Harmful Interpersonal Behaviors in the Department of the Air Force

Informing Prevention and Response

by Miriam Matthews, Coreen Farris

Download Free Electronic Document

FormatFile SizeNotes
PDF file 0.3 MB

Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher for the best experience.

The Department of the Air Force (DAF) is committed to helping its members thrive by enhancing well-being and eliminating harmful behaviors, particularly those affecting interpersonal interactions and relationships. Among these behaviors are sexual harassment and sexual assault, racial/ethnic harassment and discrimination, hazing, bullying, and domestic abuse.

This Perspective briefly describes the scope of this collection of harmful interpersonal behaviors and current DAF prevention strategies. The authors then describe and apply a conceptual model of prevention to harmful interpersonal behaviors in the DAF. Because of the association between these behaviors and alcohol misuse, the authors also briefly review that behavior. Finally, the authors consider current issues with and options for improvement of current prevention efforts and reporting avenues for victims.

Research conducted by

The research reported here was commissioned by the Department of the Air Force and conducted within the Workforce, Development, and Health Program of RAND Project AIR FORCE.

This commentary is part of the RAND Corporation Expert insight series. RAND Expert Insights present perspectives on timely policy issues. All RAND Expert Insights undergo peer review to ensure high standards for quality and objectivity.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.