“You have to shed blood before you can shed a tear”: Emotion-talk in Adolescent Male Group Discussions Neill Korobov – UC Santa Cruz Luke Moissinac – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Michael Bamberg – Clark University

The “Crisis in Masculinity”? “My preference is for someone who’s afraid of closeness, like me”

Inexpressive or Relational? Theories of Male ‘Restrictive Emotionality/Relationality’ –Questionnaires, Surveys, Clinical observations (Garbarino, 1999; Kindlon & Thompson, 1999; Pleck, 1995; Pollack, 1998) Voice-centered Approaches –Semi-structured Clinical interviews (Chu, 2004; Frosh, Phoenix, & Pattman, 2002; Tolman, Spencer, Harmon, Rosen-Reynoso & Striepe, 2004; Way, 2004) “My preference is for someone who is afraid of closeness, like me”

Current Research Focus Move beyond the idea of ‘probing’ in clinical interview settings to examine the subtleties of emotionality/relationality as ‘relational positions’ in everyday talk. Examine the ways that young men continually “resist fixity” and shift between multiple discursive emotional/relational repertoires (in group conversations). Our discursive approach entails –working up of a range of evaluative stances –dilemmatic positions resulting in shifting between competing emotional/relational stances

Method Participants –40 males between the ages of 10 and 15 ( ) –Multi-ethnic origin –Large metropolitan New England city Group Discussions –11 group discussions –Lasted hrs each –Range of topics covered –Videotaped Analysis –discourse analytic –emphasis on interactive accomplishments –identity challenges

work with two clips: 10-year-olds –Brittney Spears “ugly” or “cute”? 15-year-olds ”somebody to lean on” Shedding emotions [“but not too much”]

Final Thoughts Expressive/Relational forms of emotionality emerge not only in clinical interviews, but surface in mundane everyday talk – though as components of a more complex picture They are part of a dynamic interplay between ‘restrictive’ and ‘relational’ discourse positions  the boys are “resisting fixity” In their discursive development the boys develop more complex forms in maneuvering between these positions (= doing ‘resisting fixity’) The necessity of a micro-analytic approach to gain insight into the complexity of these processes Relevance for ‘interventions’ and educational processes en large

Many Thanks to: All the participating boys, and all of the Clark graduate and undergraduate students who worked on the “Transitioning from Childhood to Adolescence” project Neill Korobov was supported by an NIH grant (T32 HD46423) while a post-doctoral UC Santa Cruz

Self-Disclosure + Authenticity The REAL Self? multiple selves –occasioned in interactive settings –accomplished in interactions –push + pull (“resisting fixity”)