I stumbled across this dissertation topic: A comparative study between Navy Junior ROTC cadets and general population students on measures of dogmatism, personality type, and self-esteem
Almost seems as though he was begging the¬†question, doesn’t it?
Not judging, but with a title like that - how do you measure dogmatism, anyway? - it seems at least possible that the results may not¬†have¬†supported the researcher’s presupposition:
(1) The two groups of students were not statistically different on the three instruments although there was a tendency for general high school population students to be more dogmatic in their thinking; (2) Myers-Briggs Personality Type classifications did not differentiate NJROTC cadets from general high school population students; (3) NJROTC cadets displayed higher Happiness and Satisfaction scores on the Piers-Harris cluster score for happiness than did general high school population students; (4) The demographic data suggests that of those cadets expressing an interest in military enlistment, the Navy was the preferred branch of service; and (5) Long term, longitudinal studies need to be undertaken to further assess democratic thinking, overall satisfaction, and increased feelings of self worth.
In summary, the NJROTC cadets were no different from the at-large population, apart from the fact that they were less likely to be dogmatic and more likely to be happy and satisfied.
That’s right brother: Go and study some more on that. And maybe pass it along to your friends on the San Francisco¬†school board, who as analytic readers may remember, voted to trash the program in their district. For the sake of the children!
 
13 responses so far ↓
1
xformed
// May 24, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Interesting side note: The M-B personality typing was put together by mental health professionals after WWII in order to classify those suffering from “shell shock.” Later, some management types found this and began applying it in the general business market….
Yes, more study indeed, to see if “we” can prove the going in premise….
2
bullnav
// May 24, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Point 5 of the recommendations really scares me. Why do you need to assess “democratic thinking” and just what the he11 does that mean?
3
Some Soldier's Mom
// May 24, 2007 at 3:15 pm
wonder how an Army JROTC program would fare in this “study”? Would love to see the questionnaire used in acquiring the data.
4
Bou
// May 24, 2007 at 3:18 pm
All the kids I knew in HS, many many moons ago, that were in JROTC… very few joined up. Only one I can think of, who ended up going to West Point. But all of them had this great sense of ‘belonging’ and community. They were a pretty tight knit group.
5
Bou
// May 24, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Oh and I meant that as ‘JROTC’ as a generality!
6
AW1 Tim
// May 24, 2007 at 3:44 pm
Shipmates,
What Bou said.
I was in Army JROTC in HS. My recollection is not only the comraderie that developed, but how most of those kids, including ones I met later on, were those who were thinking “outside the box” and who also had the concept of something more than self.
JROTC is a door, a portal that this nation needs to keep open. It doesn’t HAVE to function as a recruiting tool, though it does that quite well. It’s just another tool this nation can use to locate those who have the first signs of what it takes to be a leader. It gives them a way to talk to those outside of the school sustem, those who have looked around and decided that there was something in the nation worth risking their lives for.
That’s an important 2-way street and I fear the results of seeing it closed down.
Respects,
7
Chuck Shea
// May 24, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Hi all,
I am right in the middle of the San Francisco JROTC Fiasco and I find this articale VERY interesting. I am President of the San Francisco Council of the Navy League of the United States and the Folks who run the ROTC in San Francisco Unified, as well as the Cadets(1600 strong) are not taking this lying down. We are reaching out to all who have an interest to get to our website for update info and stand by to offer assistance with letter writing and phone calls to Friends in San Francisco. Over 70% of the Folks living in San Francisco were pretty upset by this move and Do support the program.
There has been an Offically Sanctioned Special Task Force formed with the goal being To keep the program going.
However one of my Goals is to form our own Charter High School, pull the money out the SFUSD and get a dynamic value program going outa the ” Regular Program.” The Marines successfully did this in Chicago and have two Marine Corp Math&Science High Schools running
San Francisco is still a Navy town!!
Regards
Chuck Shea
So
8
Michelle
// May 24, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Nice article - “San Fransisco Torpedoes JROTC”.
I got a real kick out of this quote:
“There should be separation between the military and civilian society.”
First it was church and state, now its military and civilian society?
9
irish
// May 24, 2007 at 6:47 pm
Chuck, hope it works out for you - stay on line and let us know how we can help - my wife’s school started JROTC 2 years ago and the kids love it - doesn’t have anything to do with recruiting only duty, honor, commitment, integrity, teamwork and pride… not bad attributes for teenagers to have,,, Irish
10
MajMike
// May 25, 2007 at 6:28 am
wow. a study involving Navy Junior ROTC cadets uncovered a suggestion of an inclination to prefer service in the Navy (for those cadets expressing an interest in military enlistment) [conclusion #4].
better get Sherlock Holmes and get to the bottom of this conundrum.
poor misguided little waifs.
11
CPT J
// May 25, 2007 at 8:52 am
What AW1 Tim and Irish said.
I have parents who are amazed at the transformation of their cadets who are in JROTC or CAP [sometimes it is a shared program]. Most of these kids will not follow a military career, but they become true citizens, not ‘time share Americans.’
I always thank the parents for THEIR service, raising children who understand service before self. Most enthusiastically “get” the compliment as it was intended. Those who don’t tend toward the self-obsessed intellectual personality type.
Fortunately [and ironically] their kids are made of sterner stuff than that. The Greatest Generation skipped one, and has now returned.
12
Justthisguy
// May 26, 2007 at 3:24 am
Myers-Briggs, eh? Proud to be an INTP, m’self, just like The Donovan. (though he claims he was an INTJ when he was being a badass officer-like person)
Anybody else here want to declare which unpronouncable four-letter word suits him best?
13
Justthisguy
// May 28, 2007 at 1:07 am
To get back on topic, when I was a senior in high school I was actively recruited to be a Naval Officer, that is the 4-year ROTC Regular scholarship program they had back then. Mrs. Stewart (AKA Lt.Commander Stewart, USNR, Ret.) who was one of the guidance counselors, really dogged me hard about that.
Fortunately, my intuitive misgivings about my leadership deficiencies prevailed, so that I did not get a chance to disgrace self or country in some spectacular way.
P.s. Had vision been perfect in both eyes, instead of just one, I might have taken my chances anyway in hopes of the Wings of Gold. They mentioned NFO, but that just didn’t do it for me. Hey, I was 17
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