Counseling, Higher Education & Special Education Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2757
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Item “Locker Room (Rape) Culture” and Male Athletes’ Attitudes Toward Sexual Violence: Exploring Psychosocial Dimensions of Masculinity in Sport(2021) Sappington, Ryan; Hoffman, Mary Ann; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The issue of sexual violence perpetrated by male athletes has garnered increased scholarly attention over the last three decades. Existing research, however, has focused largely on whether athletes are more prone to sexually violent attitudes or behavior than other groups, devoting minimal attention toward psychosocial factors within sport that actually underlie this issue. Even fewer studies have situated the problem of male athlete-perpetrated sexual violence (MASV) within the psychology of men and masculinities. To address some of these gaps, the current study explored how male athletes’ sexist and sexually violent attitudes toward women are influenced by their masculine norm conformity and exposure to vignettes depicting violent hazing practices. Two hundred and four NCAA Division I male athletes completed a measure of masculine norm conformity. Participants were then randomized into experimental conditions, exposing them to either one of three experimental vignettes depicting a violent or abusive hazing scenario (e.g., forced nudity, forced touch, or forced binge drinking) or a control vignette depicting a prosocial team-building activity. Results revealed no significant differences across conditions in subsequent reports of rape myth acceptance or sexism, and conformity to masculine norms mostly did not moderate relationships between hazing exposure and outcomes. However, for the full sample (i.e., controlling for hazing condition), greater conformity to the masculine norms of violence, power over women, being a sexual playboy, and heterosexual self-presentation all predicted higher levels of rape myth acceptance and sexism. Furthermore, exploratory analyses revealed that hazing conditions did have an impact on participants’ subsequent levels of state affect. Finally, noteworthy differences emerged across types of sport, whereby athletes participating in team and contact sports endorsed greater masculine norm adherence and higher levels of sexism than their counterparts. Limitations, future research directions, and implications for practice are discussed.Item A NARRATIVE CASE STUDY EXAMINING THE EXPEREINCES OF MEN TEACHING SPECIAL EDUCATION IN THE ELEMENTARY GRADES(2016) Ferrari, Jonathan "Jono"; Leone, Peter; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Over the past several decades, the landscape of the workplace has changed in many industrialized nations. In the United States this time period has seen the outright elimination or outsourcing of well-paying “blue collar” jobs. The workforce continues to evolve, change, and become more global, and men and women are making nontraditional occupational decisions, whether by choice or necessity. The traditional views of men and women have begun to shift. However, gender assumptions about masculinity have failed to keep pace with the shift. There are approximately 1.8 million elementary grade level teachers in United States public schools; of these, a mere 9% are male. The paucity of male teachers in the elementary grades has been a concern for many years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly 86% of all special education teachers are female. In 2012, 86.2% of all special education teachers were female, and by the following year, the number had dropped to 80.4%. The evidence indicates that more men are embarking on nontraditional career paths. Despite theses changes there is minimal research looking at the experiences of men working as special education teachers My goal in this study was to obtain a better understanding of the influences on and the process by which men make the decision to pursuing a career teaching special education in the elementary grades. The study utilized social role theory (Eagly, 1987), and Stead’s (2014) social constructionist theory as well as Williams’ (1992) glass escalator proposition The findings of this study confirm some of the factors related to career choice, experiences and barriers faced by men in nontraditional careers detailed in the literature. Three themes emerged for each research question: Experiences, advocacy, and benefits. Three themes emerged around the second research question exploring the experiences of men in a female-concentrated profession: The male body, communication, and perception. Three themes arose around the third research question: administration, My Masculinity, and pay. The findings run counter to Williams’ glass escalator proposition, which posits men working in female-concentrated professions are at an advantage. The findings advance support for Buschmeyer’s theory of (2013) alternative masculinity.Item "Putting My Man Face On": A Grounded Theory of College Men's Gender Identity Development(2007-04-26) Edwards, Keith E.; Jones, Susan R; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this grounded theory study was to explore the process of college men's gender identity development. Conducted from a social constructivist epistemological paradigm, through a social justice theoretical lens, and using a constructivist grounded theory methodology, the following research questions guided this study: (a) how do college men come to understand themselves as men; (b) how does this understanding of what it means to be a man change over time, if at all; and (c) what are the critical influences on this process? Three interviews with 10 college men from a large East Coast university were conducted. The theory that emerged from this study is grounded in the participants' experiences and depicts gender identity as developed through constant interaction with society's expectations of them as men. In order to try to meet these expectations and be seen as men, participants described putting on a performance that was like wearing a mask or "putting my man face on." This process included learning societal expectations of them as men, as well as specific cultural group expectations. The men in this study were all aware that they did not neatly fit behind the mask, either as a result of personal characteristics or social identities. Their resulting insecurities led them to wearing the mask both consciously and unconsciously so that they would be seen as men by society. Wearing the mask had consequences for the women in their lives, their relationships with other men, and themselves as they were also denying or masking their true selves. Although none of the men in this study had been able to completely take off the mask, they were able to identify critical influences in their lives that had helped each of them begin to remove the mask in certain circumstances and begin moving towards being their own man. This theory of college men's gender identity development has implications relevant to theory development, research, student affairs practice, and social justice.