Research on Race and Ethnic Relations in the Army

摘要

Serious research on racial attitudes and behaviors of the American soldier seems to date back only as far as World War II and the establishing, in the Information and Education Division of what was then the War Department, of a Research Branch to conduct empirical research on personnel problems of concern to the Army. Only a small portion of this research focused directly on matters of race; but that which did and was eventually reported in the social science literature made an important contribution to our understanding of these matters. Following World War II, however, the Army did very little research in this area (one exception was the 1951 research on racial desegregation in the Army); and it was not until the beginning of the 1970s, when an increased assertiveness of black soldiers with regard to their being treated fairly brought racial tensions to the fore, that the Army began once again to conduct systematic research on race relations. This report summarizes the ARI research in this area that had been completed by December 1974, indicates which projects are being followed up in current research efforts, and identifies additional projects that have been planned for FY 75.