Working with Men - Coursework Example

Working with Men Name Professor Course Date Top of Form Bottom of Form Introduction Counseling as used by psychologists to help people in society is a very crucial part of psychology. Handling people with various challenges and being able to help them is not an easy task. The different ways in which victims can be handled have been discussed. Some include counseling men who use violence for defense, working with men in families and bonding with their children, caring for the old and handling sexually abused men in their childhood. Feminists have analyzed patriarchy for so many years. They concluded that men have Constructed the world for themselves as a region where cruel force reign. Dealing with masculinities and their devastating cost for women and girls is part of the work involved in the fight for gender fairness. Research on masculinities is necessary with respect to intersectional approach demonstrating responsiveness towards diversity and compound balances of supremacy as practiced by other people. One of the approaches to counsel men on aspects of masculinity must be directed towards the promotion of equity for both genders. It has to be pro-feminist so that the counseling ultimately has a positive impact on the state of affairs of women in conflict areas and post-conflict countries. What is needed is masculinity counseling that does not become an end in itself. It has to prevent and fight violence against women and the result must be a reduction in violence. When working scientifically contributions of women must be reflected upon as it is not objective. There has to be complementary work for both gender. Men’s awareness of wrongdoing needs to be developed to have a change of pattern achieved in their patriarchal attitude. Guidance, which ensures the power and hierarchies between men and women does not take-biased stance is encouraged. Encouragement of inclusion of women on peace missions, security policy, overlapping of military operations and development of cooperation is promoted (NAHON & LANDER, 2013).. Masculinity in the actions of warlords, head of states, diplomats UN, and NATO commanders are eliminated. Critics have set their sights on some military historians, political scientists, and security politicians who deal with a tactical campaign. In women’s organizations its natural that their work will be suppressed, reduced or manipulated into taking another direction if men are included. In this regard, they may be given the power and women in the projects will be marginalized. Women working with men tend to gain comrades-in-arms for the formation of another worldwide social organization where gender equity is the benchmark in all areas of politics and life. Men should also know that women obtain greater awareness of their own input to the creation of masculinity patterns (Ranson, 2012, p.759). Men should show solidarity in encouraging gender equity in politics. Patriarchy worldwide has one thing in common which is the ability to exercise violence against women without individual sanctions, predominantly in conflict and crisis situations. Gross inequalities, gender specific acts of violence, sexual exploitation due to neo-liberal globalization policies and conflicts have intensified worldwide. Most UN peacekeeping missions have not led to greater equality for women population in most countries. The concept of ensuring peace through fighting and the use of violence could be radically challenged through counseling. Violence is mechanisms of supremacy to maintain and safeguard dominance. All those who trivialize gender-based violence only consider violence as a way of signifying authority. Violence stabilizes dominance. It is important to disclose, combat, and reduce violence from the men because the patterns of power, forms of dominance and acceptance of violence as a means of implementing interests in public and private life in public and private life in post conflict countries will not change. Many female soldiers have been accepting Patterns in order to be excellent soldiers and to be accepted by their male counterparts and senior officers. For this to change, targeted masculinity training courses for both genders of soldiers and transparent evaluation is important. Men should be encouraged to work well with women. Women are not a problem but part of the solution .they can work comfortably in male dominated jobs in spite of their arduous mission away from home. Feminism Feminism is a philosophy that has come late without having real roots in comparison to the greater part of ideologies that have developed in the past centuries. Liberalism and Marxism, which are political and philosophical schools of thought, are linked to feminism. It is a fundamental human movement in the current world. It advocates for equality for all human beings. Men have to be made to understand that women have abilities, which are equivalent to theirs (Dolan, 2014, p.152). Feminism has a number of challenges, which include skepticism, individualism, and liberalism. Men need to appreciate women as biological beings who can also participate in science. They can give birth unlike men, something that is human nature. Equality has to be practiced in any given society for development to take place. Doing women work Men who participate in work which has always been known to belong to women is increasing .the society is dynamic and people have to cope with this fact. Such men face some challenges like being seen as not being men enough or being labeled as women. Men have the same capabilities in doing women work just like women who do men’s work. Working with male who were sexually abused during childhood Men who have experienced child sexual abuse need to be provided with supportive services that are accessible to all of them. Counselors have been experiencing challenges in trying to offer support for male victims of sexual violence. Working with men who have experienced early days sexual exploitation is similar to that of women. Such men tend to struggle with unwelcome memories, feeling overwhelmed, unhelpful thoughts, feelings of guilt and shame with unsure feelings of what to do or say (Sutcliffe, 2014, p.143). Adult males face some widespread social pressures about how they ought to conduct themselves, feel, and think. The act of a man talking of experience of sexual abuse and seeking assistance requires a man to face expectations that, as a man, he should be strong, controlling, and self-reliant, always in control, sane, reasonable, and always ready for sex and never a victim. Seeking for help is portrayed as a sign of weaknesses. Men fear to disclose the fact that they have been sexually abused since some people tend to question their sexuality. Most of the perpetrators are males and given societal devaluing of same sex relations then men fear to be labeled as gay. It is essential that barriers to disclosure of sexual abuse by men be addressed at a policy and broader societal level to enable men to go public concerning sexual abuse. It is worth in investing in services specifically to men who have experienced sexual abuse by creating flyers, postcards, and booklets that attend to men and deal with their challenges (Moriarty et al, 2014, p.296). Flexible appointments and waiting times for consultations need to be developed. Individuals working with such men should have access to appropriate information, support, training, and supervision counselors can become isolated just as men do hence the need for them to connect, share knowledge, understanding, resources, and experiences with other counselors doing similar work. The challenge faced by these counselors is the possibility of burn out or vicarious trauma hence compromising their health mentally and general wellbeing. Individual and interpersonal protection is the main concern when working with experiences of sexual exploitation. It takes time to develop for men because most men close themselves, isolate, or even become loud and aggressive. Another challenge is that men only turn up for one or two sessions and exit the counseling .this poses a need of taking time to engage and understand the man’s experiences and what he is in need of. Others will experience suicidal ideation and others tend to attempt suicide. Men welcome and value-talking therapies including those based on feminist values. Group work with men helps men to break down seclusion to assist men to bond with and support men who have had related incident. Gathering and conversing with other men who have had the identical experience actively contributes to feelings of connection and incorporation that is the third phase of trauma work. Working with males in families By convention, men are expected to carry out the larger part of breadwinning. Work or family stress is higher in men who are breadwinners, career –oriented and actively involved in a large quantity of day to day caring and household errands (WARFORD, 2014). Those investing in their careers and stay –at –home fathers have a greater difficulty in this area due to thoughts of guilt for not being there. All fathers in families tend to cope with old and new practices to make happy families. Men and child protection Family dynamics help us to appreciate the variety and numerous capability of fathering. Fatherhood helps us to understand family functioning .Couples with more different forms of investment and parenting seem to be linked to three possible patterns of fatherhood. Appropriate fathers to their families are those who become the main caregivers and educators of children. They search for quality time with their children and bond well. There is emphasis on family fusion, gender equality and honesty and joint fatherhood pattern. Challenges in handling men who use violence to protect themselves They include how to uphold respect towards the man whilst being counseled without reproving his violence and abuse and remain accountable to the feeling of those he has abused. How to help them realize the weight of the hurt he has caused to those he loves in a manner that enables individual accountability but avoids minimizing and believe in self-depreciation. A challenge in finding appraisal tools to quantify and keep an eye on levels of esteem, accountability, and responsibility all through the mission (Hossain et al, 2014, p.20). How to acknowledge a man’s incident of injustice without sacrificing liability and approval of the injustice that he has perpetrated and how to establish services that promote respect, accountability and responsibility. Counseling men with psychiatric disability Mental illness can be mild, sever, temporary or prolonged. The most common form is depression and anxiety disorders. Mental illness is just like any other illness. People who are victims need to seek help earlier. They also need the encouragement from other people so that they get these services (Cheng et al, 2014, p.420). They need to be treated with compassion, understanding, and support for quick recovery. Counselors have a tendency of functioning to enable victims to connect with and to play an active role within the area of their selection. Discussions that are more open allow people to discover and learn that psychological illness is treatable and patients can assist in the community in a vigorous and healthy means. These people call for immense support. It is essential through schooling and communication that acceptance of such illnesses is enhanced. Improving health of older people Life expectancy has been growing steadily for so many years. There has been increasingly active phase of life in retirement where citizens have opportunities to keep on contributing to the public by working longer or volunteering in their communities or taking individual responsibility for their own safety by functioning, saving and looking after their physical condition. Some of the ways of improving health and welfare services for older men include improving recruitment and withholding of an ageing workforce. Engaging people to work extra years helps to support financially, health and social wellbeing of persons later in life. It removes the possibility of them being a burden (Chan, 2012, p.223). Helping older people to get online is another way. The entire world is changing from provision of social services to interaction to digital. There is a need to provide high quality digital services to older people such that they are able to benefit fully through independence. Older people need to be celebrated by marking older people’s day. This day is put aside to commemorate the achievements and contributions that older people create to the world and financial system. The obsolete stereotypes have to be uninvolved. Lastly, an opportunity has to be developed to help develop the liberty, wellbeing, and safety of older people. There has to be a committee that provides a better value of life for the elderly through local services that are calculated to meet their requirements currently and in the future. They have to be made lively to avoid cases of long-term seclusion and group segregation. Conclusion Men are more difficult to handle during counseling due to gender differences and masculinity. They fear to seek help since they are always expected to be self-reliant. They also tend to fear to open up and discuss their challenges with peers for fear of stigmatization. References Chan, T. (2012). The key challenges of working with chinese men: social worker accounts. Journal Of Social Work Practice, 26(2), 215-232. Cheng, Y., Du, C., Hwang, J., Chen, I., Chen, M., & Su, T. (2014). Working hours, sleep duration and the risk of acute coronary heart disease: A case–control study of middle-aged men in Taiwan. International Journal Of Cardiology, 171(3), 419-422. Dolan, A. (2014). ‘Men give in to chips and beer too easily’: How working-class men make sense of gender differences in health. Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal For The Social Study Of Health, Illness & Medicine, 18(2), 146-162. Hossain, M., Zimmerman, C., Kiss, L., Abramsky, T., Kone, D., Bakayoko-Topolska, M., & ... Watts, C. (2014). Working with men to prevent intimate partner violence in a conflict-affected setting: a pilot cluster randomized controlled trial in rural Côte d'Ivoire. BMC Public Health, 14(1), 1-28. KIRBY, L. A. (2013). Cowboys of the High Seas: Representations of Working-Class Masculinity on Deadliest Catch. Journal Of Popular Culture, 46(1), 109-118. Moriarty, A. S., Bradley, A. J., Anderson, K. N., Watson, S., Gallagher, P., & McAllister-Williams, R. (2014). Cortisol awakening response and spatial working memory in man: a U-shaped relationship. Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical & Experimental, 29(3), 295-298. NAHON, D., & LANDER, N. R. (2013). WORKING WITH MEN IN GROUPS FROM AN INTEGRITY MODEL PERSPECTIVE. Journal Of Men's Studies, 21(2), 162-177. Ranson, G. (2012). Men, Paid Employment and Family Responsibilities: Conceptualizing the 'Working Father'. Gender, Work & Organization, 19(6), 741-761. Sutcliffe, M. (2014). The origins of the ‘two cultures’ debate in the adult education movement: the case of the Working Men’s College ( c .1854–1914). History Of Education, 43(2), 141-159. WARFORD, P. (2014). Facing Nabal: Working with Men Who Abuse. Priscilla Papers, 28(1), 11-13. Read More