Theoretical Traditions and the Modeling of Sexual Harassment within Organizations: The Military as Data

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to examine issues of sexual harassment within the context of military organizations. Three theoretical traditions are brought together to explain the dynamics of sexual harassment. The organizational model (which emphasizes structure), the sociocultural model (which emphasizes the traditional sex role socialization of men and women), and the attraction model (which emphasizes the nature of men and women for relationship creation) are juxtaposed with literaturedriven independent variables. The authors’ conclusion suggests that all models make a contribution to the understanding of sexual harassment. The article also suggests which behaviors organizations can be proactive about as well as those that are difficult to manage.