The purpose of this article is to examine issues of sexual harassment within the context of military organizations. Three theoretical traditions are brought together to explain the dynamics of sexual harassment. The organizational model (which emphasizes structure), the sociocultural model (which emphasizes the traditional sex role socialization of men and women), and the attraction model (which emphasizes the nature of men and women for relationship creation) are juxtaposed with literature-driven independent variables. The authors’ conclusion suggests that all models make a contribution to the understanding of sexual harassment. The article also suggests which behaviors organizations can be proactive about as well as those that are difficult to manage.
Barbara A. Gutek and Bruce Morasch, "Sex Ratios, Sex-Role Spillover, and Sexual Harassment of Women at Work," Journal of Social Issues 38, 4 (1982): 55-74; John B. Pryor, "Sexual Harassment Proclivities in Men," Sex Roles 17, 5-6 (1987): 269-90; Michael V. Studd and Urs E. Gattiker, "The Evolutionary Psychology of Sexual Harassment in Organizations," Ethology and Sociobiology 12, 4 (1991): 249-90; and Alan Vaux, "Paradigmatic Assumptions in Sexual Harassment Research: Being Guided without Being Misled," Journal of Vocational Behavior 42, 1 (1993): 116-35.
2.
Sandra Tangri , Martha R. Burt, and Leanor B. Johnson, "Sexual Harassment at Work: Three Explanatory Models," Journal of Social Issues38, 4 ( 1982): 33-54.
3.
Max Weber, "Bureaucracy," in Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, ed. H. H. Gerth and C. W. Mills (New York: Oxford University Press, 1946), 196-244; Max Weber, The Theory of Social and Economic Organizations (New York: Oxford University Press, 1947); Robert K. Merton, "Bureaucratic Structure and Personality," Social Forces 18 (1940): 560-68; Robert K. Merton, Social Theory and Social Structure (Glencoe, IL: Free Press, 1957); Robert K. Merton, A Study of Interpersonal Relations in Two Government Agencies (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965); Peter M. Blau, The Dynamics of Bureaucracy (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995); Peter M. Blau, "Studies on Formal Organizations," American Journal of Sociology 68 (1962): 289-90.
4.
Amitai Etzioni, Modern Organizations (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1964).
5.
Charles C. Moskos , "From Institution to Occupation: Trends in the Military Organization," Armed Forces & Society4, 1 (1977): 44-49.
6.
Charles C. Moskos, ed., Institutional and Occupational Trends in Armed Forces . The Military: More Than Just a Another Job? (Washington, DC: Pergamon, 1988).
7.
Ibid.
8.
Moskos, "From Institution to Occupation," 19.
9.
Moskos, Institutional and Occupational Trends.
10.
Patricia M. Shields, "Sex Roles in the Military." In The Military: Just Another Job?, edited by Charles C. Moskos and Frank R. Wood.Washington, D. C.: Pergamon-Brassey’s International Defense Publishers, Inc., 1980.
11.
Kingsley R. Browne, "Military Sex Scandals from Tailhook to Present: The Cure Can Be Worse Than the Disease." Duke Journal of Gender Law and Policy14 (2007 ): 749-89.
12.
Juanita M. Firestone and Richard J. Harris, "Sexual Harassment in the U.S. Military: Individualized and Environmental Contexts," Armed Forces & Society 21 (1994): 21-25; Robert E. Niebuhr, "Sexual Harassment in the Military," in Sexual Harassment, ed. W. O. Donohue (Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 1997), 250-62.
13.
Michelle A. Donovan and Fritz Drasgow, "Do Men’s and Women’s Experiences of Sexual Harassment Differ? An Examination of the Differential Test Functioning of the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire," Military Psychology11, 3 ( 1999): 265-82; Craig R. Waldo, Jennifer L. Berdahl, and Louise F. Fitzgerald, "Are Men Sexually Harassed? If So, by Whom?" Law and Human Behavior22, 1 (1998): 59-79.
14.
Laura L. Miller, "Not Just Weapons of the Weak: Gender Harassment as a Form of Protest for Army Men," Social Psychology Quarterly60, 1 ( 1997): 32-51.
15.
Firestone and Harris, "Sexual Harassment"; Azy Barak, Yael Pitterman, and Rivi Yitzhaki, "An Empirical Test of the Role of Power Differential in Originating Sexual Harassment," Basic and Applied Social Psychology 17, 4 (1995): 497-517; Ronald J. Burke and Carol A. McKeen, "Social-Sexual Behaviors at Work: Experiences of Managerial and Professional Women," Women in Management Review 7, 3 (1992): 22-30; Louise F. Fitzgerald, Fritz Drasgow, and Vicki J. Magle, "Sexual Harassment in the Armed Forces: A Test of an Integrated Model," Military Psychology 11, 3 (1999): 329-43; Louise F. Fitzgerald, Fritz Drasgow, Charles L. Hulin, Michele J. Gelfand, and Vicki J. Magley, "Antecedents and Consequences of Sexual Harassment in Organizations: A Test of an Integrated Model," Journal of Applied Psychology 82, 4 (1997): 578-89; Barbara A. Gutek, Aaron G. Cohen, and Alison M. Konrad, "Predicting Social-Sexual Behavior at Work: A Contact Hypothesis," Academy of Management Journal 33, 3 (1990): 560-77; Heather Hemming, "Women in a Man’s World: Sexual Harassment," Human Relations 38, 1 (1985): 67-79; Susan Key, "Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Perspectives, Frontiers, and Response Strategies, vol. 5," Business & Society 37, 2 (1998): 228-33; Paula M. Popovich and Betty J. Licata, "A Role Model Approach to Sexual Harassment," Journal of Management 13, 1 (1987): 149-61; Virginia E. Schein, "Power, Sex and Systems," Women in Management Review 9, 1 (1994): 4-8; Margaret S. Stockdale and Alan Vaux, "What Sexual Harassment Experiences Lead Respondents to Acknowledge Being Sexually Harassed? A Secondary Analysis of a University Survey," Journal of Vocational Behavior 43, 2 (1993): 221-34; Donna M. Stringer, Helen Remick, Jan Salisbury, and Angela B. Ginorio, "The Power and Reasons behind Sexual Harassment: An Employer’s Guide to Solutions," Public Personnel Management 19, 1 (1990): 43-52; Studd and Gattiker, "Evolutionary Psychology"; Tangri, Burt, and Johnson, "Sexual Harassment"; David E. Terpstra and Douglas D. Baker, "A Framework for the Study of Sexual Harassment," Basic and Applied Social Psychology 7, 1 (1986): 17-34; Rebecca Thacker, "A Descriptive Study of Behavioral Responses of Sexual Harassment Targets: Implications for Control Theory," Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal 5, 2 (1992): 155-71.
16.
Burke, and McKeen. "Social-Sexual Behaviors at Work: Experiences of Managerial and Professional Women."; Fitzgerald, Drasgow, Hulin, Gelfand, and Magley. "Antecedents and Consequences of Sexual Harassment in Organizations: A Test of an Integrated Model."; Louise F. Fitzgerald, Fritz Drasgow, and Vicki J. Magley. "Sexual Harassment in the Armed Forces: A Test of an Integrated Model." Military Psychology 11, 3 (1999): 329-43; Key. "Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Perspectives, Frontiers, and Response Strategies, Vol.5."; Anne M. O’Leary-Kelly, Ramona L. Paetzold, and Ricky W. Griffin. "Sexual Harassment as Aggressive Behavior: An Actor-Based Perspective." Academy of Management Review 25, 2 (2000): 372-88; Popovich, and Licata. "A Role Model Approach to Sexual Harassment."; Tangri, Burt, and Johnson. "Sexual Harassment at Work: Three Explanatory Models.
17.
Barak, Pitterman, and Yitzhaki, "Empirical Test"; Burke and McKeen, "Social-Sexual Behaviors"; Gutek, Cohen, and Konrad, "Predicting Social-Sexual Behavior"; Hemming, "Women in a Man’s World"; Key, "Sexual Harassment"; Schein, "Power, Sex and Systems"; Stockdale and Vaux, "What Sexual Harassment Experiences"; Stringer et al., "Power and Reasons"; Terpstra and Baker, "Framework"; Thacker, "Descriptive Study."
18.
O’Leary-Kelly, Paetzold, and Griffin, "Sexual Harassment"; Studd and Gattiker, "Evolutionary Psychology"; Tangri, Burt, and Johnson, "Sexual Harassment"; Terpstra and Baker, "Framework."
19.
Louise F. Fitzgerald, Michele J. Gelfand, and Fritz Drasgow, "Measuring Sexual Harassment: Theoretical and Psychometric Advances," Basic and Applied Social Psychology 17 (1995): 425-45; Louise F. Fitzgerald, Vicki J. Magley, Fritz Drasgow, and Craig R. Waldo, "The Incidence and Dimensions of Sexual Harassment in Academia and the Workplace," Journal of Vocational Behavior 32 (1998): 152-75; Michele J. Gelfand, Louise F. Fitzgerald, and Fritz Drasgow, "The Structure of Sexual Harassment: A Confirmatory Analysis across Cultures and Settings." Journal of Vocational Behavior 47, 2 (1995): 164-77.
20.
Fitzgerald, Gelfand , and Drasgow. "Measuring Sexual Harassment."
21.
Fitzgerald, Gelfand, and Drasgow. "Measuring Sexual Harassment: Theoretical and Psychometric Advances." Basic and Applied Social Psychology 17, 4 (1995): 425-45; Louise F. Fitzgerald, Vicki J. Magley, Fritz Drasgow, and Craig R. Waldo. "Measuring Sexual Harassment in the Military: The Sexual Experiences Questionnaire (Seq-Dod)." Military Psychology 11, 3 (1999): 243-63; Michele J. Gelfand, Louise F. Fitzgerald, and Fritz Drasgow. "The Structure of Sexual Harassment: A Confirmatory Analysis across Cultures and Settings." Journal of Vocational Behavior 47, 2 (1995): 164-77.
22.
Fitzgerald, Gelfand, and Drasgow, "Measuring Sexual Harassment"; Fitzgerald et al., "Incidence and Dimensions"; Gelfand, Fitzgerald, and Drasgow, "Structure of Sexual Harassment."
23.
Louise F. Fitzgerald and Matthew Hesson-McInnis, "The Dimensions of Sexual Harassment: A Structural Analysis," Journal of Vocational Behavior 35, 3 (1989): 309-26; Denise H. Lach and Patricia A. Gwartney-Gibbs, "Sociological Perspectives on Sexual Harassment and Workplace Dispute Recognition," Journal of Vocational Behavior 42, 1 (1993): 102-15; Sharon A. Lobel, "Sexuality at Work: Where Do We Go from Here?" Journal of Vocational Behavior 42, 1 (1993): 136-52; John B. Pryor, Janet L. Giedd, and Karen B. Williams, "A Social Psychological Model for Predicting Sexual Harassment," Journal of Social Issues 51, 1 (1995): 69-84; Belle R. Ragins and Terri A. Scandura, "Antecedents and Work-Related Correlates of Reported Sexual Harassment: An Empirical Investigation of Competing Hypotheses," Sex Roles 32, 7-8 (1995): 429-55; Stockdale and Vaux, "What Sexual Harassment Experiences"; Schein, "Power, Sex and Systems"; Tangri, Burt, and Johnson, "Sexual Harassment"; Terpstra and Baker, "Framework."
24.
Alison M. Konrad and Barbara A. Gutek, "Impact of Work Experiences on Attitudes toward Sexual Harassment," Administrative Science Quarterly 31, 3 (1986): 422-38; Gutek, Cohen, and Konrad, "Predicting Social-Sexual Behavior."
25.
Charles L. Hulin, "A Framework for the Study of Sexual Harassment in Organizations: Climate, Stressors, and Patterned Responses" (paper, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, San Francisco, May 1993); John B. Pryor, Christine M. LaVite, and Lynette M. Stoller, "A Social Psychological Analysis of Sexual Harassment: The Person/Situation Interaction," Journal of Vocational Behavior 42, 1 (1993): 68-83.
26.
Gutek, Cohen, and Konrad, " Predicting Social-Sexual Behavior"; Gutek and Morasch, "Sex Ratios."
27.
Gutek, Cohen, and Konrad, "Predicting Social-Sexual Behavior"; James E. Gruber, "An Epidemiology of Sexual Harassment: Evidence from North America and Europe," in Sexual Harassment: Theory, Research and Treatment, ed. William O’Donohue (New York: Allyn & Bacon, 1997), 84-98; James E. Gruber, "The Impact of Male Work Environments and Organizational Policies on Women’s Experiences of Sexual Harassment," Gender & Society 12, 3 (1998): 301-20; and James E. Gruber, Kaisa Kauppinen-Toropainen, and Michael D. Smith, "Sexual Harassment Types and Severity: Linking Research and Policy," in Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Perspectives, Frontiers and Response Strategies, ed. Margaret S. Stockdale (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1986), 151-73.
28.
See, e.g., Gutek, Cohen, and Konrad, "Predicting Social-Sexual Behavior."
29.
Brenda L. Moore , To Serve My Country, To Serve My Race: The Story of the Only African America WACs Stationed Overseas during World War II ( New York: New York University Press, 1996).
30.
Judith H. Stiehm, It’s Our Military Too (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996); Charles C. Moskos and John S. Butler, All That We Can Be: Black Leadership and Racial Integration the Army Way (New York: Basic Books, 1996).
31.
Catherine A. MacKinnon, Sexual Harassment of Working Women: A Case of Sex Discrimination (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1979); Kathleen M. Rospenda, Judith A. Richman, and Stephanie J. Nawyn, "Doing Power: The Confluence of Gender, Race, and Class in Contrapower Sexual Harassment," Gender & Society 12, 1 (1998): 40-60; Tangri, Burt, and Johnson, "Sexual Harassment."
32.
Lisa D. Bastian, Anita R. Landcaster, and Heidi E. Reyst , Department of Defense 1995 Sexual Harassment Survey (Arlington, VA: Defense Manpower Data Center, 1995).
33.
MacKinnon, Sexual Harassment.
34.
Schein, "Power, Sex and Systems"; Studd and Gattiker, "Evolutionary Psychology"; Tangri, Burt, and Johnson, "Sexual Harassment"; Terpstra and Baker, "Framework."
35.
Louise F. Fitzgerald and Sandra L. Shullman, "Sexual Harassment: A Research Analysis and Agenda for the 1990s," Journal of Vocational Behavior42, 1 ( 1993): 5-27; Tangri, Burt, and Johnson, " Sexual Harassment."
36.
Miller, "Not Just Weapons."
37.
Studd and Gattiker, "Evolutionary Psychology"; Tangri, Burt, and Johnson, "Sexual Harassment."
38.
James E. Gruber and Lars Bjorn, "Women’s Responses to Sexual Harassment: An Analysis of Socio-Cultural, Organizational and Personal Resource Models," Social Science Quarterly 67 (1986): 814-26; Barbara A. Gutek, Sex and the Workplace: The Impact of Sexual Harassment on Men Women in Organizations (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1985); Tangri, Burt, and Johnson, "Sexual Harassment."
39.
Beth E. Schneider, "Consciousness about Sexual Harassment among Heterosexual and Lesbian Women Workers," Journal of Social Issues 38 (1982): 75-98; David E. Terpstra and Susan Cook, "Complainant Characteristics and Reported Behaviors and Consequences Associated with Formal Sexual Harassment Charges," Personnel Psychology 38, 3 (1985): 559-74; U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, Sexual Harassment in the Federal Workplace (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1981).
40.
Richard J. Harris and Juanita N. Firestone, "Testing for Double Risk of Victimization: Sexual Harassment in the U.S. Military," National Journal of Sociology 10, 2 (1996): 1-25; Robert E. Niebuhr and Wiley R. Boyles, "Sexual Harassment of Military Personnel," International Journal of Intercultural Relations 15 (1991): 445-57.
41.
Bastian, Landcaster, and Reyst, Department of Defense.
42.
Nancy DiTomaso, Jeff Hearn, Deborah L. Sheppard, Peta Tancred-Sheriff, and Gibson Burrell. "Sexuality in the Workplace: Discrimination and Harassment." In The Sexuality of Organization, 71-90. Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications, Inc, 1989; Terpstra, David E., and Douglas D. Baker. "Outcomes of Sexual Harassment Charges." Academy of Management Journal 31, 1 (1988): 185-94; United States Merit Systems Protection Board. "Sexual Harassment in the Federal Workplace."
43.
Donovan and Drasgow, " Men’s and Women’s Experiences"; Vicki J. Magley, Craig R. Waldo, Fritz Drasgow, and Louise F. Fitzgerald, "The Impact of Sexual Harassment on Military Personnel: Is It the Same for Men and Women?" Military Psychology11, 3 ( 1999): 283-302.
44.
A fifth scale for sexual assault was also created from the Defense Manpower Data Center. However, because we did not examine this behavior in our study, we did not include the items in Table 1, nor do we report the Cronbach’s alpha.
45.
Although pay grade could be used as an indicator of an individual’s power within the organization bestowed by the organization, we chose not to include it in our analysis. The reason is that rank and age (an indicator variable in the attraction model) are highly correlated. For enlisted personnel age and pay grade are correlated at .75 (p < .001), and for officers age and pay grade are correlated at .69 (p < .001).
46.
William L. Hayes, Statistics (Orlando, FL: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1988); Bruce Thompson, "If Statistical Significance Tests Are Broken/Misused, What Tests Should Supplement or Replace Them?" Theory and Psychology 9, 2 (1999): 165-81; Bruce Thompson, "Statistical Significance Testing, Effect Size Reporting, and the Vain Pursuit of Pseudo-Objectivity," Theory and Psychology 9, 2 (1999): 191-96.
47.
Fitzgerald, Gelfand, and Drasgow, "Measuring Sexual Harassment."
Gutek and Morasch, "Sex Ratios"; Gutek, Cohen, and Konrad, "Predicting Social-Sexual Behavior."
50.
Gutek, Sex and the Workplace; Gutek and Morasch, "Sex Ratios."
51.
Hulin, "A Framework"; Pryor, LaVite, and Stoller, "Social Psychological Analysis."
52.
Binkin, Martin.Who Will Fight the Next War?Washington, D. C.: Brookings Institution Press, 1993.
53.
Miller. "‘Not Just Weapons for the Weak: Gender Harassment as a Form of Protest for Army Men’: Errata."; Williams, Christine L., Patti A. Giuffre, and Kirsten Dellinger. "Sexuality in the Workplace: Organizational Control, Sexual Harassment, and the Pursuit of Pleasure." Annual Review of Sociology 25 (1999): 73-93.
54.
Barak, Pitterman, and Yitzhaki, "Empirical Test"; Burke and McKeen "Social-Sexual Behaviors"; Fitzgerald, Drasgow, and Magle, "Sexual Harassment"; Fitzgerald et al., "Antecedents and Consequences"; Gutek, Cohen, and Konrad, "Predicting Social-Sexual Behavior"; Hemming, "Women in a Man’s World"; Key, "Sexual Harassment"; Popovich and Licata, "Role Model Approach"; Schein, "Power, Sex and Systems"; Stockdale and Vaux, "What Sexual Harassment Experiences"; Stringer et al., "Power and Reasons"; Studd and Gattiker, "Evolutionary Psychology"; Tangri, Burt, and Johnson, "Sexual Harassment"; Terpstra and Baker, "Framework"; Thacker, "Descriptive Study."
55.
Sandra Tangri and Stephanie Hayes, "Theories of Sexual Harassment," in Sexual Harassment: Theory, Research, and Treatment, ed. William O’Donohue (Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 1997), 112-28.
56.
Gutek, Sex and the Workplace; Tangri and Hayes, "Theories of Sexual Harassment."
57.
Williams, Giuffre, and Dellinger. "Sexuality in the Workplace: Organizational Control, Sexual Harassment, and the Pursuit of Pleasure."
58.
Madeline E. Heilman, Carlos J. Rivero, and Joan F. Brett, "Skirting the Competence Issue: Effects of Sex-Based Preferential Selection on Task Choices of Women and Men," Journal of Applied Psychology76, 1 (1991): 99-105.
59.
Curtis L.Gilroy, BarbaraA. Bicksler, and John T.Warner, The All Volunteer Force: Thirty Years of Service ( Dulles, VA: Brassey’s, 2004 ).
60.
Bernard Roster , The Evolution of the All-Volunteer Force ( Washington, DC: RAND, 2006).
61.
Leora N. Rosen and Lee Martin, "Sexual Harassment, Cohesion, and Combat Readiness in U.S. Army Support Units," Armed Forces & Society24 (1998): 221-44.
