Paper
Saturday, 22 July 2006
This presentation is part of : Men's Health Issues
A Phenomenological Inquiry into Themes of Communion (Friendship and Support) Found in the Narrative Stories of Young Adult Males
Leslie Rittenmeyer, PsyD, CNS, RN, School of Nursing, Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, IN, USA
Learning Objective #1: broaden their understanding of developmental issues confronting adolescent and young adult males.
Learning Objective #2: develop an awareness of the importance of nurturing affiliations in the development of healthy self-esteem in adolescent and young adult males.
In a previous work by this author, adolescent males were studied in the context of their high school experience. One theme that emerged from that study was the importance of male to male friendships in sustaining the participants through a sometimes difficult developmental period. The purpose of this phenomenological inquiry was to uncover the structure of communion (friendship and support) themes found in the rich narrative stories of young adult males. This study utilized the existential phenomenological research methodology as an organizing framework and employed the phenomenological method as described by Giorgi (1985) for data analysis. Whereas, the phenomenological method is a method of depth rather than breath, a purposeful sample of 12 English speaking males, between the ages of 19 and 27 participated in this research. IRB approval was obtained. The rich narrative data yielded a situated structure of the phenomena for each participant. From the situated structures four themes emerged to form the generalized structure of the phenomena: a) letting go/moving on, b) perception of nurturing alliances, c) free choice stemming from the contentment of enhanced awareness, d) envisioning of the ultimate. Elaborations of the four themes suggest that for the participants in this study, male to male friendships sustained them through a time in their adolescent development when their sense of their own self esteem was unsure. Different from the previous study the perception of friendships changed with maturation to become more substantive, emotionally healthy and nurturing.  Lastly, their friendships with other males were not emotionally impoverished and in fact were emotionally intimate. From a clinical perspective uncritical acceptance of stereotypical gender roles when relating to boys and men is counterproductive to the development of a strong therapeutic alliance. It is important that we respond to men in a way that recognizes their need for affiliation.

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