Measuring Social Class, Internalized Classism, And Masculinity Among Homeless Men

Measuring Social Class, Internalized Classism,
and Masculinity Among Homeless Men

RESEARCH PLAN

Overview

Introduction

One of the most important multicultural competency issues being explored is the intersection of masculinity and various cultures (Liu, in press). Expanding the paradigm of masculinity to include non-middle-class White men is imperative in furthering research and developing clinical interventions. Currently, much of the extant masculinity research and measures such as the Male Role Norms Inventory (MRNI) (Levant et al., 1992), Gender Role Conflict Scale (GRCS) (O'Neil et al., 1986), and Conformity to Masculine Role Norms (CMNI) (Mahalik et al, 2003) are predicated on the experiences of college-educated, middle-class, White adolescents and men. Research that has been conducted has usually focused on race or issues of masculinity related to Men of Color (MOC). Little research has examined the relationship of social class, specifically internalized classism, and masculinity (Liu, 2002b). As Liu, Ali et al. (2004) and Liu, Soleck et al. (2004) have discussed, social class is an important cultural construct in counseling psychology research, yet scholarship has not fully examined the relationship among these variables.