Is there a crisis among adolescent males?

Toxic masculinity. The manosphere. Incels. These are all terms that have entered popular discourse around teenagers and young men recently.

If the media hype is to be believed, it’s a section of society in crisis, unsure of who they are or how to behave, at the mercy of bad actors like Andrew Tate sending them down routes of misogyny and violence toward women.

Concern about teenagers and young men reached new heights earlier this year with the Netflix hit Adolescence that fast became the UK’s most-watched show.

It even prompted Prime Minister Keir Starmer to proclaim that the UK “may have a problem with boys and young men that we need to address”.

But is there a crisis, or have adolescent males and young men become the latest moral panic?

Richard Cross is a psychotherapist and child psychotherapist who has worked with young people for over 30 years.

“I’m a very scientific practitioner,” he says. “I’m based on evidence and data. So if the evidence is there I would listen to it. 

“I’ve not got evidence or experience about this being a widespread or critical problem but there is an element that is a challenge for some young men. And if it’s impacting on a group or a part of the whole system, it’s important that we think about it in a balanced, thoughtful way.” 

Adolescence, he says, has always been a time of “separation” and “rebelliousness” as young people assert their independence.

“It is also a time where our thinking and thoughts need additional help and support, in terms of feelings and emotions, psychosexual development, understanding around limits, things like consent,” he adds.

During such transitional times, it’s important that young people have positive role models, says Richard.

“It’s [about] having that person, that relationship they can go to – whether that’s family, a teacher or social worker – and check these things and go ‘I’m not sure about this’.”

What is “unique” today, says Richard, is that instead of having that go-to person, young people are increasingly going online to find answers to their angst.

“It means society needs to get on the front foot because there’s a bigger chance of separation due to technology," he says.

“Now someone can be in their bedroom on the internet and be on the other side of the world, completely out of the awareness of their parents. 

“We need to keep our eyes open for young people becoming more isolated and more separated, which can then lead them into alternative connections and alternative realities. The more separated they become and the more they go into these alternative realities, the more risk that carries.”

The manosphere – a collective term for websites, blogs and online forums promoting masculinity, misogyny and anti-feminism – is one such alternative reality.

Its highest-profile influencer - with millions of followers - is former kickboxer and self-proclaimed sexist Andrew Tate, who faces charges of rape, actual bodily harm, human trafficking, and controlling prostitution for gain.

There has been much debate around his rise, and that of other machismo influencers such as mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor and Canadian intellectual Jordan Peterson, who once proclaimed “the masculine spirit is under assault”.

Former England manager Gareth Southgate was recently moved to warn against such “callous, manipulative and toxic influencers” in his Richard Dimbleby talk. 

He said: “They willingly trick young men into believing that success is measured by money or dominance, never showing emotion, and that the world – including women – is against them.”

But in a world of uncertainty, where identity is continually being contested and redefined, such men offer a throwback to a fixed and, for some, more stable notion of masculinity.

Closure of traditional industries and insecurity of labour has been partly blamed for this. Donald Trump, who many also see as a representative of toxic masculinity, was no doubt appealing to such men with his “Drill baby, drill” mantra during the presidential election campaign.

For a generation of young men brought up to be digital natives, surfing the internet and social media sites for answers and a sense of identity in a confusing world has become almost second nature.

And there lurk the likes of Tate, telling them women are the reason for their confusion and unhappiness (a scapegoating not dissimilar to that of refugees by populist politicians in an increasingly dangerous blame-orientated, finger-pointing world).

Emma Dolman, head of prevention and early intervention at Safeline, a charity that supports people affected by sexual harm, says: “The proliferation of social media has made harmful content more accessible, with influencers subtly promoting misogyny and violence against women and girls, alongside the emergence of incel groups.”

‘Incel’ is a term for heterosexual men who are involuntarily celibate and blame women for their lack of romantic success.

According to Richard, the digital age has massively accelerated a disconnect among young men that makes them more vulnerable to bad influencers like Tate.

“Increased communications and accessibility go hand in hand with increased disconnection,” he says. “You’ve got all these things you can access that don’t require relational face-to-face connection.

“We saw that retreat magnified during Covid. When I was young, and prior to the internet, I’d be out playing football all day, and the community would largely be aware about what was happening, what was going on. There was always a checking in going on and feedback loops – ‘Oh, I saw your son out’.”

Two other significant developments of the last two decades must also be factored into discussions about toxic masculinity.

One is the growth of unregulated free porn sites on the internet in which women are sexually objectified for male gratification. The other is the pervasiveness of mobile phones, to the extent that any teenager with a mobile phone (which today is practically every teenager) can access pornography.

“It’s a significant risk in terms of psychosexual development,” says Richard. “What’s now being viewed by young people as normalised activity and sexual behaviour is absent from emotional connection and relationship-building.”

So how do we stop boys and young men becoming entrenched in dangerous and misogynistic alternative online realities?

“One antidote is for us not to become disconnected from adolescents,” says Richard.

“Youth workers are good at this. I used to be a bit afraid of adolescents way back, before I trained as a psychotherapist. 

“I remember I could hardly understand what was being said by [young people] because I was so disconnected from their forms of communication, the language, the things that were important to young people.”

Helping to steer young people to make healthy real world connections is a vital part of safeguarding and social work, believes Richard.

“Social workers are more likely to be engaging with young people that are less connected with families and schools. They’ve got a vital role to play bringing the system together.”

Also important is offering alternatives to young people who have become addicted to screens.

“I will talk about replacing it with something else – it’s often about finding enjoyment in real life activity,” says Richard, "because this stuff isn’t real life, it’s getting absorbed in a technology, a screen-based activity, which is almost like a disassociation from reality.”

With the rise of artificial intelligence, there are new risks that could further disconnect people from real life, warns Richard.

“I’m trying hard professionally to get up to speed with this. What if an adolescent creates an AI friendship? What do I need to think about and what do I need to help the young person think about?”

Technology has undoubtedly brought many benefits and it would be wrong to completely demonise its growth in recent years.

But equally, we should be aware of and understand the impact the pace of technological change has had on impressionable young minds.

Current debates around toxic masculinity and crises among adolescent young men suggest it might be time for a rethink about certain aspects of our relationship with technology.

Australia recently introduced a ban on mobile phones in public schools and restrictions on social media usage for children under 16 in a bid to pull young people away from the online world.

As Richard says: “Let’s reconnect to the good stuff that you can experience in life. Being around people, groups, clubs. That’s what my hope is.”

Richard Cross is director of clinical services at Five Rivers Child Care, an independent provider of children’s social care