Urban African American adolescent heterosexual males talk about masculinity and sexuality: Implications for tailored HIV/STI programs

Background: Tailored interventions are needed to address the high rates of HIV/ STIs among young African American males living in urban communities. The development of tailored programs should be based on an understanding of the issues that surround sexuality for these youth. Previous research has linked conceptualization of masculinity to sexual behavior among adolescent males. And theoretical work has suggested particular manifestations of masculinity in African American males, but empirical work is lacking. This study uses qualitative methods to explore masculinity and sexuality in a sample of African American male adolescents.

Methods: In depth interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 19 African American males aged 15-21 living in high-risk neighborhoods in a West Coast city. Interviews were conducted by 2 highly trained male interviewers under private circumstances: interview length varied from 1-2.5 hours. All interviews were tape recorded and transcribed. Study investigators conducted qualitative analyses of the data.

Results: Four primary themes relevant to masculinity and sexual expression emerged: sources of influence with respect to masculinity (e.g., family members, media, peers), the characteristics of “men” (e.g., attitudes toward women, sexual relationships, family, male friendships), the expression of masculinity (e.g., responsibility to family, emotional expression, sexuality), and the relationship of masculinity to work (e.g., importance of work, micro-economies in neighborhoods).

Conclusions: Our findings contradict common stereotypes of urban African American male youth and suggest new directions for tailored programs. Future public health HIV/STI interventions involving adolescent males should attend to the links between masculinity and sexual behavior.