CASE STUDY 11.1: Perspective Taking: Captain Owen Honors Naval captain Owen Honors was fired for the production However, the "firing" of Captain Owen Honors has not qui- of video skits with offensive content using navy equip- eted the public debate over the videos or the naval response. ment starring his crew members during 2006 and 2007. To do nothing is to condone. By not acting at the The following case study illustrates how different parties time, the navy essentially condoned the videos and can view the same events differently, leading to conflict. Captain Honors's making of them. Perhaps the current On January 1, 2011, Norfolk's newspaper the navy leadership's response is one impacted by public Virginian-Pilot greeted the new year with a story of vid- relations; perhaps the existence of the videos had been eos produced, written, and featuring naval captain Owen the secret of a select few who protected Captain Honors Honors , at the time commander of the USS Enterprise. from being penalized in the past. Whatever the impetus Four days later, Captain Honors, 49, had been relieved for the action taken, at this point the navy has made a of his command and essentially put on desk duty pending public decision not to condone the videos or the behavior. further investigation. The cited reason was this: "pro- The public debate, however, exemplifies what so often found lack of good judgment and professionalism." happens in a conflict: Each side demands that the other The Virginian-Pilot article reported that anonymous side admit defeat and agree that the other side is right. men and women who served on the ship at the time the Regardless of an individual's perspectiveone of support videos were created and aired complained immediately to for Captain Honors, one of agreement with the navy's deci- no avail. In fact, Captain Honors stated this in the intro- sion, seeing nothing objectionable in the videos, or finding duction of his last video": "Over the years gotten sev- the videos offensivethe discourse is one of proving the eral complaints about inappropriate material during these other side wrong. Once this happens, the conflict grows and videos, never to me personally but, gutlessly, through other the discussion becomes polarized, with each side refusing to channels. He then suggests the following: "This evening, consider how the other opinion is not wrong, just different. all of you bleeding hearts ... why don't just go ahead and As this scenario illustrates, the same events may hug yourself for the next 20 minutes or so, because there's be viewed and interpreted differently by different indi- a really good chance you're gonna be offended." viduals who deeply care about an issue. Some support Although it appears that Captain Honors's supervi- Captain Honors because he was attempting to entertain sors learned of the videos at the time, Captain Honors was his crew members, and the videos had been shown for not reprimanded-other than told to cease production of some time, airing on the closed-circuit televisions on the themand was ultimately promoted to commander of ship. Others view the content of the videos as repulsive the USS Enterprise in May of 2010. It is important to note sexual harassment and gay slurs, and feel that the navy that it is not public knowledge as to who knew about the was justified in removing Captain Honors from his post. videos prior to the Virginian-Pilot article. This case brought forth strong emotions on either side, As a result of the videos surfacing, the navy stripped indicating that people really care about the outcome or Captain Honors of command of the USS Enterprise. the issues that surfaced from the production of the videos. I've Discussion Questions 1. Do you think the navy was justified in firing Captain Honors? Explain your position. 2. How open are you to another point of view on this case? 4. Think about the other alternatives to conflict- compromise and collaborationthat don't involve one side losing and the other winning. In situations like the one in the case, is it possible for both sides to come to a compromise or collaboration? Why or why not? How might the number of parties play a role in the type of solution generated? 3. Take the opposite position to your point of view and write a paragraph explaining the other point of view. For example, if you think the navy was wrong to fire Captain Honors, write a statement that supports firing him