The Increasing Domestic Violence - Case Study Example

Domestic Violence of the Section 10 March The objective of the study is to determine theeffectiveness and method through which MRT increases leadership skills among the senior leaders and thereby supports in achieving resilience to the service members. In this regard, it is notable that there are six core competencies of MRT. These are Self-awareness, Self-Regulation, Optimism, Mental Agility, Strengths of Character, and Connection. This helps in attaining effective leadership skill among the senior leaders and thereby, led to the attainment of resilience to the soldiers and their family members at large. Introduction The increasing domestic violence and offensive activities among the US soldiers is a major phenomenon seen in the recent years. US have also witnessed several suicidal cases by their soldiers owing to numerous reasons. Moreover, this increasing crime by the soldiers is affecting the integrity of the social culture. In this regard, the US government has introduced Master Resilience Training (MRT) for such soldiers in order to gain resilience (Seligman, 2004). The objective of the study is to determine how MRT leads to the attainment of resilience among the soldiers through developing effective leadership skill within the senior leaders. Thesis Statement Positive psychology and Master Resilience Training (MRT) are among the major attributes of Leadership that reduce offensive activities and domestic violence and eventually, support the US soldiers and their families to achieve resilience. Domestic Violence among Army Domestic violence among the US soldiers is a very common phenomenon. It is eminent that one out of every eight soldiers commits domestic violent activities when they return home. Moreover, it is also notable that there are several evidences of sexual assault committed by the US soldiers. This sexual assault is not only notable at home of the soldiers but at different places, they travel (Williams, 2013). Besides these, another crime that has been a significant phenomenon in the recent years is drug abuse amid the soldiers. It is notable that there are several soldiers in the US, who are addicted to drug consumption. Besides drug addiction, it is also observed that majority of the US soldiers are addicted to alcohol consumption and smoking at large. This aspect of addiction to alcohol consumption and smoking is not only observed among the US soldiers, but among the soldiers throughout the world. Furthermore, another astonishing fact related to the US soldiers is that a large number of individuals have witnessed committing suicide in the recent times (Williams, 2013). The prime reason for the increasing number of domestic violence including sexual assault, addiction to drugs, smoking, alcohol and others among the US soldiers is due to their mental depression and stress. It is also notable that the increasing trend of suicide among the US soldiers is also because of the psychological stress and frustration that they acquire while being in the Warfield (Williams, 2013). This psychological depression among the US soldiers is because of their deprival from love and support of their dear ones and family members. It is apparent that the US soldiers have little opportunity to spend time with their family members and friends, which can further lead to psychological stress at large. This creates a frustration among the soldiers that eventually provokes them to commit such offensive crimes (Williams, 2013). Leadership Challenges in Army There are certain challenges that senior leaders or specifically the Sergeant Major of the US army encounters in executing leadership skill for their subordinates. These challenges become more prominent because of domestic violent and abusive activities conducted by their subordinates (Bartholomees, 2010). This is because the senior leaders of the organization are liable to provide answers for the offensive deeds of their subordinates (Bartholomees, 2010). It is important to note that besides the challenges encountered by the senior leaders of the US army in encountering the offensive activities of their subordinates; it is also worth mentioning that the leaders experience certain leadership challenges in reducing such activities of their subordinate army. These leadership challenges include lack of transparency within the organization (Bartholomees, 2010). The lack of transparency within the organization influences the subordinates to execute mischievous activities. In majority of the instances, the senior leaders are unaware of the activities of the subordinates. Thus, it creates a significant challenge for the leaders to control their subordinates and restrict them to execute such activities (Bartholomees, 2010). Moreover, the leadership challenges among the senior leaders also exaggerate due to the media activism. It is prominent in the US that the media organizations within the nation are highly active and any controversial matter related to the US army is highly exaggerated by the media professionals (Bartholomees, 2010). This creates confusion among the senior leaders and their subordinates, thus, creating significant leadership challenge encountered by the senior leaders in restricting their subordinates in performing such offensive activities and domestic violence (Bartholomees, 2010). Positive Psychology and MRT In order to overcome the leadership challenges towards reducing domestic violence among the US soldiers, it is advisable to use positive psychology and Master Resilience Training (MRT) to the leaders. In this regard, the senior leaders in the US army organization must attempt to follow six core competencies of MRT. One of the six core competencies of MRT is the self-awareness (Corey & Corey, 2013). In this context, the senior leaders as well as their subordinates must identify their behavior, thought, emotions and others and use the same towards ensuring positive psychological changes amid themselves. Moreover, this would lead to the establishment of an open-minded behavior and thoughts for the soldiers. This would eventually lead to the reduction of domestic violence and other offensive activities among the soldiers (Lomas, Hefferon & Ivtzan, 2014). Another core competency of MRT is with regard to self-regulation. Self-regulation among the soldiers leads to regulation of their impulses, emotions and behaviors, which eventually influences the senior leaders of the organization to achieve their goal of controlling the subordinate members efficiently. It also influences the soldiers to regulate themselves and subsequently leads to the reduction of offensive activities (Corey & Corey, 2013). Furthermore, self-regulation among the soldiers also leads to the reduction of counter-productive thinking. This ultimately directs the leaders towards ensuring effective leadership within the US army organization (Lomas et al., 2014). Moreover, another core competency of MRT, which would lead to effective leadership among the US soldiers, is their nature of optimism. This optimistic nature among the US soldiers also implies about their realistic thinking (Seligman, 2004). Furthermore, optimism among the soldiers will also influence them to identify, is the aspect that is controllable by them. This would lead to effective leadership among the senior leaders in the US army organization, which eventually would reduce domestic violent activities among the soldiers (Lomas et al., 2014). Another core competency of MRT, which is highly effective in the current context, is the mental agility among the US soldiers. In this regard, mental agility among the US soldiers would influence them to think accurately and flexibly. It also encourages them to take other’s perspective and opinion in consideration (Seligman, 2004). This mental agility among the US soldiers influences them to identify the core problem and thereby, allows them to undertake strategies to reduce the same. This would encourage the senior leaders in the US army to maintain effective leadership and eventually move towards reduction of the domestic violence and offensive activities amid their subordinates (Lomas et al., 2014). Moreover, another core competency of MRT is the strength of character, which enhances individual knowledge of top strength. This knowledge supports the US soldiers to overcome their issues related to domestic violent activities. It also supports the senior leaders in the US army organization to maintain effectiveness in their leadership approaches. In this context, there are top five character strengths that support soldiers, which include wisdom and knowledge, courage, humanity, justice and temperance (Seligman, 2004; Corey & Corey, 2013). All these character strengths play a major role in establishing effective leadership and reduction of offensive activities among the US soldiers (Lomas et al., 2014). Conclusion From the study, it is prominent that domestic violence and several offensive activities have increased among the US soldiers in the recent years. This creates a significant challenge to the senior leaders of the organization to gain resilience. In this regard, it is apparent that MRT is highly effective in enhancing leadership skill among the senior leaders in the US army, which eventually leads to the reduction of domestic violent and offensive activities. Furthermore, the resilience not only aids the soldiers but also their family members that eventually contribute in establishing a society with reduced crime and other offensive activities. References Bartholomees, J. B. (2010). The U.S. army war college guide to national security issues: national security policy and strategy. The United States: Strategic Studies Institute. Corey, G. & Corey, M. (2013). I never knew I had a choice: explorations in personal growth. The United States: Cengage Learning. Lomas, T., Hefferon, K., & Ivtzan, I. (2014). Applied positive psychology: integrated positive practice. The United States: SAGE. Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: a handbook and classification. The United States: Oxford University Press. Williams, J. W. (2013). Intimate partner violence: prevalence among U.S. military veterans and active duty service members and a review of intervention approaches. Evidence-based Synthesis Program, 1-57. Read More