Military sexual trauma and the PEN-3 cultural model

Military MST

Military sexual trauma (MST) is a serious issue for both servicemen and servicewomen. MST can cause mental and physical illness and impair one's ability to interact socially with others.

To be explicit, MST is defined by the National Center for PTSD as unwelcome sexual attention including gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention, unwanted sexual attention, sexual coercion, sexual assault, and rape (Street & Stafford, 2009).

MST is on the rise. According to the Department of Defense, gender and sexual harassment increased 11% across all military services, and 16% within the combat zones of Afghanistan and Iraq (DoD 2010).

It is the purpose of this paper to examine the culture of the military through the PEN-3 model to explain how military culture fosters MST.

Dr. Collins Airhihenbuwa of Penn State's Biobehavioral Health Dept. developed the PEN-3 model to put culture at the forefront of health promotion. The PEN-3 model consists of three paradigms for understanding the impact culture has on the health of a society: cultural identity, relationships and expectations and cultural empowerment.

The Cultural Identity of Military

The U.S. military promotes toughness, courage, strength, loyalty and honor. One sees this manifested in their slogans: 'Army Strong,' 'The Few The Proud,' 'A Global Force for Good,' etc. All of those are laudable virtues and attractive slogans. However, one has to question whether those virtues when preached and practiced to an extreme can lead to an environment of institutional isolationism where abuse, maltreatment and sexual assault go unreported. One could argue that a soldier would rather take the abuse than turn in an abuser, particularly if the abuser is a fellow solider. It's the military way, it is embedded in the cultural milieu: "endure the pain, and fight through, but don't bitch, moan, or complain." This is the cultural identity of the military.

Cultural Empowerment

Well, the solution to the problem of MST is to modify the culture of the U.S. military. A complete overhaul is not required as by and large the military represents the best and the brightest the country has to offer. But clearly soldiers need training on what it means to "sin by silence." Those who've been abused need to speak about it, tell others about it, and feel empowered by their ability to overcome it (self-efficacy and self-management may be the most powerful forces that lead to positive rehabilitation for those experiencing MST). This is the best way to precipitate real change -- create awareness. Additionally, top military brass needs to support those who speak out about MST. Clearly, they are not doing enough either.

Conclusion

To solve the problem of MST, the cultural identity of the military needs to be amended to include a hyper-sensitivity to sexual abuse, sexual harassment, rape, etc. Instances of such behavior must be reported. And those who report such behavior should be praised for exhibiting those aforementioned virtues. As it's been said, evil prospers when good men do nothing. By creating a more responsible and ethical cultural identity and environment, relationships will improve and expectations will be met. The result will be an empowered community that works together to truly become a force for good.