1. An Exploration of Factors Influencing Bystander Reporting of Sexual Assault in the Military
Jasmine Torres-Perez, Psychology Major,
Lisa L. Scherer, Ph.D., & Shereen Bingham, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Presentation to the UNO Research and Creativity Fair, March 1st, 2019

2. Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019
13-43% of military personnel admitted to receiving a sexual assault training program yet were not sure or did not know how to report sexual assault (OAD, 2008)
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

3. Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019
Current consequences of victims from sexual assault range from physical, psychological and interpersonal relationship problems (Turchik & Wilson, 2010)
There is currently a complex system of reporting sexual assault that allows sexual assault perpetrators to continue
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

4. Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019
Overview
What is Sexual Assault?
Sexual Assault in the Military
Organizational Culture of Reporting Training and Tolerance
Likelihood of Reporting
Military Sexual Assault Training Programs
Planned Research
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

5. Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019
What is Sexual Assault?
Department of Defense defines sexual assault as, “Intentional sexual contact characterized by use of force, threats, intimidation, or abuse of authority, or when the victim does not or cannot consent” (Department of Defense, 2013)
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

6. Sexual Assault in Military
While serving in the military, 1 in 3 women experience either attempted rape or are raped (Foubert & Masin, 2012)
There are many factors that play into whether a bystander reports sexual assault or not
(e.g.) gender, rank, emotional attitudes
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

7. Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019
Military Culture
There are core values of military culture that emphasizes group cohesion
As an isolated institution military culture creates hypermasculinity, rape myths/culture and aggressive behaviors
According to Turchik and Wilson in 2010, “following orders, defending one’s country… these same aspects of military culture can promote violence” (p. 271)
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

8. Military Culture Effect on Reporting
Bystanders in sexual assault situation are important in reporting
Gender has a strong influence in the likelihood of reporting
Since certain military culture is so peer-driven and normalized, it establishes dominance and cultivates hypermasculinity
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

9. Military Culture Effect on Reporting
Sexual norms and practices in the military discourage reporting
According to Turchik and Wilson (2010), these norms entail acts such as: sexualized and violent language and the practice of objectify others
Group cohesion can result in military personnel fostering sexist and violent beliefs which results in hesitant reporting behavior
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

10. Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO)
Established by the Department of Defense (DoD) in 2005
Purpose is to prevent, surveillance and report sexual assault
Provides medical and emotional treatment help to victims (Turchik & Wilson, 2010)
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

11. Implementation of Sexual Assault Training Programs
Awareness in sexual assault is important for increasing the likelihood of becoming willing to help others as well as the changing the culture of reporting
Bringing in the Bystander In-Person Prevention Program (BITB)
Know Your Power Program
The Men’s Program
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

12. Bringing in the Bystander In-Person Program (BITB)
BITB Program first introduced in a college setting and later tested to U.S Army personnel
3 Sections of the program: introducing the bystander model, applying bystander concepts and developing and applying skills of a bystander
Results: Soldiers who participated in the program had significantly higher action scores and bystander behavior than soldiers who did not participate (Potter & Moynihan, 2011)
High qualities and low qualities training programs
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

13. Know Your Power Marketing Program
A social marketing campaign study and also previously implemented on college students (Orchowski et. al, 2018)
Results: In military study included increased willingness to help reduced violence and bystander intervention (2018)
Limitation: Study was only marketed (poster exposure); no actual training was implemented (2018)
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

14. Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019
The Men’s Program
Purpose was to “compare the effects of two different methods of training U.S Army soldiers about sexual assault on their attitudes, intent to commit rape, and willingness to intervene as a bystander to prevent rape” (Foubert & Masin, 2012)
Trained for 16 hours
Results: Participants reported increased willingness to help and intervene in a sexual assault situation (2012)
Low Quality: Same age group and no follow-up (2012)
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

15. Planned Study: Hypotheses
An organization culture perceived as tolerant of sexual assault and inappropriate sexual conduct will be:
A. Negatively related to the likelihood of observer reporting
B. Negatively related to observer satisfaction, organizational commitment and intentions to quit
C. Negatively related to observer satisfaction with the result of reporting an observed incident of sexual assault
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

16. Planned Study: Hypotheses
II. An organizational culture perceived as generally discouraging the reporting of unethical or inappropriate conduct of a fellow employee or soldier will be:
Positively related to the likelihood of observer reporting
Positively related to observer satisfaction, organizational commitment and intentions to quit
Positively related observer satisfaction with the result of reporting an observed incident of sexual assault
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

17. Planned Study: Hypotheses
III. Perceived quality and effectiveness of training programs on sexual assault and reporting of sexual assault will be:
Positively related to the likelihood of observer reporting
Positively related to observer satisfaction, organizational commitment and intentions to quit
Positively related to observe satisfaction with the result of reporting an observed incident of sexual assault
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

18. Planned Study: Overall Methodology
Participants: Active and Prior (15 years) Military Personnel
Online, Anonymous Survey
Mixed Methodology: Quantitative and Qualitative
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

19. Planned Study: Quantitative Measures
#1Culture of Tolerating SH/SA
#2Organizational Culture of REPORTING Misbehavior or Unethical Conduct Observed
Psychological Climate for Sexual Harassment Scale (Estrada & Olson, 2011)
9 items (will be adapted)
5-point scale (1=Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree)
Sample item: “I would feel afraid to file a sexual assault complaint”
“Penalties against individuals who sexually assault others at work are strongly enforced”
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

20. Planned Study: Quantitative Measures
#3 Assessment of Organizational Sexual Assault Scale (Scherer & Bingham, 2019)
3 items
5-point scale (1 = Strongly disagree to 5 = Strongly agree)
Sample item: “my organization delivers a high quality training program to prevent sexual assault” “The sexual assault training program offered in my organization is very poor quality”
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

21. Planned Study: Dependent Measures
Likelihood of reporting observed sexual assault in military
Observer satisfaction with reporting, engagement, organizational commitment and intentions to quit
Likelihood of observer satisfaction with result of reporting an observed incident of sexual assault
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

22. Planned Study: Qualitative and Exploratory
Open-ended questions: describe events, context, and their reactions in own words
Exploratory will include: Observer Rank and Observer Gender relative to perpetrator rank
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

23. Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019
Thank you to Dr. Scherer, Dr. Bingham, and everyone in my research group that helped collaborate. Thank you to the University for allowing us to present our research.
Questions?
The University of Nebraska does not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and/or political affiliation in its programs, activities, or employment.
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

24. Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019
References
Andreoli, N. & Lefkowitz, J. (2009). Individual and organizational antecedents of misconduct in organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 83(3),
Bowes-Sperry, L., & O’Leary-Kelly, A. M. (2005). To act or not to act: The dilemma faced by sexual harassment observers. Academy of Management Review, 30(2),
Castro, C. A., Kintzle, S., Schuyler, A. C., Lucas, C. L., & Warner, C. H. (2015). Sexual assault in the military. Current Psychiatry Reports, 17(54):
Rock, L. (2013) Department of Defense annual report on sexual assault in military. fiscal year (2).
Estrada, A. X., Olson, K. J., Harbke, C. R., & Berggren, A. W. (2011). Evaluating a brief scale measuring psychological climate for sexual harassment. Military Psychology, 23(4),
Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019

25. Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019
References
Foubert, J. D., & Masin, R. C. (2012). Effects on the men's program on US army soldiers' intentions to commit and willingness to intervene to prevent rape: a pretest posttest study. Violence and Victims, 27(6),
Government Accountability Office. (2008). Military Personnel: DoD’s and the Coast Guard’s sexual assault prevention and response programs face implementation and oversight challenges.
Groves, C. (2013). Military sexual assault: An ongoing and prevalent problem. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 23(6):
Holland, K. J., Rabelo, V. C., & Cortina, L. (2016). See something, do something: Predicting sexual assault bystander intentions in the US military. American Journal of Community Psychology 58,
Johansen, R. B., Laberg, J. C., & Martinussen, M. (2013). Measuring military identity: Scale development and psychometric evaluations. Social Behavior and Personality, 41(5),
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26. Torres-Perez, Scherer, & Bingham, 2019
References
Kuhl, S., Kosloski, A., Ryon, S., & Monar, A. (2018). Masculinity ,organizational culture, media framing and sexual violence in the military. Social Sciences, 7(80),
Lancaster, S. L., & Hart, R. P. (2015). Military identity and psychological functioning: A pilot study. Military Behavioral Health, 3(1),
Lancaster, S. L., Kintzle, S., & Castro, C. A. (2018). Validation of the warrior identity scale in the Chicagoland veterans study. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 18(1),
Orchowski, L.M., Berry-Cabán, C. S., Prisock, K., Bosari, B., & Kazemi, D. M. (2018). Evaluations of sexual assault prevention programs in military settings: a synthesis of the research literature. Military Medicine, 183,
Potter, S. J., & Moynihan, M. M. (2011). Bringing in the bystander in-person prevention program to a US military installation: results from a pilot study. Military Medicine, 176(8),
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27. References
Stark, S., Chernyshenko, O. S., Lancaster, A. R., Drasgow, F., & Fitzgerald, L. F. (2002). Toward standardized measurement of sexual harassment: Shortening the SEQ-DoD using item response theory. Military Psychology, 14(1),
Turchik, J. A., & Wilson, S. M. (2010). Sexual assault in the U.S military: A review of the literature and recommendations for the future. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 15 (4): doi: /j.avb