This Man’s Military

Masculine Culture’s Role in Sexual Violence

Lt Col Peter J. S. Lee, USAF
2016, 89 pages
ISBN: 9781585662623
Cost: $0, AU Press Code: DP-26

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Culture trumps strategy every time. The author proposes that the Department of Defense has mistakenly focused too much on a strategy to combat sexual assault without due recognition of military cultural factors. Colonel Lee concludes that while there is enough evidence to suggest that the military is demographically and culturally predisposed to a higher-than-average frequency of interpersonal violence and sexual assault, more research on who joins the military (and why) is needed. To reduce interpersonal violence and sexual assault, the military must confront its members’ beliefs—not just their behaviors. The author illustrates not only how organizational change theory can be used to empower those most at risk of sexual assault to avoid becoming victims but also how to make the military a less friendly environment to would-be offenders prior to them getting the chance.