Sexual Harassment in the Military: Root Causes and Solutions
This paper examines sexual harassment as an ethical issue facing the United States Army. It argues that poor impulse control lies at the root of sexual harassment and traces the problem's broader impact on unit cohesion, morale, and military effectiveness. The paper contends that when soldiers engage in sexual harassment, they demonstrate a failure of discipline that weakens the entire unit. As a solution, the paper advocates for positive psychology approaches—including Master Resiliency Training—to help soldiers develop self-awareness and impulse control. Military leaders are identified as essential role models who embody the values of obedience and self-sacrifice central to the military ethic.
- Introduction: Ethical climate, leadership, and sexual harassment overview
- What Is at the Root of Sexual Harassment: Impulse control identified as the root cause
- The Impact of Sexual Harassment on the Force: Effects on morale, cohesion, and unit effectiveness
- The Solution: Positive Psychology and Military Leadership: Resiliency training and leader modeling as remedies
- Conclusion: Self-control and military ethos synthesized
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper builds a clear causal chain — from poor impulse control as root cause, to its downstream effects on unit cohesion, to a concrete training-based solution — giving the argument a logical, step-by-step architecture.
- It integrates peer-reviewed and policy sources (Allen, Bennett, Gore et al., Stimson) to anchor each major claim, lending credibility to what could otherwise read as purely opinion-based argumentation.
- The use of the soldier's identity as always "on duty" is an effective rhetorical move that reframes sexual harassment not as a private failing but as a professional and ethical breach with unit-wide consequences.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates problem-cause-solution structuring, a standard format in applied ethics and policy writing. Rather than simply describing sexual harassment, the author identifies a specific psychological mechanism (impulse control), traces its organizational consequences, and then proposes an evidence-linked intervention (positive psychology and resiliency training). This causal framing transforms a descriptive topic into an actionable argument.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief introduction establishing the ethical framework and scope. The second section identifies poor impulse control as the root cause of sexual harassment. The third section examines the organizational and morale consequences for the unit. The fourth section, the longest, proposes positive psychology and leader modeling as the primary solution. The conclusion synthesizes the argument by tying self-control and military ethos back together.
Introduction
Military leaders assess and develop a strong ethical climate in their organizations by using "evidence-based developmental programs on individual character and moral development" and by using "empirically validated research instruments to assess ethical climates," as Allen (2015) notes. One important ethical issue currently facing the Army is the problem of sexual harassment in the military. This paper illustrates the root cause of sexual harassment, its impact on the force, and presents a solution for addressing that root cause.
What Is at the Root of Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment stems from an inappropriate regard for members of the opposite sex. It can be demonstrated by both men and women, though it is more commonly directed by men toward women (Gore, Williams, & Ghosh-Dastidar, 2015). Now that women share a more prominent role in the military alongside men, the problem of sexual harassment has increased. Bennett (2017) points out that "poor impulse control is, in part, at the root of sexual assault offenses" (p. 707). Impulse control is an essential element of what it means to be a good soldier — without it, a soldier is prone to the slightest whims and deviant impulses that may come his or her way.
A soldier is trained in combat to defend against or attack an enemy. There is more than one enemy, however: the soldier must learn about enemies in the field and the enemies of the mind and spirit that can destroy from within by corrupting drive, commitment, and integrity. When sexual harassment becomes a problem in the military, it indicates that the military has lost its sense of honor, integrity, duty, and discipline. Impulse control is not something one develops automatically, the way one simply knows how to breathe or eat. It is gained through hard work and perseverance.
The Impact of Sexual Harassment on the Force
Since impulse control lies at the root of sexual harassment, the problem is not limited or isolated in its ramifications — it does not affect only the victim. If a soldier has such poor impulse control that he or she cannot refrain from making unwanted comments or advances on another, that soldier is likely to have equally considerable problems within the unit, in the field, when performing tasks, following orders, or overcoming obstacles. Stimson (2013) describes the problem this way: "incidents of sexual assault are detrimental to morale, destroy unit cohesion, show disrespect for the chain of command, and damage the military as a whole, both internally as well as externally." Sexual harassment undermines the trust and respect that soldiers must show for one another, for their commanders, and for the military ethos — and to regain that trust and respect, discipline is required.
Part of what makes a soldier strong and effective is the ability to buckle down and commit to a task without wavering. Fidelity to the duty and vision of the soldier is essential. A soldier who is committing sexual harassment is not committed to that vision; instead, he or she is failing to maintain a moral and ethical principle throughout all conduct. The moral and ethical codes of a soldier are fundamental and cannot be broken. A soldier is not someone who gets to be a soldier from nine to five and then stops after hours or during a break. A soldier is always a soldier and is always in a state of readiness. To fulfill that duty, the soldier must always be mindful of the military's ethical code and must ensure his or her behavior remains moral — that is, in alignment with that code. Otherwise, he or she becomes a weak link, which can cause the whole unit to suffer in a number of ways — from failing to achieve routine daily duties to failing in field missions. All it takes is one weak member for the whole to be compromised. Thus, whenever complaints of sexual harassment emerge, the problem must be rooted out before the weakness it represents spreads and contaminates others.
Conclusion
The establishment of a strong ethical climate in the military depends upon military leaders' ability to develop and strengthen their soldiers. Self-control, obedience, and self-sacrifice are essential characteristics of a soldier who can be trusted to adhere to the mission and vision of the military. When a soldier engages in sexual harassment, it is a sign that the soldier lacks discipline, mental toughness, and the ability to control his or her impulses. The way to address this issue is through the application of positive psychology, which can train soldiers to identify negative impulses and develop behavioral responses to deflect them and regain mastery of the self.
References
Allen, C. D. (2015). Ethics and army leadership: Climate matters. Parameters, 45(1), 69.
Bennett, J. (2018). Combating sexual assault with the military ethic: Exploring culture, military institutions, and norms-based preventive policy. Armed Forces & Society, 44(4), 707–730.
Gore, K. L., Williams, K. M., & Ghosh-Dastidar, B. (2015). Beliefs about sexual assault and sexual harassment: Prevalence, prevention, and progress. AR Morral.
Stimson, C. (2013). Sexual assault in the military: Understanding the problem and how to fix it. Retrieved from https://www.heritage.org/defense/report/sexual-assault-the-military-understanding-the-problem-and-how-fix-it
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