New Publication - Commanding Men and Governing Masculinities: Military institutional abuse and organisational reform in the Australian armed forces

Commanding Men and Governing Masculinities: Military institutional abuse and organizational reform in the Australian armed forces

Ben Wadham | James Connor

The question of violence within the military is a pressing issue among international militaries. Anglophone countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada have all been engaging with the question of ‘cultural change’ in their militaries in one way or another. In different ways ‘cultural change’ is associated with the prevailing matter of violence within the military – that is, physical and sexual abuse, sexual assault and rape. Violence in the military is not a new phenomenon but its representation and management is. How the military addresses organisational violence is an interesting study of the liberal potential of authoritarian institutions in liberal democracies. As contemporary militaries respond to challenges of institutional sustainability, and to changing relationships with the state and civil society, the exposure of violence (usually via scandal, and subsequent investigation and reform) has been a steady topic of interest over recent decades.

We use the term?violence within the military?not?military violence?because violence?is?the core business of militaries. Civilians enter the military and are made into soldiers, and soldiers are trained in, and licensed to practice, particular traditions of violence. But only some forms of violence are considered legitimate within the military covenant that binds state, military and civil society. Other forms of violence expressed throughout military tradition and organisational culture, for example, hazing, initiation rites and sexual assault are ever-present. But they are publicly considered illegitimate. They are real and present forms of cultural practice that create real trauma and intimidation for victims, or form rites de passage in unit cultures (like blood winging[i]?in the US Marines) evolving over decades, or more. This kind of violence is both an exciting and engaging cultural tradition for young military males. In its least harmful forms hazing builds esprit de corps, but can lead to gross and violent practices resulting in humiliation, injury, and sometimes death (Finkel, 2002).

A key site of debate in public discussions about this violence surrounds the extent to which this is ‘cultural’ (systemic) or the actions of ‘a few bad apples’ (an aberration). We argue that gender-based violence in the military is an inherent part of the military institution. Violence within the military is clearly a desirable outcome for militaries in operational contexts. Militaries foster military masculinity and violence within the military and in doing so unleash a charged potential. Militaries can foster military masculinities and their violence but they also fail to contain and civilize it. While incidence rates are one important piece of the puzzle, incident reporting and data recording are unreliable, partly because of what is characterized as a ‘cult of secrecy’ and the fear of repercussion that tends to characterize military organisations, and partly because of the under developed systems of recording and reporting.

We argue that violence within the military is almost exclusively male violence (toward other serving men and women). Not all men use violence but it is predominantly men who do use violence. There is relevant research on hazing, physical abuse, sexual harassment and assault in the military, and in other organisational contexts (Zurbriggen, 2010; Winslow, 2004, 1999; Razack, 2004; Polusny, & Murdoch, 2005; Curtin, & Litke, 1999). Dominating masculinity is a rich cultural seam imbuing all aspects and relations within militaries with military masculinities (Woodward & Winter, 2007; Higate, 2003; Goldstein, 2001:47, Kimmel, 2000). Men constitute anywhere from 85-95 per cent of military personnel in Western liberal militaries. Despite the increasing participation of women in military activities, militarism is still predominantly defined among relations of men (Higate & Hopton, 2005).?

[i]?Blood winging is the tradition of presenting personnel their unit badge by pounding the badge (without clips) into the chest.