Identity and Racial Harassment

Abstract

In a 1996 survey of military personnel, more than 65 percent reported experiencing racially offensive behavior and approximately 1 in 10 reported threatening incidents or career-related racial discrimination. While race clearly matters, there is also diversity in the perceived harassment experiences of individuals of the same race with diverging organizational, cultural or social experiences. Social prescriptions constraining inter-racial interactions are associated with more reports of offensive racial encounters and more career-related discrimination, while aspects of an installation's institutional culture also directly affect perceptions of harassment. Show more