Boyz 2 Men - Men Responsible Empowerment for Inner-City Adolescent Males

Oct 15, 2026

Boyz 2 Men follows a gender-based youth program led by Jon Gilgoff, describing how inner-city adolescent males navigate pressures to conform to “manhood” norms while managing relationships in a just and equitable setting. Through group agreements, education, and counseling within Project TRY, the program addresses homophobic teasing, the “Boy Code,” and the constraints of the “man box,” while supporting participants toward GED completion, substance treatment, and responsible behavior under criminal-justice supervision challenges.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLifestyle

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time14 min

AccessFree to download

Boyz 2 Men

Group interactions and the “man box”

The Boy Code and regulation of expression

Program goals and participant outcomes

Boyz 2 Men Responsible Empowerment for Inner-City Adolescent Males by Jon Gilgoff “Can I have Kisses if I’m good?” Manny1 asked, eyeing the bag of Hershey’s chocolate I had brought to our weekly Boyz 2 Men group for an icebreaker activity. I shook my head, knowing what was coming. As the Director of Gender-Based Programs for the Educational Alliance, a social service agency based in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, I had led too many boys’ and young men’s groups not to expect consequences when a guy asked for “kisses” from another guy. Though the purpose of such groups was to facilitate the responsible empowerment of males to develop healthy relationships within a just and equitable society, teasing and specifically homophobialaced remarks were all too common in the sessions I led at the agency’s various youth centers. At Project TRY, an alternative education and drug treatment program for urban adolescents in recovery, the frequency and severity of this behavior was particularly high. It therefore wasn’t surprising when the class erupted in laughter and side comments, with some students getting out of their seats. “That sounded kinda funny,” Jerome said, bending over with his hands on his knees. “Okay, okay,” I began, dejected but also heartened that the guys seemed to be at least avoiding the use of homophobic language. This consolation proved to be short-lived, however, as Manny quickly attempted to cover his “mistake” by saying, “No homo!” In response, I reminded the guys of the group agreement we had created. The first rule was“Respect,” originally written as one word, then progressively amended by the group at my prompting to include,“for all people,” and then,“including females and homosexuals.” Chiming in with a couple of half-hearted prompts of “C’mon y’all,” some of the more mature JON GILGOFF is the Boys Services Manager of the Youth Justice Institute in Oakland, California, and a former Robert Bowne Foundation Fellow who researched Boyz 2 Men through his work with the Educational Alliance in New York City. He is a graduate of Columbia University’s School of Social Work, where he helped to found and direct the Male Action Coalition, a community organizing experience featured in the journal The New Social Worker. group members helped us move on. Until the last couple of sessions, however, the next interruption always seemed moments away. Unpacking the reasons for these reactions, in an attempt to prevent or at least minimize such stifling of free expression, became one of my goals as the Boyz 2 Men group leader. The Man Box and Man-Hood illustrate both the promise and the challenges of such efforts. In this article, I will examine the ways in which the group helped participants explore both the pressuresand privileges of growing up to be a man in the ’hood, and how for some this process led to fuller expressions of self and increased responsibility in their treatment of others. Such reactions to words or gestures perceived as being Project TRY and the Birth of Boyz 2 Men kinda funny constituted a definite and significant pattern, A program of the Educational Alliance, Project TRY extending not only to accidental double entendres, but helps youth not just to survive the perils of their neighalso to mannerisms seen as effeminate. Verbal expression borhoods, but to thrive in spite of them. It offers parof emotions was also strictly regulated under unspoken ticipants education toward completion of their GEDs or but powerful expectations, variously referred to as the high school diplomas, as well as counseling and case Boy Code (Pollack, 1998), Codes of Conduct (Canada, management to help them stop using drugs and address 1995), Codes of the Street (Anderson, 1999), and even underlying issues. more forcefully as Commandments (Marshall & Project TRY participants range in age from 15 to 21 Wheeler, 2000) for inner-city males of color. By raising and are almost entirely Latino/a and African

FAQs

What triggers conflict in the Boyz 2 Men group narrative?

A student asks for “kisses” during an icebreaker, which leads to laughter and attempts to cover or redirect the behavior, including homophobic phrasing.

How does the group enforce respectful communication?

The leader references a group agreement starting with “Respect,” then expanding to apply for all people, explicitly including females and homosexuals.

What are the broader goals of Project TRY within Boyz 2 Men?

Project TRY aims to help youth complete GED/high school diplomas and access counseling and case management so participants can stop drug use and address underlying issues amid criminal-justice risks.

Oct 15, 2026

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