Armed Forces & Society current issue

The Impact of Destructive Leadership on Senior Military Officers and Civilian Employees

Reed, G. E., Bullis, R. C. — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:05:49 PDT

This article examines negative or destructive leadership behaviors experienced by high-potential senior military officers and civilian employees. The study used a questionnaire based on the Petty Tyranny in Organizations Scale to explore the scope and nature of destructive leadership as reported by U.S. members of the class of 2008 at a military senior service college. It also explored the relationship between leadership experiences and various measures of satisfaction and inclination to remain in service. The authors observe that despite the central role that the concept of leadership holds in the military, even senior personnel reported experiencing toxic leadership. There was a significant negative relationship between destructive leadership and all measures of satisfaction. Surprisingly, there was not a significant negative impact on inclination to remain in service among this career-oriented and dedicated population.

Veterans, the Vietnam Era, and Marital Dissolution: An Event History Analysis

Cohen, J., Segal, M. W. — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:05:49 PDT

Event history analysis of 2,241 married males from James Coleman’s Adolescent Society study adds to the evidence that military service, even in the Vietnam era, has not been a significant factor in the breakup of veterans’ marriages. Rather, veterans’ risk of divorce in the fifteen years ending in 1973 hinged on some of the same factors that affect divorce probabilities anywhere and at any time, such as education, religion, number of children, and an early birth. Call and Teachman’s finding that service increases family stability is seen as applicable to high-divorce states, while the present finding that it makes "no difference" applies in states with average divorce rates.

Being a Reserve Soldier: A Matter of Social Identity

Griffith, J. — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:05:49 PDT

Drawing on social identity theory, the present article examines the extent to which soldier identification with the small unit is related to outcomes having increased importance to reserve military service. Measures of social identity have stronger associations with unit membership, whereas measures of personal identity do not. Soldiers’ reports of positive experiences when first entering the unit are more strongly and positively related to measures of social identity than to measures of personal identity. Measures of social identity show positive relationships with group-relevant outcomes, such as commitment to the unit and perceived readiness of the unit and fellow soldiers. Measures of personal identity show positive relationships with individually relevant outcomes, such as reporting for duty for contractual reasons and letting their families down and perceived personal readiness for combat. Results imply improving specific small-unit relations and developing abstract beliefs to increase reservists’ perceived readiness and commitment to their part-time military service.

Predicting the Military Career Success of United States Air Force Academy Cadets

Rodriguez, J. — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:05:49 PDT

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that best predicted the military career success (twenty years of service and the achievement of the rank of lieutenant colonel) of Air Force Academy cadets. The Department of Institutional Research at the Air Force Academy provided the data. The sample included admitted cadets between 1982 and 1990. Three hypotheses were tested using probit regression: (1) admissions variables, (2) Academy variables, and (3) aeronautical status had a statistically significant impact on career success. The model was 97.34 percent accurate in predicting career failure, 12.50 percent accurate in predicting career success, and 75.57 percent accurate overall. These results suggest determinates of career success largely occur after graduation. They also suggest the possibility to identify those less likely to achieve career success using admissions and Academy variables. Academy leadership may design interventions to increase the likelihood cadets will achieve career success.

Sexual Harassment in the U.S. Military Reserve Component: A Preliminary Analysis

Firestone, J. M., Harris, R. J. — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:05:49 PDT

In this research, the authors use data from the 2004 Workplace and Gender Relations Survey of Reserve Component Members to test whether the presence of environmental harassment is equally predictive for the U.S. military reserve component as it has been for the active duty military. They also investigate the impact of deployment on reporting harassment. Women and those deployed outside the United States are more likely to report harassment experiences. Results support earlier findings showing that when there are very few reports of environmental harassment, there are proportionately few reports of individualized forms of harassment. When there are sizeable percentages of environmental harassment reported, there are notable percentages reporting individualized harassment experiences.

Military Psychology in the Israel Defense Forces: A Perspective of Continuity and Change

Ben-Shalom, U., Fox, S. — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:05:49 PDT

The current article describes the development of military psychology in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Based on mixed methodology, including in-depth interviews and secondary analyses, continuities and discontinuities in the work of military psychologists are presented. Four phases of development are identified: "establishment of the military" (1947-1966), "decentralization" (1967-1982), "the small wars era" (1982-1999), and "expanded scope" (2000-present). Each phase generated a distinct military psychologist identity: "social scientist," "field practitioner," "organizational development expert," and "operational behavioral scientist." These identities are amassed cumulatively, so that new identities do not contradict previous ones. The four phases of development are compared according to several dimensions. Significant discontinuities include a change in theoretical perspectives, gender composition, and research methodology. Working style during conflict is notably continuous, characterized by bottom-up initiatives. Possible sources leading to the paradigmatic shifts are presented, and an "evolution model" of synthesis is suggested. This model stresses the social challenges facing the IDF and its relevant psychological practices.

Increasing Operational Effectiveness in UN Peacekeeping: Toward a Gender-Balanced Force

Bridges, D., Horsfall, D. — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:05:49 PDT

In this article, the authors argue that an increased percentage of female military personnel on UN peacekeeping operations is beneficial to operational effectiveness. They establish a case for a greater proportion of female service personnel that is based on three main premises: (1) a force adequately representative of female service personnel in peacekeeping operations will combat sexual misconduct perpetrated by some male soldiers, (2) peacekeeping is a task of great consequence and is best served by a force representative of both genders, (3) a greater proportion of female military personnel engenders trust and improves the reputation of peacekeepers among local populations. Literature reviews, including media reviews, research, and policy reports compiled by the Australian Defence Force (ADF), other Western militaries, and the United Nations, inform the above assertions and are augmented by research data from interviews with female personnel from the ADF.

A Mixed Methods Analysis of the Perceptions of the Media by Members of the British Forces during the Iraq War

Pinder, R. J., Murphy, D., Hatch, S. L., Iversen, A., Dandeker, C., Wessely, S. — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:05:49 PDT

Little is known about service personnel’s perceptions of the media’s coverage of war and its impact on the personnel and their families. Using data collected from a major cohort study of the British Armed Forces, this article examines perceptions of the coverage of the Iraq War among British personnel deployed during the 2003 invasion of Iraq (Operation Telic 1). It draws on the theories of media’s effects and gauges whether hostile media effect or assimilation bias effect takes precedence. The authors qualitatively analyzed the responses of 200 military personnel regarding their perceptions of the media and supplemented this by further quantitative analysis. This led the authors to identify concerns that the media coverage was unsuitable, inaccurate, and too immediate; however, in some cases, coverage was considered beneficial. The importance of the family to those deployed and the extent to which media coverage can affect morale make the military family an important media audience.

The Citizen-Soldier Tradition in the United States: Has Its Demise Been Greatly Exaggerated?

Krebs, R. R. — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:05:49 PDT

Many contend that the citizen-soldier tradition in the United States is dead. They argue that the elimination of the draft in 1973, and the establishment of the all-volunteer force (AVF), severed the link between military service and citizenship. The author maintains that this conventional wisdom is wrong. Critics of the AVF have idealized the pre-AVF U.S. military; they have failed to recognize that the AVF was more a product of change in U.S. citizenship ideals than a cause of them; and they have asserted a homology between institutional design (military recruitment system) and a cultural phenomenon (the citizen-soldier tradition) that has little historical purchase. This article reconceptualizes the citizen-soldier tradition as a set of rhetorical conventions, and it demonstrates that these tropes continue to shape political debate in the United States. From this perspective, the AVF did not condemn the citizen-soldier to death: it gave him or her a new lease on life.

Book Review: Collins, R. (2008). Violence: A Micro-sociological Theory. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press

Soeters, J. — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:05:49 PDT

Book Review: Gillem, M. L. (2007). America Town: Building the Outposts of Empire. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press

Nelson, R. H. — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:05:49 PDT

Book Review: Jones, S. G. (2007). The Rise of European Security Cooperation. New York: Cambridge University Press

Croft, S. — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:05:49 PDT

Book Review: Tannenwald, N. (2007). The Nuclear Taboo: The United States and the Non-use of Nuclear Weapons since 1945. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press

Rappert, B. — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:05:49 PDT

Book Review: Resende-Santos, J. Neorealism, States, and the Modern Mass Army. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Pp. 321. $29.99, paperback

Rosato, S. — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:05:49 PDT