Why Soldiers Rape

Thesis The armed forces of the United States of America are male dominated environments. Due to a wide diversity of personnel, many males clash with one another as alpha personalities and strong egos surface. Behavior in the military is learned through observation of rewards and punishment; this process is known as vicarious reinforcement. Females within this same culture are at a disadvantage as they are greatly outnumbered and at times this leads to sexual assaults committed against them.

Introduction

This paper will discuss why in the military, rape is almost twice as frequent as it is among civilians, especially in wartime. Furthermore, utilizing the article “Why Soldiers Rape,” as a guide, an explanation of the author’s point

However, the author takes it a step further when bringing to light how some military women may feel about or view themselves. They too can be subjects of labeling theory, but in a negative perspective. Because they are greatly outnumbered by male counterparts they may begin to feel degraded and secondary. When military women are continuously subjected to male dominance and sexual degradation, it is very easy for them to begin feeling as if they are worthless and less than men. “Victims often experience negative social consequences, asserting that interpersonal reactions to victims are at best ambivalent, and at worst hostile and rejecting. Victims may come to internalize these responses and perceptions, and begin to think of themselves in the same way. Whether or not the victim has lost self-esteem due to the primary victimizing circumstances, the secondary victimization of social labeling, rejection, and isolation can itself lower self-esteem’’ (Kenney, 2002, p. 237). Women for many years have been part of the military, but ever since the onset of the Iraq War, greater amounts of women have deployed to the Middle East and subjected to combat environments. Undoubtedly, the nature of deployments has placed military women at greater risk of vulnerability when dealing with a large disparity of male

From day one of basic military training, the social learning theory materializes. Recruits learn from superiors by modeling, observation, and imitation. “Social learning theory is comprised of four key elements: imitation, definitions, differential associations, and differential reinforcement. Imitation refers to the extent to which one emulates the behavior of role models. These role models are significant others whom one admires. (Sellers, 2005, p. 381). Recruits respect their leaders out of fear and intimidation, some desire to be leaders themselves at some point. While interacting daily with leaders and learning certain values, negative attitudes may begin to develop against weaker beings. Hence the process of differential association theory is promoted and violence against women which includes rape may become