Challenging False Assumptions About Gender Factors in Pastoral Support Daniel L. Roberts University of Phoenix 910-690-5964 dr.danielroberts@icloud.com

The Research I interviewed 10 female soldiers who were wounded in overseas deployments and 11 women chaplains. The purpose was to develop a comprehensive plan and model for providing pastoral support to military women.

Gender Factor Assumptions Female soldiers will prefer to receive support from women chaplains. Female chaplains will not be accepted in male-dominated units, such as the infantry. The first assumption was based on previous research that showed that women prefer to receive support from female crisis workers and doctors (Chowdhury-Hawkins et al., 2008; Furnham and Swami, 2008). There was no research to be found related to female soldiers and chaplains. One infantry commander told the newly assigned chaplain, who was a woman, that the Army had made a big mistake and none of the soldiers would talk to her.

Gender Factor Assumptions Female soldiers will prefer to receive support from women chaplains. Female chaplains will not be accepted in male-dominated units, such as the infantry. Nine out of 10 soldiers stated that they had no preference for the gender of the chaplain. For one thing, there are so few female chaplains in the Army (they represent 5% of the chaplain force; The United States Army, 2014) that many of the soldiers had never seen a female chaplain. Secondly, the military women said that it was not the gender of the chaplain, but the skills and the demeanor of the chaplain that were most important. The woman chaplain who was assigned to the infantry unit had a great ministry with the male soldiers. To establish rapport, she did what every Army chaplain is trained to do, which is be with the soldiers at their workplace. In this case, the workplace was in the foxholes and fighting positions of the frontline. Once the soldiers began to know and trust her, they opened up about the things that were bothering them. FALSE

Gender Factor That Did Appear Women do experience the military differently than men and are often minimized by male peers and supervisors.

Implications There is a need for gender issue discussions within the chaplaincy. Critical chaplain traits/skills were identified: sensitivity, empathetic listening, coping with trauma, and asking the right questions. Women chaplains should have equal access to high risk assignments, which are good for promotion. Since women do generally experience the military differently and often confront discrimination, the military chaplaincy should engage in discussion about gender as part of its sustainment training. Such discussions could help male chaplains understand what it is like to be a woman in the military. Chaplain selection and training should focus on developing these critical skills in chaplains so that they can effectively minister to anyone, male or female. High-risk assignments, such as deploying with the infantry or special forces, are good for a chaplain’s career. Having access to such assignments would help women chaplains be competitive for promotion to the highest levels. Women chaplains who succeed in such assignments would also help change narratives around women in the chaplaincy.

Email me: dr.danielroberts@icloud.com for free access link My journal article: The Comprehensive Female Soldier Support Model in Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy Email me: dr.danielroberts@icloud.com for free access link

References Chowdhury-Hawkins, R., McLean, I., Winterholler, M., & Welch, J. (2008). Preferred choice of gender of staff providing care to victims of sexual assault in Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs). Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, 15, 363-367. Furnham, A., & Swami, V. (2008). Patient preferences for psychological counsellors: Evidence of a similarity effect. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 21(4), 361-370. The United States Army. (2014). Women in the U.S. Army chaplain corps. Retrieved from The Official Homepage of the United States Army: http://www.army.mil/article/122458/Women_in_the_U_S__Army _Chaplain_Corps/.