A New Psychology Of Men (Hardcover)

~ Ronald Levant (Author), (Author) "I FIRST PROPOSED the "gender role strain" model for masculinity in the early 1980s (Pleck, 1981)..." (more)
Key Phrases: restrictive affectionate behavior between men, gender role conflict patterns, violating gender role norms, New York, American Psychological Association, Newbury Park (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The renowned contributors to this book outline an empirically based model of male psychology.

About the Author

William Pollack, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist, is the codirector of the Center for Men at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School, and a founding member and Fellow of the Society for Psychological Study of Men and Masculinity of the American Psychological Association. He is the author of the best-selling book Real Boys. He and his family live in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. Ronald F. Levant is Dean and Professor at the Center for Psychological Studies at Nova Southeastern University. He lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (March 23, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 046508656X
• ISBN-13: 978-0465086566
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,448,327 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Males and masculinity . . ., December 3, 2006

By	Ronald Scheer "rockysquirrel" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A New Psychology Of Men (Paperback)

This book provides an extensive and seemingly exhaustive review of research on male psychology from the past 25 years. The editors, Levant and Pollack, are joined by ten or so other researchers focusing on different aspects of the subject. All identify a crisis in male gender identity and espouse a theoretical base that attributes the crisis to a fiercely restrictive ideal of masculinity that males are exposed to from infancy. The features of this ideal include aggressiveness and competition, stoicism and suppression of emotions, avoidance of all traits characterized as "feminine," homophobia, being provider and protector, and so on. Deemed not essentially biological, but the product of socialization, this masculine ideal is reinforced most perniciously through shaming (explored by Steven Krugman in chapter 8) and results in a wide range of anti-social, dysfunctional, and criminal behavior, further confounded in the lives of men from ethnic minorities and gay men, whose issues are also given consideration.

While written chiefly for professionals, this book is accessible to lay readers, and there is much to be gained from it, especially for those troubled by the confusion over the role of men in society and in personal relationships. Though it is not a self-help book, the concerned reader will find much food for thought that is freeing because its report of key research sheds light on how we got to be the way we are and the potential for letting go of expectations of masculinity that are unrealistic and counterproductive.