Men’s mental health is often framed as a “silent crisis”, yet Black and South Asian men in England
face disproportionate distress, coercive contact and poorer outcomes while remaining under-represented in research on masculinity and mental health. This projects’ overarching aim is to examine how masculinity and mental health are socially represented and experienced by Black and South Asian men in England and the community organisations that support them, and how these representations shape vulnerability, stigma and help-seeking, to inform culturally responsive, community-grounded mental-health support.
Using Social Representations Theory (SRT), the PhD will explore how men make sense of distress, what counts as “mental health”, and what forms of help feel acceptable and safe. Studies 1–2 will conduct 15 semi-structured interviews and two focus groups (6–8 participants) per community with Black men and South Asian men (18+), recruited through community routes and eligible regardless of current mental health difficulties. In-principle partnerships with the Caribbean and African Health Network (CAHN) and the Asian Resource Centre of Croydon (ARCC) will support culturally safe materials and recruitment/signposting.
Study 3 will involve interviews and/or focus groups with 15–20 staff and volunteers from CAHN/ARCC and other relevant VCSE organisations to analyse organisational meaning-making and “bridgework”: how organisations build trust, frame distress, and translate between community understandings and statutory/service language. Across studies, reflexive thematic analysis will compare convergences and divergences within and between communities and between lay and organisational accounts, generating actionable insights and contributing to SEDarc’s Healthy and Thriving Communities theme.