Navigating the Masculine Maze: Nurturing Healthy Masculinity in Boys

In this course, Dr. Justin Coulson (founder, happyfamilies.com.au and co-host parenting expert on Channel Nine’s Parental Guidance) challenges the adaptiveness of common sayings and societal expectations regarding boys’ bad behaviour, citing grim statistics about both the higher rate of suicides among males and also the much higher rate of intimate partner violence perpetrated by men who adhere to the “Man Box” traditional views of what it is to be male. Proposing instead a “healthy masculinity” definition, Dr. Coulson explains that it has three chief components: identity (boys finding out who they are), capability (to provide, protect, regulate, and relate), and purpose.