outcomes for men are even worse.

The purpose of the research was to develop and deepen our understanding of the issues affecting boys and young men, learning how they felt about masculinity and growing up and the impact on risk taking, and you can read our report here. In a nutshell, we found a more positive and complex story than we’d expected. Stereotypes and expectations still existed, but the young men were not defined by them. While they took more risks than girls and young women, the majority had an adult they could talk to if they had a problem. They were looking and hoping for a more equal society for everyone in the future. As a result of this year of research, we started to use the term ‘positive masculinity’.

Throughout 2022 we worked with three youth groups based in Dundee, Glasgow and Shetland to further explore the term positive masculinity in more depth through youth-led research. Through their research, the young people concluded that most had not heard about positive masculinity, but had heard about ‘toxic’ masculinity. They identified a need to ‘flip the script’, change the narrative, and give young men hope and ideas about what they can aspire to be instead of focusing on what they shouldn’t be.

Drawing on everything we have learned in the last two years, we have created a resource to support practitioners to help build notions of positive masculinity with young people. In the first year of the research, we identified a lack of support and resources for adults working with young people in this area, so we hope this helps fill this gap. We hope this resource will help build a case for positive masculinity, since it demonstrates the process of supporting young people to explore these issues and creates these types of conversations. We also hope it helps practitioners to develop the confidence to explore positive masculinity with young people. The feedback from the boys and young men we have spoken to over the last two years shows how much they have appreciated having the dedicated ‘brave’ space to explore and reflect on what masculinity means to them.

This is an evolving process, and we don’t see our research or resource as the answer, just simply a contribution to an evolving conversation. We will continue to engage with young people and partners, support other projects, share our research and resource and keep the conversation going.