Exploring the Links Between Masculinities and Sexual Consent Through the Lens of Social Work

This dissertation includes three articles studying masculinities and sexual consent acquisition. The first article explores masculinities research in the field of social work through a systematic mapping review. Results from this study indicated that social work research on masculinities has grown significantly over the past several decades, focused on men's self-reported behaviors and attitudes, but could benefit from future exploration of broader constructs of masculinity beyond traditional conceptions. The second and third articles explore masculinities and sexual consent using quantitative data. In the second article, multinomial regressions were conducted to evaluate the relationships between the construct of masculinity and sexual consent acquisition style. Findings indicated that internalized and externalized masculinity factors are significantly associated with sexual consent acquisition style, with isolation, socialization, and hegemonic masculinity norms playing key roles. In article three, multinomial regressions were employed to assess the relationships between perceived disadvantages related to masculinity and consent acquisition style. Results from this study indicated that men facing negative societal pressure due to their masculinity are more likely to have ambiguous acquisition style, while those with sexual insecurities have concrete acquisition style, suggesting a complex relationship between perceived disadvantage, privilege, and masculinity in shaping consent attitudes. The dissertation results provide a valuable addition to the masculinities research conducted by social work researchers. This dissertation provides implications for social work practice when working with those experiencing masculinities and consent violations, research on masculinities, and policy related to gender and patriarchy.