An Exploration of the Links between Male Identity and the Development of the Field of Men’s Community Education in Ireland Antonia Owens BA, MA. A Thesis presented for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Dublin City University Supervisor: Dr Ann Louise Gilligan Department of Education St. Patrick’s College Drumcondra Dublin 9 October 2004 I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme of study leading to the award of Doctor of Philosophy is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. Signed: Candidate I.D. Number: S> U 0 3 \ \ ** D ate:-----------------------------------------------21 Abstract Social, economic, legislative and technological developments ongoing since the 1970s have culminated in profound change in the structure and form of work and of family life today. This changing socio-economic structure has implications for ways in which gender roles and relationships are understood and enacted; and this study is concerned with the impact of such change on men’s, particularly marginalised men’s, understandings of masculinity. While men’s studies as an academic discipline has been developing in the international arena since the 1970s, there is a dearth of scholarship in Ireland on the topic of masculinity; indeed it has only recently emerged as a topic in public discourse. The 1990s witnessed a new social phenomenon in Irish society - the emergence of men’s groups in local communities, some of which receive funding within the community education sector. Across three research sites, two men’s groups and one practitioners’ network, this qualitative study explores emergent models of practice as well as understandings of masculinity and gender relations at play in these sites. This study is therefore located at the interface of two nascent fields of inquiry in Irish research; the question of male identity and the role of men’s groups in combating male isolation, social exclusion and educational disadvantage. The study opens with an overview of the historical development of men’s movements, men’s groups and masculinity politics in the international arena from the 1970s onward; and discusses the more recent emergence of men’s groups in Irish society. It draws on theoretical perspectives from the inter-disciplinary field of men’s studies in tracing the historical development of gender identity in Ireland, and in analysing dominant themes in contemporary public discourse on masculinity and gender relations. Findings from the men’s groups are presented in case study format wherein idiographic analyses and interpretations are placed in dialogue with theoretical perspectives drawn from relevant academic discourses. Based on its understanding of the study participants’ experiences and perspectives and the project’s overall observations, learnings and findings placed in dialogue with a critical analysis of the literature, this thesis proposes a conceptual framework to underpin the development of men’s community education through the medium of men’s groups in Ireland. Acknowledgements: I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences for the three-year scholarship award without which this study would not have been possible. Heartfelt thanks to the members of Ballymun Men’s Group, Tallaght Men’s Group and Dublin Men’s Coalition for their honesty and enthusiasm in participating in this study. Special thanks to An Costin for supporting, hosting and financing the second strand of the study. Thank you to St. Patrick’s College for purchasing, on my behalf, NVivo, a qualitative software package and for paying my tuition and technical support fees. Thanks also to Professor Harry Ferguson for his welcome comments on an early draft of this work. A veiy special thank you to my supervisor Dr. Ann Louise Gilligan for her constant encouragement and support. Table of Contents Chapter Page Introduction 1 Chapter One: The Origins and Development of Men’s Movements, Men’s Groups and Masculinity Politics 11 Chapter Two: Understandings of Masculinity and Gender Relations in Irish Society 50 Chapter Three: Methodology 88 Chapter Four: Findings from the Ballymun Case Study 126 Chapter Five: Findings from the Tallaght Case Study 167 Chapter Six: Towards the Development of a Conceptual Framework to underpin Men’s Development Work through the Medium of Men’s Groups in Ireland 207 Appendices 242 Audit Trail 274 Bibliography 279 List of Appendices 1. Media Coverage of journalist John Waters’ Lawsuit 2. Profile of the Membership of Ballymun Men’s Group 3. Profile of the Membership of Tallaght Men’s Group 4. Profile of Practitioners belonging to Dublin Men’s Coalition 5. Ballymun Interview Schedule 6. Tallaght Interview Schedule 7. Focus Group Schedule for Practitioners 8. Account of Discussion Group Meetings leading to the Establishment of the Tallaght Men’s Group 9. Summary Account of the Collaborative Process of Programme Development 10. Example of Quantitative Search Operation conducted in NVivo 11. Example o f Boolean Search Operation conducted in NVivo 12. Example of Proximity Search Operation conducted in NVivo 13. Testimony Extract: ‘Coming Home from Work’ 14. Diagrammatic Overview of the Proposed Framework for Advancing the Field of Men’s Community Education in Ireland 15. Key Findings of Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland (2002) Report Audit Trail AI Audit Trail (Chart Form) for Ballymun Case Study A2 Audit Trail (Report Form) for Ballymun Case Study B1 Audit Trail (Chart Form) for Tallaght Case Study B2 Audit Trail (Report Form) for Tallaght Case Study Introduction Background Context and Rationale: As a ‘second chance’ learner, I am passionately interested in the potential role of education in combating social exclusion and marginalisation. I first engaged with this topic in 1999 when I undertook an MA in Communication and Cultural Studies at Dublin City University, and for my thesis, conducted an ethnographic study of a group of early school leavers attending alternative school in the community. On completion of my MA, I conducted a qualitative research project entitled Men on the Move: A Study o f Barriers to Male Participation in Education and Training Initiatives (Owens, 2000), further exploring the topic, this time with adult men. The Men on the Move study was conducted on behalf of, and published by, AONTAS, the Irish National Association of Adult Education, and was funded by the Further Education Section of the Department of Education and Science. This doctoral study, funded through a scholarship awarded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences, further explores the potential role of education in combating social exclusion, focusing in particular on men’s education through the medium of men’s groups based in the community. Community-based men’s groups have only recently begun to emerge in Irish society and while Cousins (1997) suggests that such groups hold potential for combating social exclusion, he notes their ad hoc approach and calls on stakeholders in the field to work towards developing a more coherent conceptual framework to inform their work. Kelleher & Kelleher (1999) and Owens (2000) agree that men’s groups have potential to combat social exclusion and educational disadvantage, highlighting the need for government to support research and dialogue in the field if this potential is to be developed and realised. Thus, the benefit of this scholarship works on two levels. Firstly, it facilitates further exploration of key issues arising from the findings of Men on the Move (2000), an endeavour that aims to contribute insights toward the development of a conceptual framework to inform the work of community-based men’s groups. Secondly, these insights may assist policy makers, funders and practitioners in tailoring educational policy and practice in accord with men’s needs, and in identifying best ways of allocating and utilising valuable resources. 1 As this study takes key insights and findings from Men on the Move (2000) as its starting point and rationale, these are now outlined. Across five research sites (three of which were men’s groups), the majority of Men on the Move (2000) study participants came from the least privileged strata of society, bearing poor educational credentials and living in disadvantaged areas. The findings suggest that the greatest barriers to marginalised men’s participation in education are located deep within the self and are linked to the question of male identity, to the question of what it means to be a man in a world that is rapidly changing. The metaphors and phraseology these men used to articulate their perspectives and experiences resulted in my coinage of ‘Taboo Zone’ as the most apt term for conceptualising these interior barriers to participation, not just in education, but also in wider social spheres. Taboo Zone oppression could be described as loyalty to a deeply internalised narrow definition of masculinity, which no longer matches today’s world, and allegiance to which forecloses the possibility of negotiating alternative ways of being. Men on the Move (2000) findings suggest that this circumscribed way of being can be understood as the cumulative effect of negative life experiences that erode belief in the self and diminish the capacity for authorship of one’s own destiny and identity. Such experiences include low ranking, or failure, in the ‘points race’ whereby individuals internalise their accorded value and worth; and as educational credentials influence life-choices, the uncredentialised are often doomed to a life of uncertainty in the labour market and a concomitant sense of powerlessness. Taboo Zone oppression is thus characterised by struggle to reconcile the dominant version of masculinity as ‘powerful’ and ‘breadwinner’ with the reality of powerlessness and unemployment, while loss of belief in the self diminishes the capacity to envision and negotiate alternative ways of being.