Fatherlessness and a lack of male role models are often cited as causes of an apparent crisis of masculinity among boys. This is not new. These arguments have been made for nearly half a century, both in the UK and the US, as the root of a multitude of social issues.
These are key ideas in the Lost Boys report from thinktank the Centre for Social Justice, cited recently by Gareth Southgate in his Richard Dimbleby lecture on the issues facing boys. In this report, concerns about fatherlessness and a lack of male role models for boys in their homes and schools loom large as part of an explanation about why boys today are “lost” and struggling.
