Most recently, he has been interviewing boys incarcerated for committing crimes of lethal violence. Thus, violence prevention is everybody's business. Research shows that patterns of aggression start to become stable and predictable by the time a child is 8 years old. The most common pathway to this pattern of aggression at age 8 is for temperamentally vulnerable children to be victims of abuse and neglect at home. Troubled lost boys will be as bad as the social environment around them.
Popular media are clearly part of the social environment of youth.
To explore the media's messages about masculinity and their impact on boys, Children Now, a national child advocacy organization, analyzed messages in primetime television shows, movies, music videos, and sports programming most frequently watched by boys. Yet they consume more media than ever, often occupying the time that coaches and fathers used to fill. Our study shows that boys are exposed relentlessly to a narrow, confining picture of masculinity in America, one that reinforces anger and violence as the way to solve problems. Despite the discouraging cultural landscape for our nation's boys, Michael Gurian is hopeful that we can provide boys with the direction they need to grow into stable, secure, and motivated men. Our society, says Gurian, values the female model of nurturing, which includes compassionate conversation, shared thoughts and feelings, and tender hugs.