The purpose of this work is to investigate, through interviews, how young men define and understand the relation between violence and masculinity. The purpose is also to investigate which gender roles the informants consider to be part of in Swedish society. The interviews have coded based on a content analysis, in order to more easily see similarities and differences between the material. The material has then been analyzed based on Connell's theories about masculinity and the importance of gender norms in how a man and a woman are. The results show that the informants make a connection between masculinity and violence. The informants believe that men use violence to a greater extent than women as a means of defending themselves and maintaining their social status among other men. This result is also strengthened by the previous research which shows that violence is a means of defending oneself for men. The men who do not use violence in vulnerable situations risk being labeled and excluded from the so-called hegemonic masculinity, which is the prevailing normative norm for how a man should be. The study also show that the informants have strong ideas about which norms are male and which are female. According to the informants, male norms are to be dominant, have high self-confidence, dare to take matters into their own hands and not be vulnerable. While the female norms are considered caring, cooperative, sensitive, caring and not taking up too much space.