Glossary

Self-assessment

Becoming a Man

Becoming A Man (BAM) is a targeted school-based counselling and mentoring programme for young men. It aims to provide a safe and supportive space where adolescents can learn and practice social and emotional skills, and develop core values.

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Usability Rating

4

Supports Rating

4

Evidence Rating

4+

Fit Rating

NYR

Capacity Rating

NYR

Need Rating

NYR

The Hexagon: An Exploration Tool

The Hexagon can be used as a planning tool to guide selection and evaluate potential programs and practice for use.

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Evidence

4+

Fit

NYR

Capacity

NYR

Supports

4

Usability

4

Need

NYR

Usability - Rating: 4

Core Components

Becoming A Man (BAM) is a targeted school-based counselling and mentoring programme for young men in 7th-12th grade (equivalent to S2-S6, approximately aged 12-18 years), typically from at-risk communities (e.g. deprived/ under-resourced, racially segregated, or high crime communities). BAM recognises the obstacles faced by these students and provides them with a safe and supportive space where they can learn and practice social and emotional skills (including impulse control, self-regulation, social cues), and develop core values (integrity, accountability, positive anger-expression, self-determination, respect for womanhood, and visionary goal-setting). These skills and values are expected to facilitate positive development, healthy relationships, positive life choices, success in school, success in adulthood, and avoidance of the criminal justice system.

The manualised programme is delivered during the school day, typically over two school years. A BAM counsellor delivers the programme to participant groups, with 8-12 students per group. Adolescents included in the groups attend thirty lessons, each lesson delivered weekly, over one academic period (i.e. 45-70 minutes). Students are pulled from non-core lessons to attend BAM, and wherever possible, BAM is not delivered during break times or after school hours. Programme specific skills and values are developed through regular accountability check-ins (self-analysis to identify negative thoughts and behaviours), stories, movies, group exercises and role-play. Group sessions can be supplemented with individualised support (including one-to-one support and brief encounters) on an as-needed basis. BAM counsellors use a flexible, web-based case management system and basic IT equipment to support programme delivery.

Fidelity

BAM programme fidelity is ensured by implementation of the following measures:

1. Adherence to structured, manualised programme curriculum
2. Submission of monthly progress reports which are reviewed by Youth Guidance (licence-holders for the programme)
3. Provision of training and coaching to support the competencies required for programme delivery

Modifiable Components

Cultural adaptations have been made to the curriculum to support BAM delivery in the UK. Beyond this, counsellors are encouraged to adapt their clinical approach to suit the context and needs of the young people and school.

Supports - Rating: 4

Youth Guidance USA (the BAM licensor), and Mental Health Foundation UK provide Becoming A Man (BAM) programme implementation support to organisations in the UK.

Support for Organisation / Practice

Implementation Support

Youth Guidance provides all curriculum materials and permissions to implement the BAM programme. BAM Curriculum Specialists from Youth Guidance provide training and coaching to counsellors and supervisors (usually from Mental Health Foundation) to support programme delivery within the implementing organisation. Mental Health Foundation provides support with data collection on programme delivery (including attendance, one-to-one support, and progress through curriculum), performance monitoring for BAM-specific variables, and data interpretation. Technical assistance in administrative functions to support BAM implementation (human resources, data and evaluation, fundraising, information technology) can also be provided.

Licence Requirements

Mental Health Foundation UK have the licence to deliver BAM across the UK, and organisations within the UK can access BAM via Mental Health Foundation. In situations where Mental Health Foundation cannot provide BAM to an organisation in the UK, then the organisation may seek to obtain BAM licence from Youth Guidance, USA (the programme licensor). Licences are renewed annually.

Start-up Costs

Organisations looking to deliver BAM should contact Mental Health Foundation for detailed programme implementation costs.

Building Staff Competency

Qualifications Required

BAM counsellors are required to have a psychology degree or equivalent mental health qualification (e.g. BACP, UKCP registered). They must demonstrate strong youth engagement skills and a willingness to be coached in the BAM programme delivery model. At least one practitioner delivers BAM per school. Participant-to-counsellor ratio for group delivery is 8:1.

Training Requirements

BAM Counsellors receive over 300 hours of training from a Youth Guidance curriculum/replication specialist. This training is required and is delivered concurrent to in-school BAM delivery. Access to BAM Counsellors is typically via Mental Health Foundation, but internal BAM Counsellors can be trained if the programme is managed appropriately.

Supervision Requirements

Practitioners receive weekly coaching support from a MHF supervisor to ensure they have the competencies required to deliver BAM.

Evidence - Rating: 4+

Theory of Change

Becoming A Man’s (BAM) mechanism of change is embedded in the process of action and reflection. Within a safe space, the programme provides young men with opportunities to experience its core values, and reflect on these experiences. By learning, internalising and practicing these core values, the programme is expected to facilitate student’s positive development, healthy relationships, positive life choices, success in school, success in adulthood, and avoidance of the criminal justice system.

Primary school: 6 to 12 years - Rating: 4+

Research Design & Number of Studies

The best evidence for BAM in young persons aged 6-12 years comes from one externally conducted Randomised Control Trial (RCT). This study included 2,740 male youth from 18 public schools in low-income, racially segregated, high-crime communities in Chicago, USA (Heller et al., 2013). The students were in 7th -10th grades, with mean age of 15.6 years. Separate outcomes for 12-year olds was not reported.

Outcomes Achieved

Compared to the control group, the following outcomes were observed:

Child Outcomes

• Significant reductions in violent crimes arrests at post-test (Heller et al., 2013).
• Significant improvement in school engagement at post-test (Heller et al., 2013) and at one-year follow-up (Heller et al., 2013).

Parent Outcomes

None

Key References

Heller, S., Pollack, H. A., Ander, R., & Ludwig, J. (2013) "Preventing youth violence and dropout: A randomized field experiment" (No. w19014). National Bureau of Economic Research

Adolescents: 13 to 18 years - Rating: 4+

Research Design & Number of Studies

The best evidence for BAM in young persons aged 13-18 years comes from two externally conducted Randomised Control Trials (RCT). One study included 2,740 male youth from 18 public schools in low-income, racially segregated, high-crime communities in Chicago, USA (Heller et al., 2013). The students were in 7th -10th grades, with mean age of 15.6 years. The second study included 2,064 young men from 9 public schools in low-income, racially segregated, high-crime communities, also in Chicago, USA (Heller et al., 2017). The students were in 9th and 10th grades, with a mean age of 14.8 years.

Outcomes Achieved

Compared to the control group, the following outcomes were observed:

Child Outcomes

• Significant reductions in violent crimes arrests at post-test (Heller et al., 2013), and total arrests in year 2 (Heller et al., 2017)
• Significant improvement in school engagement at post-test (Heller et al., 2013), at one-year follow-up (Heller et al., 2013), and in year 2 (Heller et al, 2017)

Parent Outcomes

None

Key References

Heller, S. B., Shah, A. K., Gurvan, J., Ludwig, J., Mullainathan, S,. & Pollack, H. A. (2017). Thinking, fast and slow? Some field experiments to reduce crime and dropout in Chicago. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 132(1), 1-54.

Heller, S., Pollack, H. A., Ander, R., & Ludwig, J. (2013) "Preventing youth violence and dropout: A randomized field experiment" (No. w19014). National Bureau of Economic Research

Self-assessment

Becoming a Man

Compare

Usability Rating

4

Supports Rating

4

Evidence Rating

4+

Fit Rating

NYR

Capacity Rating

NYR

Need Rating

NYR

The Hexagon: An Exploration Tool

The Hexagon can be used as a planning tool to guide selection and evaluate potential programs and practice for use.

Evidence

4+

Fit

NYR

Capacity

NYR

Supports

4

Usability

4

Need

NYR

Primary school: 6 to 12 years - Rating: 4+

Adolescents: 13 to 18 years - Rating: 4+

Need

Fit

Capacity

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