A Comprehensive Plan for Providing

Chaplaincy Support to Wounded

Female Soldiers: A Delphi Study

DR. DANIEL L. ROBERTS

910-690-5964

DR.DANIELROBERTS@ICLOUD.COM

22 JULY 2017

Committee

Joann Kovacich, Ph.D., Chair

R. J. Gore, D.Min., Ph.D., Committee Member

Melvin Rivers, D.B.A., Committee Member

Sources of Inspiration

u My Army job: chaplain assistant

u An underserved population: Women soldiers

u Stories I heard: rape, trauma

u Bad experiences with male chaplains

Problem Statement

General Problem:

Women are

underrepresented in

the chaplaincy

Specific problem: The

chaplaincy has no

gender-specific support

model

Assumption: Female

soldiers prefer to

receive support from

female chaplains

Purpose

Develop a comprehensive plan and model

for providing emotional and spiritual support

to wounded female soldiers.

Research Method & Design

uQualitative Delphi Technique

uSolution oriented

uUtilizes expertise

uProvides rich, descriptive data

Study Population

u Expert group 1:

Wounded female

soldiers

u Expert group 2:

Female chaplains

Data Collection

uData was collected through semi-structured

interviews that took approximately 45 minutes

uInterviews were emotional events for the female

soldiers

uFemale chaplains responded to the list of needs

generated from female soldier interviews

The Comprehensive Female Soldiers Support (CFS2)

Model

Gender Factor Assumptions

1. Female soldiers will prefer to receive support from women chaplains.

2. Female chaplains will not be accepted in male-dominated units, such as the infantry.

Gender Factor Assumptions

1. Female soldiers will prefer to receive support from women chaplains.

2. Female chaplains will not be accepted in male-dominated units, such as the infantry.

FALSE

Journal Article: The

Comprehensive Female Soldier

Support Model in Journal of

Health Care Chaplaincy

Follow-on research project:

Dr. Roberts & Dr. Kovacich

“How Male Military Chaplains of

Different Religions Provide Emotional

and Spiritual Support to Women

Service Members: A Case Study”RECEIVED AN UOPX OSS GENERAL GRANT FOR THIS

STUDY

References

u Cater, J. K., & Koch, L. C. (2010). Women veterans with polytrauma: Rehabilitation planning considerations. Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling, 41(3), 9-17, 41.

u Chowdhury-Hawkins, R., McLean, I., Winterholler, M., & Welch, J. (2008). Preferred choice of gender of staff providing care to victims of sexual assault in Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs). Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, 15 (6), 363-367.

u Furnham, A., & Swami, V. (2008). Patient preferences for psychological counsellors: Evidence of a similarity effect. Counseling Psychology Quarterly, 21(4), 361-370.

References

uStephens, A., Jacobson, C., & King, C. (2010). Describing a

feminist-systems theory. Systems Research and Behavioral

Science, 27(5), 553-566.

uThe United States Army. (2014). Women in the U.S. Army

chaplain corps. Retrieved from The Official Homepage of the

United States Army:

http://www.army.mil/article/122458/Women_in_the_U_S__Army_

Chaplain_Corps/.

uUnited States Census Bureau. (2011). Department of Defense

personnel. Retrieved from

https://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/12statab/defense.pdf.