Becoming A Man (BAM) Feasibility study report

Executive Summary

Becoming a Man (BAM) aims to support 12- to 16-year-old boys to improve their social and emotional skills, self-awareness, relationships with peers and adults and engagement in school and reduce their likelihood of offending. BAM was developed by Youth Guidance (YG), a Chicago-based non-profit, and has demonstrated positive impacts on reducing arrests in robust, US-based evaluations. It is currently being delivered in the UK by the Mental Health Foundation (MHF). The central component of BAM is the BAM Circle, a weekly group session delivered in school to 8–12 young people. Fifty of these sessions are delivered over two years of BAM, and they are led by a BAM counsellor (who is recruited from the communities where the young people live). BAM Circles include a range of activities featured in the BAM Manual, including check-ins, role plays, group missions, videos, lectures, and stories, and these activities promote BAM’s core values, including Integrity, Accountability, and Positive Anger Expression. Alongside BAM Circles, the intervention also provides special activities (group activities outside of school property and time), brief encounters (quick informal check-ins between the BAM counsellor and young person), and one-to-one support (individualised support for those with greater levels ofneed). In this project, BAM was targeted at 12–14-year-olds (who became BAM scholars) in two South London secondary schools and one Pupil Referral Unit (PRU). The boys targeted were all facing at least one of three challenges relating to their social and emotional development, including resiliencies, relationships, and school engagement. Ninety-five young people were recruited to become BAM scholars in this study.

YEF funded a feasibility study of BAM, the first evaluation of the programme in a UK context. The evaluation aimed to ascertain whether BAM was successfully implemented; whether successful implementation may have led to improved social and emotional, behavioural, and academic outcomes; and whether there were any unintended consequences. To explore these questions, the evaluation analysed routinely collected programme delivery data alongside conducting interviews and focus groups. Fifty-two interviews were carried out by the evaluation team, including 13 scholar interviews, 15 with parents/carers, four with school staff, 16 with BAM counsellors, and four with YG and MHF professionals. The feasibility study ran from March 2020 to November 2022. The study took place during the coronavirus pandemic, requiring both the delivery and evaluation teams to adapt to challenging circumstances.