United States Army’s 21st TSC SHARP

US Army Harassment Prevention

Brief Description

Resilience in Action, the custom workplace curriculum developed to build bystander intervention capacity and skills for the Army’s TSC (Theater Sustainment Command) SHARP Program Office (The Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention).

Location

USAREURA – United States Army Europe and Africa

Situation

The SHARP Program Office directs the Army's efforts in the prevention of and response to sexual harassment, sexual assault and associated retaliatory behaviors. SHARP personnel are assigned to each US Army Garrison, serving as the lead resource for response and prevention strategies. This includes training military and civilian personnel on prevention skills including the important role of bystander intervention.

Sarah Gordon, 21st TSC SHARP Program Manager, sought to improve its prevention training curriculum, specifically its training on bystander intervention. As Program Manager, Gordon leads a team of SHARP personnel assigned to every garrison throughout Europe. Gordon searched for training curricula and discovered Soteria Solutions and its custom solutions based on decades of research on bystander intervention.

The Soteria Solution

Soteria Solutions’ approach to help any organization, including the Army, is to leverage its knowledge of bystander intervention and combine that with understanding the United States Army’s 21st TSC organizational strengths. This approach enables the training to be better received by its audience, to resonate and be easily identifiable. Our research has proven that skills are built and lasting impact is achieved when training is relatable and relevant.

The Phases in Developing the Custom Solution

  1. Discovery: We start with listening, reviewing and learning. Meeting with stakeholders including SHARP personnel, and civilian and military personnel enables us to adapt our workplace curriculum for the Army’s 21st TSC audience and culture. The discovery process includes:
    1. Multiple focus groups
    2. Review of a recent command client survey report
    3. Scan of aggregate data on bias, sexual harassment and assault.
    This discovery process enables us to identify organizational strengths that the training will build upon while identifying language and cultural norms to customize the curriculum to best serve the Army’s 21st TSC SHARP’s goals and objectives.
  2. Custom Workplace Curriculum: Resilience in Action
    Soteria Solutions developed the custom workplace curriculum titled Resilience in Action. During the interactive session, participants explore individual and workplace values that contribute to the overall culture of the workplace. Participants also learn about bystander responsibility and how to recognize problematic behaviors that may require intervention. Through group discussion of scenarios that highlight bystander options, participants learn skills such as understanding appropriate levels of intervention, being mindful of personal safety and individual options bystanders have depending on the nature of the situation.
  3. Train The Trainer Workshops
    Two four-hour train the trainer workshops were conducted virtually with 25 participants per session. The 50 individuals included SHARP personnel representing garrisons in Germany and throughout Europe.
    The training leveraged a composite story developed specifically for the Army 21st TSC unit. From this story, five skill building scenarios were utilized in the training to enable participants to develop and apply bystander intervention skills.
    Each trained facilitator received:
    • A scripted facilitator guide enabling them to model the training received and roll out Resilience in Action for their garrisons.
    • Additional supporting materials for implementation and to achieve sustainable change including templates and Army 21st TSC SHARP and national resource sheet
    A post training evaluation was conducted of the train-the-trainer participants.

Results

The rollout of Resilience in Action, the custom workplace curriculum to build bystander intervention capacity and skills, was planned for April 2022 to align with Sexual Assault Awareness month.