Operationalizing positive masculinity: a theoretical synthesis and school-based framework to engage boys and young men.

Scholars have consistently documented the relationship between conformity to traditional masculine norms and maladaptive psychosocial outcomes among boys and young men. Given current social commentary, including debate around 'toxic masculinity', intervention is needed to encourage boys to embody healthy expressions and identities of masculinity. Whilst new approaches grounded in positive masculinity show promise, the construct requires further definition and phenomenological clarity.

Identifying, affirming, and building upon male strengths: the positive psychology/positive masculinity model of psychotherapy with boys and men.

The bulk of the extant literature on the psychology of boys, men and masculinity has been focused on the important challenges of: a) creating an awareness about the detrimental effects of constricted forms of masculinity on boys and men and their relationships with others; and b) developing remedial approaches to psychotherapy that are designed to help boys and men recover from dysfunctional masculinity. The purpose of this article is to expand this literature by introducing the positive psychology/positive masculinity (PPPM) framework, which emphasizes male strengths as the starting point for psychotherapy with boys and men. The central principles of the PPPM framework are described, and the application of the PPPM model with an adult man in psychotherapy is presented.