Analysis: After 60 years, black officers rare

[cato2]

Within some realms of science, such as the social sciences, the potential you speak of is real. While other areas of hard science do not experience this to any degree. But to state that the whole scientic community suffers to any great degree is a disservice to the scientist who do research.

In the area of my own interest, PTSD, I am aware of the history of the effort to define and find a solution. But the research on this is ongoing and positive in attempts to address the issue. We have gone from the opinion that simple rest will be the only thing required to a myriad of solutions, some more effective then others in their attempts to help.

We are not only looking for solutions for this problem but identifying both people who suffer from this, but catogores. From the veterans who isolate in communities hiding out in rural area (yes, I am aware of a few of these communities of Viet Nam vets), to the ones that are within our communities embed in the fabric of society.

So while there may be those that espouse their hypothesis and receive funding, there will be a body of work created of research that is positive in seeking a solution, and the many rather then the few receive help.

As for the initial study of the upper echelon of viable blacks in the higher ranks of Staff Officer ranks, it points to a need to understand why this is happening. It is my opinion that there is a problem there. And I believe that it is exclusion in nature. This practice if real, and it appears so, means that the next Collen Powell is sitting there in a dead slot because of the inability to advance.

[Bluehawk]

You are in, I believe, the toughest branch of sciences... behavioral. But I surely do agree there can be some amazing findings come of it all; so many examples - not least the effect a correct medication can have on certain otherwise extreme disorders.

At one time I was on the verge of going into that field myself, and one of my daughters ended up being a Clinical Social Worker with learning disabled kids.

What I found especially frustrating, though I never got as far into it as you are, was how often the research contributions contributed SO little as to be INsignificant rather than significant. Yet, I found the same to be true in the branch of academia I spent my life on anyway... so, perhaps I was too hasty.

PTSD is a tough one, and I barely know anything about it... what little I do "know" is that some people get diagnosed with it when they don't have it, and some others don't recognize they have it but do just fine in life (more or less), and still others really do have it and suffer terribly. It would seem a very difficult area to work in, but also very necessary...

[cato2]

Originally Posted by Bluehawk

PTSD is a tough one, and I barely know anything about it... what little I do "know" is that some people get diagnosed with it when they don't have it, and some others don't recognize they have it but do just fine in life (more or less), and still others really do have it and suffer terribly. It would seem a very difficult area to work in, but also very necessary...

The VA right now is under seige with the returning veterans, and having a great deal of difficulty meeting their needs. And these are the personal that were in combat situations. It is not just the males that experience this, recently it was reported that 4 out of 10 woman are sexually assualted in the military.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A congresswoman said Thursday that her "jaw dropped" when military doctors told her that four in 10 women at a veterans hospital reported being sexually assaulted while in the military.

These are just the active duty personal, and not the veteran who is no longer serving.

It is a real problem both for active duty and veterans both. Many of the vets are foregoing treatment, they either feel they do not have it, or do not seek treatment when offered.

Hopefully I can make a difference Blue.

[Bluehawk]

Originally Posted by cato2

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A congresswoman said Thursday that her "jaw dropped" when military doctors told her that four in 10 women at a veterans hospital reported being sexually assaulted while in the military.

One man's opinion... I believe people need to be much more careful in their choice of words when reporting that ^ kind of thing. There is not a possibility in heaven or hell that 4 of 10 military females have been "sexually assaulted."

Chances are, the actual rate of actual "sexual assault" is probably more in the range of less than 1 out of 10 female personnel; certainly not in excess of the civilian rate in any case... and, nothing is said or implied to account for the sexual assaults that DO occur female on female either, nor anything about false reports, consensual sexual encounters reported as otherwise, etc etc etc.

That is precisely the kind of thing that I have been talking about in this thread from the start.

[Sally Brown]

As a woman, I have to disagree with you Bluehawk because it is believed that only 16% of the sexual assault victims in society at large ever report the crime. In part this is because many women do not want to be perceived as weak or have bought into the idea that just being female the assault was invited and therefore they were somehow in the wrong and consented. Overwhelmingly societal standards of what constitutes a sexual assault need to be revisited and readdressed but the fact remains that any time any man uses the color of his authority and/or rank to intimidate a woman into sexual submission, that definitively is a sexual assault.

The female soldier is far more likely to say nothing than risk betraying what she has been taught is the person she is to trust the most with her life even when he has violated her person to the greatest degree. I would tend to believe based on that alone the number of unreported sexual assaults in the military setting would not be equivalent to society at large but would more likely far exceed the general population. Factor in then an overall younger set of demographics and the numbers probably raise accordingly.

Sexual assault is an ugly topic and one that for too long the military has ignored because of its ugliness. As women becomre more and more present in support roles that put them more present behind the lines but still in the field, this is something that needs to be taken very seriously.

For a good thumbnail sketch of sexual assault in American society please refer to: http://www.sa.rochester.edu/masa/stats.php

[Bluehawk]

Does it seem quite normal to anyone other than me that here we are in a thread which began with a wobbly specious claim about "racism" and are now inevitably discussing a wobbly specious claim about "gender"? The two do seem to always go together in recent decades, do they not. I wonder what the cause of that coincidence might be.

Someone, please, explain to everyone exactly how it is that anyone can say with any certainty at all that only 16% of sexual assaults are reported. Presumably, by the broad definitions likely being used a "sexual assault" can include everything from being called "Honey" against one's will, or swatted on the butt at the kitchen sink, to being raped and everything in between?

It is one thing to assert a supposed behavioral tendency to underreport, with or without reliable proof, and quite another to quote a figure which amounts to saying that 84% of a crime which is, by definition, NOT reported, has not been reported. Assuming there are roughly 150,000,000 females in America, not all of whom are of the ages where sexual assault is relevant or probable, then a factor of 84% would be a truly huge epidemic number... and there could not possibly be ANY doubt in anyone's mind that it were truthful. Such statistics remind me very much of the inevitable 10-year announcement we can expect during the Census which says that some large percentage of homeless "are not counted"... to the point of being able to put a rather precise number on it. How would anyone KNOW how many had not been counted when, by definition, they have NOT been counted!

That kind of reasoning is absolutely ridiculous... if not crazy. And, it makes zero difference who or what institution is making such absurd claims except to those who stand to benefit from making an issue of something that does not exist to begin with. To think that in this day and age, any adult female capable of defending herself (such as a militarily trained troop!) would put up with "sexual assault" to some extraordinary extent simply defies common sense... it would be as if instead of having made progress, females had become MORE victimized. And supposing that WERE the case, then the responsibility for such outstanding failure would have to be assigned to those who have been relentlessly assuming the role of empowering females all these decades, right?

I have no doubt that SOME sexual assault crimes, just like ALL crimes, are not reported. I also have no doubt that many thousands of times crimes ARE reported when there was no crime involved... which is why we have courts and lawyers. If it were true that the non-reported crime was anything remotely approaching 84% (as an example) then our society would be in total and utter chaos on a daily basis, far beyond the capacity of law enforcement or social services to reverse.

If 84% of sexual assaults in the military were not being reported, I am willing to bet my life that the female NCOs and officers (along with the men who would also be outraged) in all branches would have put a fast end to ANY further female recruitment of any kind until the problem was permanently resolved.

One has to wonder how it is that military and civilian society manages to survive with all the "subtle" and "unreported" racism and crimes going on.

[cato2]

Alas, opinion is subjugated by reality once again.

DOD and the Coast Guard have established policies and programs to prevent, respond to, and resolve reported sexual assault incidents involving servicemembers; however, implementation of the programs is hindered by several factors. GAO found that (1) DOD's guidance may not adequately address some important issues, such as how to implement its program in deployed and joint environments; (2) most, but not all, commanders support the programs; (3) program coordinators' effectiveness can be hampered when program management is a collateral duty; (4) required sexual assault prevention and response training is not consistently effective; and (5) factors such as a DOD-reported shortage of mental health care providers affect whether servicemembers who are victims of sexual assault can or do access mental health services. Left unchecked, these challenges can discourage or prevent some servicemembers from using the programs when needed. GAO found, based on responses to its nongeneralizeable survey administered to 3,750 servicemembers and a 2006 DOD survey, the most recent available, that occurrences of sexual assault may be exceeding the rates being reported, suggesting that DOD and the Coast Guard have only limited visibility over the incidence of these occurrences. At the 14 i