Talking about Violence with Men: Considering Male Participation in Understanding and Preventing Gender-Based Violence through the Possibilities of Psychosocial Approach

Views that emphasize the participation of men as part of the solution in the prevention of violence against women and girls have become increasingly important. Questioning the ways men can actively participate in the prevention of violence reveals the missing aspects in our understanding of how they perceive violence in the first place. The psychosocial approach adopted in the field of criminology may provide an opportunity to develop satisfactory answers addressing these aspects, to the extent that it provides a deep and comprehensive analysis. In both gender studies and criminology, the relationship between masculinity and violence is identified and discussed. Utilizing the emerging approaches from this discussion, the implications of the psychosocial approach in understanding and preventing men’s violence will be explicated. Lastly, following this approach, the possibility of a radical social/cultural change in favor of gender equality will be explored, along with the excavation of the layered meanings of gender-based violence, through interrogating the issue of social justice that young men may associate violence with.