Childhood, Identity and Masculinity

"""Latham and Ferdows's insightful new book uncannily hits the mark in shedding light on the long term side effects of attending boarding school. They affirm the complex and varied traumatic childhood experiences of young boys, and explore the deep roots of attachment and developmental stressor as well as the cultural factors that impact their subjects’ development, especially, their notion of male/masculine identity. This book is an essential read for psychotherapists, counsellors and others interested in the psychological, and cultural legacy of this tradition including ex-boarders and their partners."" Marjaneh Halati, Ex-boarding school survivor, President OMID Foundation ""Latham and Ferdows give voice to boys traumatised by boarding school experiences, and to the men they have become. Their stories examine the boarding school experience, typified by power, fear, violence, intimidation and bullying, and the legacy of those experiences, which include insecure attachments, developmental trauma, emotional apathy and a search for solace. This is essentially a book about masculinity told by two female ex-boarders. The notion of masculinity poses a challenge for us all, especially for boys growing up to become men, and especially for boys growing up in boarding schools. This book confronts the challenge prudently."" Jeanine Connor, Editor BACP Children, Young People & Families, child & adolescent psychotherapist, and author of Stop F*cking Nodding ""... reports an investigation into the childhood experiences of men from Iran who were sent to boarding school in the U.K. during the 60s and 70s. I found this book to be a very sad but all too familiar story of how these boys were made to feel ashamed of their natural human emotions and vulnerabilities. The authors have elicited the ways in which these men have come to value and valorize their traumatic separation from their families and abuse at the hands of school administrators and bullying boys in the service of having made them into ‘real men’. Soosan Latham and Roya Ferdows offer their knowledgeable and compassionate approach to understanding such men."" Ronald F. Levant, Ed.D., A.B.P.P., Professor of Psychology Emeritus, the University of Akron, Former President, the American Psychological Association, Co-author of The Tough Standard: The Hard Truths About Masculinity and Violence"