Relying on data collected from participatory observations over several years, indepth interviews, action research, and case studies with heterosexual young men (ages 15 to 24), Barker addresses the following five issues which influence young men's choice of masculinity: * the general challenges they face while coming of age in settings of social exclusion * their vulnerability to becoming involved in gang-related violence or being the victim of such violence * their gender-specific access to and performance in school * their access to the job market, the challenges they face in acquiring employment and the meaning of work in terms of defining their identities * their interactions with young women, including becoming fathers and issues related to sexuality and reproductive health as well as the use of violence in intimate relationships, and the implications of these for HIV/ AIDS prevention, (p. 8) Barker finds that urban young men desperately want to meet the cultural demands of masculinity by working, which "is necessary for family formation, in order to be able to attract female partners and to form a family" (p. 107), but many of them are unable to secure stable employment.