Transition-age minority males continue to face numerous challenges due to cultural and systemic obstacles. They make up make approximately 38% of the total U.S. population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015), yet they represent 60% of the prison population (Bonczar, 2003,). They also experience high rates of drug related arrests, (Human Rights Watch, 2009), unemployment, high school dropout, poverty, and premature death due to homicide (Dixon, 2009). According to the Relational-Cultural Therapy (RCT) model, as these men continue to face obstacles and have few opportunities, they will engage in strategies of disconnection. In this highly participatory roundtable, the facilitator and audience will dissect sex and marijuana use as strategies of disconnection. Best practices for engaging, supporting, and advocating for these men will be shared.
