Michael Flood - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Michael Flood

Children have always sought out sexually explicit material but doing so today is easier, quicker,... more Children have always sought out sexually explicit material but doing so today is easier, quicker, cheaper and more anonymous. While the system of video classification is designed to exclude those under 18 from viewing pornography, there are virtually no age-related barriers to pornography on the Internet. Children can spend hours wandering online through a vast array of free images and movie clips much of which would be prohibited on video. They can been drawn or coerced into viewing material they have no desire to see through 'pop-ups', 'mousetrapping', spam emails and manipulation of search engines. Yet despite the scale and possible consequences of this social problem, it has received almost no public attention.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, we have reached a pivotal moment in terms of father... more At the beginning of the twenty-first century, we have reached a pivotal moment in terms of fathers' roles in families and communities. There is, at present, a significant opportunity for fathers to develop stronger, more intimate bonds with their children and to enhance their roles within their families. Indeed a growing number of fathers are embracing this situation. But the opportunity is in danger of being lost. The unhelpful agendas of some participants in fatherhood debates, and continuing economic and cultural obstacles to paternal involvement in child-rearing, threaten to limit men's positive involvement in parenting. Fathers, and mothers, are important to the well-being of children, families and communities. Supporting fathers' positive involvement in their children's lives is a vital element in the maintenance of healthy families and communities. However, currentproposals to change family law do not represent either an appropriate or effective means to enhan...

This paper was prepared as part of the Violence Against Women Community Attitudes Project. The pr... more This paper was prepared as part of the Violence Against Women Community Attitudes Project. The project is one of a program of mental health promotion activities being undertaken by the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation to address violence against women. Violence against women is a prevalent problem with serious consequences for women's health. Intimate Partner Violence alone contributes 9% to the total disease burden in women aged 15-44 years and 60% of this is contributed by associated mental health problems. The Violence Against Women Community Attitudes Project is being undertaken to gain a better understanding of community attitudes as a factor contributing to this problem.

There is a compelling, three-fold rationale for directing violence prevention efforts at children... more There is a compelling, three-fold rationale for directing violence prevention efforts at children and young people. First, males' and females' adult relationships are shaped in important ways by the norms and practices they take on in adolescence. Second, violence-supportive attitudes are already well established in adolescence, and patterns of physical and sexual violence are evident in some young people's intimate relations. Third, violence prevention education among children and youth has been shown to work. In the following, I identify the key determinants of violence against girls and women, concentrating on the causes of intimate partner violence (between spouses or in boyfriend-girlfriend relationships). I focus on boys' and men's violence to girls and women, while acknowledging that boys and men themselves often are the victims of violence and that girls and women sometimes are the perpetrators. I then identify key populations and contexts for interventio...

This framework is designed to provide a sound theoretical and evidence base to support future gov... more This framework is designed to provide a sound theoretical and evidence base to support future government, community and corporate sector activity to prevent violence against women. It identifies priority strategies, settings and population targets.

A review of literature concerning adult learning and violence prevention programs with men. This ... more A review of literature concerning adult learning and violence prevention programs with men. This report was commissioned to inform the development of future training programs that will be delivered as part of the AFL's Respect & Responsibility Program and as part of the AFL's continuing commitment to making all football clubs safe, supportive and inclusive environments for women and girls.

This report is intended to advance violence prevention efforts in schools in Victoria and around ... more This report is intended to advance violence prevention efforts in schools in Victoria and around Australia. The report is designed to achieve the following goals: • to map the violence prevention, intervention and respectful relationships programs that are currently running in Victorian government secondary schools • to identify and explore best practice in violence prevention, intervention and respectful relationships education in schools in Victoria and elsewhere • to inform the development and implementation of violence prevention and respectful relationships policy and programming in Victoria • to increase DEECD's ability to respond more effectively to queries from other government departments, the media and the general public regarding the role of schools in violence prevention and the promotion of respectful relationships. The report focuses in particular on the prevention of forms of violence that occur in intimate and family relationships, including physical or sexual vi...

Where do men stand when it comes to violence against women? This report describes how many men us... more Where do men stand when it comes to violence against women? This report describes how many men use violence against women, what men think about violence against women, and what role men can and do play in reducing and preventing this violence. The report is guided by the fundamental belief that men can play a positive role in preventing men's violence against women. Indeed, without men's involvement, efforts to reduce and prevent violence against women will fail. Most men in Australia do not use violence against women, and most believe such violence to be unacceptable. A silent majority of men disapproves of violence, but does little to prevent it. Of most concern, significant numbers of men excuse or justify violence against women. The silence, and encouragement, of male bystanders allows men's violence against women to continue.

Men's violence against women can be reduced and prevented. Individuals can act to lessen viol... more Men's violence against women can be reduced and prevented. Individuals can act to lessen violence in their own lives and the lives of those around them, organisations and communities can work to build gender‑equal relations between women and men, and governments can take action to shift the structural and cultural underpinnings of men's violence against women.

This report examines the role of workplaces, and men in workplaces in particular, in preventing m... more This report examines the role of workplaces, and men in workplaces in particular, in preventing men's violence against women. The report begins by noting that men's violence against women is a widespread social problem which requires urgent action. It highlights the need for preventative measures oriented to changing the social and structural conditions at the root of this violence, including through settings such as workplaces. Men's violence against women is a workplace issue. As well as being a blunt infringement of women's rights, this violence imposes very substantial health and economic costs on workplaces and organisations.

Masculine Power and Gender Equality: Masculinities as Change Agents, 2020

Global Masculinities, 2018

Violence perpetrated by and against men and boys is a major public health problem. Although indiv... more Violence perpetrated by and against men and boys is a major public health problem. Although individual men’s use of violence differs, engagement of all men and boys in action to prevent violence against women and girls is essential. We discuss why this engagement approach is theoretically important and how prevention interventions have developed from treating men simply as perpetrators of violence against women and girls or as allies of women in its prevention, to approaches that seek to transform the relations, social norms, and systems that sustain gender inequality and violence. We review evidence of intervention effectiveness in the reduction of violence or its risk factors, features commonly seen in more effective interventions, and how strong evidence-based interventions can be developed with more robust use of theory. Future interventions should emphasise work with both men and boys and women and girls to change social norms on gender relations, and need to appropriately acco...

Australian Journal of Social Issues, 2020

Resistance to efforts to advance gender equality is a common feature of social life, whether in w... more Resistance to efforts to advance gender equality is a common feature of social life, whether in workplaces and other organisations or elsewhere. In this article, we review the typical character, dynamics of and contexts for resistance to gender equality measures. Resistance is an inevitable, although undesirable, response to efforts at progressive social change. Backlash and resistance to gender equality take common forms including: denial of the problem, disavowal of responsibility, inaction, appeasement, co‐option and repression. Resistance may be individual or collective, formal or informal. Pushback against gender equality measures comes more often from members of the privileged group (men) than the disadvantaged group (women). Resistance is a predictable expression of the defence of institutionalised privilege, but it is also shaped by widespread discourses on “sex roles” and “post‐feminism,” the methods adopted to advance gender equality and the contexts in which they take pla...

Global Social Welfare, 2019

Much of the work to engage men in preventing violence against women across the globe is profemini... more Much of the work to engage men in preventing violence against women across the globe is profeminist-it is informed by feminist perspectives and done by or in collaboration with women and women's organisations. Men involved in this work typically are expected to support feminism and to be accountable to women and feminism. But which feminism should profeminist men support? There has been relatively little discussion of this question in the 'engaging men' field. Yet, organisations and individuals involved in undertaking this work, whether it is delivered by or with men, adopt a range of different approaches and the significant diversity of thought within feminist activism is also reflected to some extent within the engaging men field. This can make accountability more challenging, because it means asking: to whom specifically should profeminist men be accountable? The relationship between feminism and the theories and strategies adopted by organisations and activists in this field is often left implicit or vague, and there can be a lack of clarity or transparency about the nature of the feminist social change that such groups seek to help bring about. The paper therefore contributes to the articulation of how profeminist men should understand their relationship to feminism, and considers how they can make choices about which feminism to adopt. It argues that, by discussing more explicitly the different interpretations of feminism shaping the engaging men field, this work will be better equipped to tackle men's violence against women through more open, rigorous and profoundly profeminist praxis.

Culture, health & sexuality, Jan 28, 2015

This paper provides a critical assessment of efforts to involve men in the prevention of men'... more This paper provides a critical assessment of efforts to involve men in the prevention of men's violence against women. Although there is a substantial evidence base attesting to the effectiveness of at least some strategies and interventions, this field is also limited in important ways. Violence prevention efforts often have focused on changing men's attitudes, rather than also seeking to transform structural and institutional inequalities. While feminist and queer scholarship has explored diversities and pluralities in the organisation of sexuality, much violence prevention work often assumes a homogenously heterosexual male constituency. Too often this work is conceptually simplistic with regard to gender. Against this background, this paper contests and complicates several assumptions that are part of an emerging consensus in men's violence prevention: first, that it is in men's interests to support progress towards non-violence and gender equality; second, that ...

Violence against women, Jan 3, 2015

Programs aimed at preventing violence against women have increasingly adopted bystander approache... more Programs aimed at preventing violence against women have increasingly adopted bystander approaches, yet large gaps remain in our knowledge about what drives bystanders to act or not, particularly in settings where there is an increased risk of violence against women occurring. This article contributes to this gap by examining data from research with professional male athletes from the Australian Football League. Drawing from a mixed methods approach, including a survey and interviews with football players, we outline some of the challenges to bystander intervention faced by professional athletes and discuss some of the possible similarities and differences between these and other groups of men.

Claims about Husband Battering

Men and Masculinities, 2011

Around the world, there are growing efforts to involve boys and men in the prevention of violence... more Around the world, there are growing efforts to involve boys and men in the prevention of violence against women: as participants in education programs, as targets of social marketing campaigns, as policy makers and gatekeepers, and as activists and advocates. Efforts to prevent violence against girls and women now increasingly take as given that they must engage men. While there are dangers in doing so, there also is a powerful feminist rationale for such work. This article provides a review of the variety of initiatives, which engage or address men to prevent violence against women. It maps such efforts, locating them within a spectrum of prevention activities. Furthermore, the article identifies or advocates effective strategies in work with men to end violence against women.