Teen males in therapeutic boarding school adopt feminine qualities to reassert dominance

Adolescent males attending therapeutic boarding school for troubled young men often adopted feminine qualities, displaying a type of “hybrid masculinity,” according to research presented at the 2016 American Sociological Association Annual Meeting.

However, researcher Jessica A. Pfaffendorf, a PhD candidate at the University of Arizona School of Sociology, noted that the teenaged men did not fully embrace their new feminine demeanors, which included speaking openly and at length about their emotions and admitting past wrongs. Instead, they combined masculine and feminine styles for their own personal benefit, namely to assert that they were in control of their emotions and, therefore, were more mature than their peers.

“Limited research attributes the growth of therapeutic boarding schools to a series of cultural events,” Pfaffendorf said in a press release. “The initial development of the therapeutic boarding school coincides with the height of the war on drugs in the late 1980s. In the immediate years after the Columbine shootings, the number of therapeutic schools increased six times over.”

To examine the therapeutic models common in these programs, and the ways they may conflict with the patriarchal, masculine nature of elite society, Pfaffendorf conducted 9 months of field work and 34 in-depth interviews as part of a larger, 2-year investigation at a therapeutic boarding school located in the Southwest region of the United States.

The school operated on an active ranch, where the young male students groomed, trained and rode horses. The program also including wilderness excursions with counselors, and reinforced values associated with relationship building, interdependence, recognition of one’s own powerlessness, communality, and open expression of emotions.

According to Pfaffendorf, the adolescents “spoke at length about their feelings, expressed emotion openly, and freely admitted with past wrongs and the guilt that came along with them.” In addition, they described themselves as being more mature and having more purpose than their counterparts at traditional schools.

“In sum, students in therapeutic boarding schools may appropriate feminine qualities, but these qualities are used to reassert masculine dominance — sustaining prevailing gender norms,” Pfaffendorf said in a press release. “This contributes to what others have called the ‘flexibility of patriarchy’ — that privileged men are able to mobilize feminine characteristics to their advantage and to assert dominance.” – by Jason Laday

Disclosure: Healio Family Medicine could not confirm Pfaffendorf’s relevant financial disclosures.

Reference:

Pfaffendorf JA. “Sensitive Cowboys: Mobilizing Masculinities in a Therapeutic Boarding School.” Presented at: American Sociological Association Annual Meeting; Aug. 20-23, 2016; Seattle.