But according to the new study, the program’s most important attribute might be the relationships that are developed within it. By creating strong social ties, the program “fosters a sense of belonging for BAM youth that influences positive identity development and, for some youth, extends to a broader sense of belonging with other prosocial networks,” according to the authors of the report.

When I heard about the new study, I reached out to the BAM founder, Anthony Di Vittorio, to learn more. The interview that follows has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Ulrich Boser: The Becoming a Man Program has shown some great results. How do you explain that success?

Anthony Di Vittorio: Well, I would say the most important thing is that you have to start with the men who lead the program. We are looking for people who are looking to go on this journey, who are willing to take a ride to ruthless self-examination.

We’re looking for men who have a hybrid set of skills that is hard to find. We’re looking for a man who is capable of relating to youths well. Someone who has strong youth-engagement skills, someone that can walk the halls of any high school, walk the corridors, go to the lunch rooms, and rather instantly become the messenger.

Because we know that it’s not the message. The kids have heard “Stay in school and stay away from drugs” 1,001 times. It’s the messenger. The clouds part and the sunshine comes through when the right messenger is there.

Boser: Why is the program called Becoming a Man? Don’t boys automatically grow up to men?

Di Vittorio: Yes, we all do. But we don’t have a standardized textbook that we’re given at age 12 that says, “Read these 30 chapters, do this, and you are now initiated as a man.” We address that in the BAM program. When you come to the BAM program we don’t say, “All right, you’re going to finish this program in 18 months and you’ll have your diploma and you will now be an inducted man.”

Instead, what we say is that all of our youth have had these obstacles, and it’s confusing. And if you come to the BAM program, together we will start to look at values like integrity. We say that we’re going to practice these core values. The ultimate goal is internalizing these core values so that they make optimal decisions based upon them.

Boser: So each person creates his own identity of manhood?

Di Vittorio: Right. As I’m the BAM counselor, I’m going to say, “Let’s talk about this concept of integrity.” We’ll practice it and then get the kid to an experiential understanding of what that idea means and relate it to his life with contemporary issues.

And then what happens is you start to value the value, and as they start to value these values, they become these guiding structures in their lives. And that’s where the changes starts to come in.