Introduction: Sexual misconduct is a pervasive and deleterious issue within military contexts. Commonly cited psychological sequelae of sexual assault include anxiety, depression, suicidality, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as interpersonal relationship functioning issues. The experience of military sexual trauma (MST) is unique in that the environment in which the harm occurs, the culture, plays a significant role in the impact of the harm on survivors. MST is often also related to feelings of institutional betrayal and moral injury. While clinical treatment of interpersonal trauma history is common, there is a lack of research regarding the development and efficacy of clinical interventions used with couples affected by MST. The objective of the thesis is to examine how dimensions and impacts of MST affect intimate partner relationships. Methods: A multi-method qualitative approach was taken in the thesis, including a scoping review and two narrative reviews, contextualized using primary qualitative data in the conclusion chapter. Results: MST affects dimensions of intimate partner relationships including communication, trust and attachment, intimacy, conflict, aggression, as well as sexual function and satisfaction. The present work highlights the unique considerations for those affected by MST, suggesting that the relationship between adverse psychological outcomes, such as PTSD, and relationship distress appears to be greater for military than among civilian populations. While clinical work aims to amplify positive outcomes within couple relationships, and reduce individual symptomatology, there exists a lack of interventions tailored to meet the needs of couples affected by MST specifically. Discussion: The present thesis contributes to the growing understanding of how MST affects intimate partner relationships, as researchers and clinicians continue to seek to improve supports available for military members. The work is an appropriate start to inspire and inform future research, identifying existing gaps in the literature spurring on forthcoming work that aims to improve the wellbeing of military-connected intimate partner relationships. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / The present thesis explores how military sexual trauma may affect intimate partner relationships. The work highlights how the literature discusses and describes the link between sexual assault that occurs in the military, posttraumatic stress disorder, and intimate partner relationships. In addition, the work explores concepts related to the experience of sexual assault in the military, such as betrayal, guilt, shame, as well as military culture. The thesis also identifies and summarizes information about therapeutic interventions being used with couples who are affected by military sexual trauma. The present body of work contributes to the growing understanding of how military sexual trauma affects intimate relationships and survivors, while also informing research, clinical services, and policymakers who are making meaningful change in the health and wellbeing of military members and their partners.

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Beginning May of 2013 and ending in September, I worked with Grace After Fire (Grace), a virtual nonprofit organization that focuses on issues related to female veterans. Grace’s mission is to provide female veterans with the means to gain knowledge, insight and self-renewal. Grace’s mission is accomplished through peer support and resource referral. The aim of my thesis project was to conduct an analysis of Grace’s peer support system, Table Talk: Color Me Camo (Table Talk). Because Table Talk is a fairly new program for Grace, just over a year old, the outreach coordinators were eager to learn: 1) if they were indeed meeting their mission of empowering female veterans, and 2) the point-of-view of the peer facilitators who conduct Table Talk. To help Grace gain perspective, I interviewed women who had previously attended Table Talk, as well as peer facilitators responsible for coordinating the peer support system-all of whom are female veterans. The following is their story.

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Women have continually become more visible in the military. With the recent changes that now allow women to participate in direct combat occupations, various questions and concerns emerge about how the public perceives these new role changes for women. This exploratory-descriptive study examined the perceptions of 50 University social work student's (B.S.W. and M.S.W.) about women's roles in the military. This research was conducted using Qualtrics.com, and included demographic questions. Frequencies, chi-squares and cross tabulations were used to examine relationships between variables. The results indicated that although no significant relationship between these variables was found, other possible considerations on the topic emerged. One important, though not statistically significant finding of this study was that social work students are accepting of women in the military. This research has implications for social work education as well as, in practice. Evaluating social work student perceptions toward women serving in the military can lead to a better understanding of biases against women in military roles.

Cease Fire is a war story told from one woman’s perspective. It’s about a farm girl and her battles fought as young soldier serving on a remote nuke site during the Cold War. It’s the interpretations of lived experiences, highs and lows of a military career fused with family life, and spanning over three decades. Like true war stories, Cease Fire has little to do with actual war. It is a sometimes humorous, but often tragic attempt to make peace and to make sense of the places, comrades and enemies that graced and plagued a career. First names and nicknames were used to protect the privacy of a few and render respect for the surviving children of a fallen two.

Sexual trauma within the military is a widespread issue, and rape myth acceptance has been shown to contribute to its prevalence. Given that the military culture has been shown to lend itself to hypermasculinity and traditional gender role adherence, both of which facilitate aggression toward women, this effect warrants investigation within a military sample. The present study replicated and expanded upon Aosved and Long's (2006) study examining 85 veteran and active duty military members' responses on the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale, Attitudes Toward Women Scale (short form), Neosexism Scale, Male Role Norms Inventory (short form), Modern and Old Fashioned Racism Scale, Modern Homophobia Scale, a modified version of the Economic Belief Scale, Fraboni Scale of Ageism, Religious Intolerance Scale, and the Marlowe–Crowne Social Desirability Scale (short form). Findings provide support for the co-occurrence of rape myth acceptance with intolerant attitudes, including sexism, hypermasculine gender role ideology, racism, sexual prejudice, classism, ageism, and religious intolerance, both individually and collectively. These results provide insight into the functioning of intolerant attitudes within a military sample, and provide important insight for future research addressing the association between rape myth acceptance and rape proclivity and the perpetration of military sexual assault.