Advances in Social Work Practice with the Military

Joan Beder, Joan Beder

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781136789182
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Psychotherapy Counselling
• Index: Psychology

With the United States' involvement in numerous combat operations overseas, the need for civilian social workers with the clinical skills necessary to work with members of the military returning from combat, as well as their families, has never been more critical. In this practical and important book, each chapter is written by specialists in a particular area devoted to the care of service members and includes case material to demonstrate assessment and intervention approaches. The reader is introduced to the world of the military and the subsequent development of mental health services for returning men and women. Chapters look at special populations of service members with specific needs based directly on their experience in the military, discussing post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, sexual harassment and assault during their service, and the physiology of the war zone experience. The challenges faced by reintegrating service men and women are explored in detail and include family issues, suicide, and substance use disorders. A section on services available to returning service members looks at those offered by the Veterans Administration and at the use of animal-assisted interventions. The book concludes with a section devoted to unique concerns for the practitioner and explores ethical concerns they may face and their own needs as clinicians working with this population.

PART I The World of the Military

DOI: 10.4324/9780203825747-1

1 The Importance of Understanding Military Culture

Lynn K. Hall

DOI: 10.4324/9780203825747-2

All of us in the helping professions have a passion for helping others find solutions to the issues that are causing them concern, as well as helping to make their lives more productive. In order for that to happen when working with military personnel and their families, we first must pay attention to the culture of the military. Social workers can make a significant contribution to military service members and their families, but first it is essential that the worldview, the mindset, and the historical perspective of life in the military are understood. Social workers, just like other helping professionals, already pay attention to the cultural diversity of the people they are working with. The unique culture of the military is, indeed, a diverse group of people in American society that must be understood as uniquely different from the civilian world. “All experiences originate from a particular cultural context; the [social worker] must be attentive to this context and the role that cultural identity plays in a client’s life” (Dass-Brailsford, 2007, p. 78). As Reger, Etherage, Reger and Gahm (2008, p. 22) state, “to the extent that a culture includes a language, a code of manners, norms of behavior, belief systems, dress, and rituals, it is clear that the Army represents a unique cultural group”. While the article written by these authors focuses on the Army, each of the military services have components that are unique to that service, as well as common across the military.

David Fenell (2008, p. 8) points out that while there is “cultural, religious and ethnic diversity within the military, the military is a culture in its own right”. It is, therefore, the responsibility of ethical practitioners to be well versed in the three multicultural competencies (Sue, Arredondo & McDavis, 1992) which include:

1. becoming aware of our own behavior, values, biases, preconceived notions, and personal limitations;
2. understanding the worldview of our culturally different clients without negative judgment;
3. actively developing and practicing appropriate, relevant and sensitive strategies in working with our culturally diverse clients.

(Hall, 2008)

While this chapter will not attempt to cover all three multicultural competencies, it is essential to consider the second competency of understanding the unique worldview and culture of the military in order for social workers to work to the best of their ability with this culturally diverse population. Some of the challenges in working with military members and families include an understanding of the acronyms, the rank and grade system, the beliefs and assumptions—both spoken and unspoken—held by most who chose this lifestyle, the fears, goals, and complications of living with long and frequent absences of one parent (or two in some cases) as well as the required frequent moves, and the more subtle lifestyle changes that military families must endure and, in most cases, survive with amazing resilience and success. It is also important sometimes to be aware of what is not being said, and understand the restricted nature of the military with its many boundaries, rules, regulations, and habits. It may also be necessary to acknowledge that some members of the military may actually feel “trapped”, particularly those who are from multi-generational military career families (Hall, 2008).

Reasons They Join

One place to begin is to consider why people join the military. Wertsch (1991) identified four key reasons why young people in our society make that life-changing decision. These are: (a) family tradition (b) benefits (c) identification with the warrior mentality, and (d) an escape. While it would be impossible to identify every reason why young people join the military, some aspects of these four seem consistently to be present in making the decision.

Family Tradition

When asked why a young woman chose to join and then make the military a career (Hall, 2008), she said she came from a military family so she understood the culture and explained that she was rather anxious about the possibility of living in the civilian world. Having spent most of her life living on military installations and going to schools either near or on the installation, she realized as an adult that she knew nothing about living outside of the military. As she experienced the civilian world through friends and college, she found it was an uncomfortable, insecure world, with too many choices and too much freedom. Young people who grew up in the military often share that they later joined the military because it was more comfortable than civilian life. An Air Force Veteran stated: “I think it is important to note that many families have numerous members who have served our country proudly and have provided them the emotional support to complete their tasks” (Wakefield, 2007, p. 23).

Benefits

Henderson (2006) suggests that financial concerns almost always contribute to a decision to join the military. She points out that those who join for the amount of money they will receive from the military “tend to come from places that lack other economic opportunities” (p. 22). The military is often also seen as an option for young people who don’t have clear future plans and see the military both as a transition and a place of service, until they decide what they want to do with their lives. These young people may not yet see themselves as college material, but they are aware that working for minimum wage is not what they want out of life. In addition, the Post 9/11 GI Bill has greatly expanded tuition and housing benefits for those who have served overseas. There are minimal requirements for period served and the opportunities are great and well financed (Henderson, 2006).

In addition to the benefits of a steady income and a transition period, the military has been called the “great equalizer” for many in our society. In the wake of the current economic recession/depression, with double-digit unemployment in many parts of the country, joining the military presents itself as a viable option for job and job training. A high percentage of lower income youth have correctly seen the military as a road to upward mobility, education, respect, and prestige that they perceive would be impossible if they remained in the civilian world (Hall, 2008). The military has indeed set a standard for the integration of ethnic groups and gender, as it remains a relatively safe world for the families of lower income service members and their families (Schouten, 2004). Wertsch shared that many of the African-American military brats she interviewed experienced racism for the first time as adults in civilian communities and often “grew up acutely conscious of the contrast between their safe, secure life in the military and the tenuous existence of their civilian relatives in small rural towns or big city ghettos” (1991, p. 338).

Identity of the Warrior

On a more psychological level, many who join the military feel a need to “merge their identity with that of the warrior” (Schouten, 2004, p. 17). The structure, the expectations, the rules, even the penalties and overriding identity as a “warrior” are reassuring while, at the same time, providing service members with security, identity and a sense of purpose. Those whose personality and needs fit with the military culture often find themselves making the military a career. A San Diego therapist (Hall, 2008) noted that the profile of the service member who made the military a career during the time of the draft is often similar to those who now volunteer, as the military offers a re-enforcement of a belief system and a personal identity.

Previous work on the topic of war (Nash, 2007, p. 17) has explored the “psychology of war as a test of manhood and a rite of initiation among males in many cultures”, so it is not uncommon for young men to merge their identity with that of a warrior by being a part of something meaningful. Gegax and Thomas (2005) suggest that while military sons tend to talk about duty when asked why they followed their fathers to war, their more personal motivations may have more to do with passing the test of manhood. Throughout the history of warfare, combat is often seen as a test, and certainly in some cultures the test, of manhood. “There is no better way to win a father’s respect than to defy death just the way he did. Indeed, the effort to surpass one’s father’s or brother’s bravery has gotten more than a few men killed” (p. 26).

An Escape

The military also satisfies a need for some young people to escape from painful life experiences, “a need for dependence … [drawing them] to the predictable, sheltered life … that they did not have growing up” (Wertsch, 1991, p. 17). Ridenour (1984) believes that military service becomes the extended family that was not experienced growing up. Sometimes, young married couples come into the military “as an escape from their respective families [only to] unconsciously run toward becoming part of a third extended family system” (p. 4). However, as Wertsch (1991) points out, “joining the military in order to put one’s self in the care of a good surrogate parent is hardly the sort of thing one is likely to advertise; in fact, it is a secret so deep-seated that those who act upon it … guard the secret carefully” (p. 17). This attempt to flee from childhood or family problems at home, however, often does not solve most problems; sometimes the violence, gang mentality, or addiction issues are simply brought with them into the military (Hall, 2008).

Characteristics of Our Military Culture

Most of the unique facets of military life that were described almost three decades ago remain true for military families today, including:

• frequent separations and reunions;
• regular household relocations;
• living life under the umbrella of the “mission must come first” dictum;
• the need for families to adapt to rigidity, regimentation and conformity;
• early retirement from a career in comparison to civilian counterparts;
• rumors of loss during a mission;
• detachment from the mainstream of nonmilitary life;
• the security of a system that exists to meet the families’ needs;
• work that usually involves travel and adventure;
• the social effects of rank on the family;
• the lack of control over pay, promotion, and other benefits.

(Ridenour, 1984)

While “it is evident … that large segments of our society deal with one or more of these aforementioned concerns and stresses … there may be no other major group that confronts so many or all of them” (1984, p. 3) at any given time.

Mary Wertsch (1991) defined this military society as a “Fortress” to differentiate it from the democratic society of most U.S. citizens. “The great paradox of the military is that its members, the self-appointed front-line guardians of our cherished American democratic values, do not live in democracy themselves” (p. 15). A number of characteristics of the Fortress that Wertsch discovered in her many interviews with adults who had grown up as military dependent children, are shared here. Having spent almost a decade working as a school counselor with military dependent children and youth, the author can attest to the validity of these characteristics.

Authoritarian Structure

The first characteristic is that the military world is maintained by a rigid authoritarian structure. The family must learn how to adapt its natural growth and development to the rigidity, regimentation and conformity that is required within the military system, as these characteristics often extend from the world of the service member into the structure of the home. It is important to point out, however, that while 80 percent of the military brats Wertsch interviewed described their families as authoritarian, “there are warriors who thrive in the authoritar...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of figures and tables
• Preface
• About the editor
• About the contributors
• Acknowledgments
• Part I The World of the Military
• Part II Special Populations
• Part III Clinical Challenges
• Part IV Services
• Part V Unique Concerns for Practitioners
• Index