Research Blog 2 Women in the Military

DeBatto, David. "The Young and the Restless." CI 
            Advisor. (2004): 1. Print.


Summary:  This article portrays the deep truth inside the military lives of men and women.  Most men and women are in their late teens to early twenties and are "hormone-charged." Sexual assaults are among the most common problem when these two genders are living together 24/7.  The men and women of the military share living situations at the end of the day.  Showers, bathrooms, and sleeping are all done in a gender-neutral formality, so privacy is basically non existent. Rape is a violent, angry crime that is very consistent. Numerous situations come about where young, physically strong male service members are serving in high-stress environments, day in and day out. They are away from home, possibly for the first time. Some of them are also scared, lonely, depressed and exhibiting other mental health issues. Many of them are also extremely immature. This calls for prime sexual assault cases which are most likely  happening everyday.  

Response:  I have a cousin that was in the military deployed to Afghanistan in 2005.  He however is 30 years old.  When he came home, he actually noted that their were major difficulties with the young men of the military because they are not use to the fact that they can't go around having sex like they did at home.  Also, many of these men have girlfriends and boyfriends and they are not use to the long separation.  This in turn, resorts to the many violent rape cases found over seas. I believe it is just human nature and there really is nothing you can do when your hormones are raging. So overall I personally think the military should strengthen its programs that advise military recruits of the consequences of their sexual assault when they enter service, and it would be well-advised to consider some form of in-theater refresher briefings for deployed troops. The military should, and hopefully will, aggressively investigate and prosecute all allegations of rape and sexual assault that surface. 

Next Steps:  I chose this source because I figured I needed a more recent source from my last one.  This particular source is six years newer than that of my last one.  Also, this source was an article rather than information from a book which gave it a different approach.  I liked how this was about just one particular topic rather than an introduction to many different topics, as you would find in a book.  My first blog was more of an introduction to my research topic, stating basically what my topic is and why it is relevant to our world today.   This topic however, allows me to begin with a serious problem allowing women in the military and the serious reality that is present.  From here, I could begin to talk about the psychological factors of women in the military and how they differ from that of men.  This will begin the juicy part as to conflict of why women should be placed in combat.