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For Love of Country

Terri Spahr Nelson works as a psychotherapist whose specialty is working with those recovering from sexual trauma. In For Love of Country: Confronting Rape and Sexual Harassment in the U.S. Military, Nelson (2002) tells us that the main purpose of her work is to document “the vast problem of sexual abuse in the military” against both females and males, (xi). For Love of Country relies primarily on the personal recollections of sexual abuse victims, but Nelson bolsters her work through official documents, rape reports, research studies and media reports. The victim accounts in her book focus primarily on women but also include men from all branches of the military service. Nelson’s (2002) work is the result of more than five years of research and culls its findings from first-hands accounts of over two hundred participants.

Nelson maintains that the high incidence of rape and sexual abuse in the military is one more list of complex and challenging social issues that have impacted the armed forces over the past few decades, including discrimination, women in the military and the integration of homosexuals. Because of its history of tackling such challenging social issues, with respect to rape and sexual abuse Nelson (2002) maintains, the military “can rise to this challenge as well as strengthen the core values upon which our nation and our military services were founded,” (7).

While the incidents portrayed by victims and the high incidence of rape and sexual abuse in the military are serious issues, Nelson takes a patriotic tone toward the military and is not out to judge or blame. Instead, she argues that such incidents must “be exposed…not to bring discredit to the military, but to strengthen the conviction to confront the problem,” (5). Nelson maintains that one of the biggest problems helping to manifest and perpetuate sexual abuse in the military is the militarist and masculinist environment characteris...

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For Love of Country. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 10:20, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1685488.html