Research questions

Our research questions are designed to help us gain a better understanding of the part played by gender in the everyday relationships between young male service users and the adults who work with them.

The study will explore these specific questions:

• What discourses influence interventions with boys and young men and in particular what assumptions about gender inform current theory, policy and practice?
• How do boys and young men in contact with services talk about and construct their interactions and relationships with male and female professionals?
• What do they value in their relationships with workers? To what extent is this gendered?
• What do they identify as essential to developing good relationships?
• What do girls say about boys and their relationships with workers?
• How do male and female professionals working with boys and young men across a range of settings talk about and construct their interactions and relationships with service users?
• What do they identify as essential to developing good relationships?
• How does gender interact with other aspects of identity, such as class and ethnicity, in relationships between young men and professional workers?
• What are the implications of these findings for developing interventions with boys and young men who are perceived to be vulnerable or ‘at risk’?