Improving the Living, Learning, and Thriving of Young Black Men: A Conceptual Framework for Reflection and Projection

Daphne C. Watkins
Additional contact information
Daphne C. Watkins: School of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 8, 1-13

Abstract: Black men experience disproportionate mental health challenges due to their exposure to severe psychosocial stressors. Yet, the mental health challenges of Black men have largely been left out of national conversations. Strong theoretical frameworks are important when generating dialogue about the mental health of Black men, as it helps to validate the work on a larger scale while also grounding the work for more practical use. This paper presents the conceptual framework for a five-year initiative aimed at improving the living, learning, and thriving of young Black men through a social media intervention that improves their mental health, expands their definitions of manhood, and helps them to engage in social support. The Young, Black Men, Masculinities, and Mental Health (YBMen) project is a social media-based, health promotion program that targets mental health (e.g., depressive symptoms), masculine norms (e.g., definitions of manhood), and social support for young Black men using culturally-sensitive, age-appropriate, and gender-specific popular culture. The YBMen project has been successfully implemented with over 150+ Black men since 2014; findings demonstrate improved mental health outcomes, progressive definitions of manhood, and stronger social relationships. Reflections from the past and projections for the future are discussed.

Keywords: African American/Black men; intervention; manhood; masculinity; mental heath; social media (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/8/1331/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/8/1331/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:8:p:1331-:d:222488

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().