Evaluation of the WiseGuyz Program for Adolescent Boys

Adolescent dating violence (ADV) is a pressing public health problem in North America, and strategies to prevent perpetration are needed. To this end, a substantial body of research demonstrates the importance of applying a gender lens to target root causes of ADV. To date, however, there has been limited research on how to specifically engage boys in ADV prevention. As such, this protocol describes the evaluation of a program called WiseGuyz, a community-facilitated, gender-transformative healthy relationships program for mid-adolescent (\~ages 13-15) male-identified youth. WiseGuyz aims to reduce male-perpetrated ADV, and improve mental and sexual health, by helping participants identify and deconstruct male gender role norms, and explore healthier, more inclusive ways of being a guy in the world. The primary goal of this evaluation is to explore the impact of WiseGuyz on ADV outcomes among mid-adolescent male-identified youth, using a mixed-methods, longitudinal, quasi-experimental design with a matched comparison group.