Other Visitor / Just Browsing
Welcome to 1in6.org.
While our mission is focused on men who've had unwanted or abusive sexual experiences (and their partners, family members and friends), this site has valuable information for many different kinds of people.
This page is a good starting place if you 'don't fit' into the most common types of visitors to 1in6.org.
On the left are the navigation options, including a Sitemap link, for the site's main section, 'For Men Educating Themselves.' To visit that section's home page, or 'For Partners, Family & Friends,' use the tabs at the top of any page.
So if you just want to browse, this is the place to start. You can find everything on the site by using the top tabs, the left menu, and the Sitemap.
We've also provided some pointers to specific sections and pages for particular types of visitors.
We hope this page is a good starting place for you and, as with everything else on the site, we always welcome your feedback on how to improve it.
Therapist, Counselor, or Other Helping Professional
In addition to many resources for your clients, we have resources specifically for you, including recommendations for books, treatment approaches, professional trainings, and professional organizations (some offering training).
These resources address many issues common to working with clients with histories of childhood trauma. They include information about innovative and effective treatments (e.g., Internal Family Systems Therapy, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, and EMDR).
See For Therapists and Other Professionals, and For Therapists/Professionals in Recommended Books.
Journalist
We have lots of information and insights for you and your readers, listeners, or viewers.
In most cultures and their media, how unwanted or abusive sexual experiences in childhood can have lasting effects in the lives of men has been neglected. With help from journalists like you, we'd like change that tragic and unnecessary reality – and with it the minds and lives of millions of affected men and their partners, families, friends, and coworkers.
To get started learning about this issue, we suggest checking out General Issues & Cautions and Masculinity, Self-Esteem & Identity, both in the Answers section.
You may find it particularly informative and enlightening to read these two pages under Masculinity, Self-Esteem & Identity:
For more information on the statistic behind our name, and why it is not an exaggeration, see The 1 in 6 Statistic.
Finally, please feel free to contact us for more information or with questions, interview requests, etc.
Educator
If you are a teacher in a high school or an institution of higher education, a substantial number of your male students have had unwanted or abusive sexual experiences, and a significant proportion of those have been deeply affected by what happened.
The information on this website can help you have more understanding and empathy toward the boys and men you teach who are dealing with the aftermath of such experiences – even if they never disclose this fact to you.
If you are teaching a course on a related topic (e.g., psychological trauma, psychology of gender, sexuality or masculinity), throughout this site you will find valuable information and resources for your students.
Attorney, Judge, Law Enforcement Officer
The majority of men involved with the criminal justice system were abused and/or neglected as children.
Many men who commit crimes struggle with the effects of unwanted or abusive boyhood sexual experiences, including insecurities about their manhood and difficulties regulating emotions and impulses. Often they are attempting to 'prove' their masculinity through acts of aggression or violence, and directing toward innocent people an intense rage that's rooted in massive betrayals by parents and other caregivers.
Certainly such childhood experiences and resulting struggles cannnot fully explain these men's criminal acts, nor absolve them of ultimate responsibility for what they've done.
But knowledge of these factors can help attorneys, judges and law enforcement officers have greater insight into 'the psychology' of the men they must work or 'deal' with on a daily basis. We believe, also, that such knowledge can foster the compassion (not pity or 'excuse making') that can actually enhance capacities for clear legal and moral reasoning and judgments.
Depending on your role, interest, and needs, you may find useful information under The 1 in 6 Statistic, Answers, Finding Help and Recommended Books (which has a For Men in Prison section).
Man With Personal Concerns
If one or more of the concerns or questions below is on your mind, we recommend going to Where Do I Start? for links to information and answers on this site.
- I'm having a crisis or freaking out, and need help now.
- I'm wondering, 'Is this site for me?'
- I want to know if other guys are going through the same things I am.
- I want real examples of men overcoming this stuff, real 'success stories'.
- I want help finding good therapy or counseling.
- I want to figure out if I was 'sexually abused'.
- Someone (e.g., girlfriend, wife, partner, friend) told me to check out this site.