SWAHS: Marginalised Young Men: Meeting Their Needs

"Wherever possible young men should be involved in the design of programs, promotional material and participate in leadership roles within services..."

This is a highly valuable resource directed at services who need to understand exactly how to better work with groups of marginalised males.

It sets out to define what marginalised means and what groups of males the terms applies to.

Importantly, it sets out what services should do to attract, engage with and work with men, and these principles can be applied across most other groups of non-marginslised males as well:

• Nuts and Bolts of Service Provision: how to develop a safe and welcoming environment that is accessible to young men.
• Flexibility and Spontaneity: this covers being ready and adaptable to meeting the needs of young men, especially if they need urgent help
• Help and Choice: structuring services to cater for diverse needs and linking with other programs and services
• Engagement: covers the processes that attract and retian the interest of young males so that their needs are met
• Specific Program Strategies: specific strategies around how young men might interact with services
• Service Culture: internal and political barriers that might impede providision of good service to young men
• Cultural and Philosophical Frameworks:how to balance needs within concepts of masculinity and motivation, for example
• Workers: ensuring that workers have safety in mind, that they are able to effectively work with men and that they can perform their roles
• Funding and Lobbying (Structural Work): examines the absence of services targeted at young men and how services can integrate with prison systems and other programs.