“Make Sure You’re Not Getting Yourself in Trouble:” Building Sexual Relationships and Preventing Sexual Violence at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point

Abstract

Sexual violence continues to present a problem on college campuses nationwide and among members of the U.S. military. This study attended to patterns of response in how students (cadets) at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point) discussed sexual and romantic relationships, both potential and actual, in order to examine how, if at all, they enact their sexuality-related values. Constructivist grounded theory was used to analyze semistructured interviews with three male and three female cadets from each of the 4 years of the undergraduate program, in which they are intended to become “leaders of character” who will serve as Army officers. Findings indicated limitations in cadets’ access to developing and implementing sexuality-related skills within this context. Cadets’ fear and distrust erected barriers to their pursuing their desires; the ways in which cadets avoided getting in trouble for sexual harassment or sexual assault shifted responsibility from a potential perpetrator onto a potential victim; and cadets were caught in dilemmas regarding romantic relationships as sources of both emotional support and social stigma. These findings have implications for promoting gender equity and for preventing sexual violence at this institution and at others like it, including both university campuses and other military settings.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the 24 interview participants as well as everyone at the United States Military Academy at West Point who contributed to both design and implementation of this research: Colonel (Retired) Laureen Barone and Major Missy Rosol, as Sexual Assault Response Coordinators; Colonel Tom Donovan, Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Dave Jones, Major Matthew Knox, Elizabeth Tomlin, and Erin Lunday, as present and former staff at the Simon Center for the Professional Military Ethic; Dr. Dennis Kelly and Dr. Linda Mallory at the USMA Office of Institutional Research; and Dr. Michael Matthews and Colonel Diane Ryan from the USMA Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership. I would also like to thank the research team for initiating and guiding this project: Dr. Richard Lerner and Dr. Kristina Callina from Tufts University; and Dr. William Damon and Dr. Anne Colby from Stanford University. Rachel Rubin served as the second coder for the data analysis process. Dr. Tama Leventhal, Dr. Lacey Hilliard, and Dr. Deborah Tolman provided feedback on earlier versions of the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation (45549) to Richard M. Lerner, PI.

Notes

¹ The planning grant was conducted in preparation for a five-year, longitudinal study of the development of character and leadership at USMA, which began in 2015 and is funded by The Templeton Religion Trust.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation (45549) to Richard M. Lerner, PI.