Falklands War veterans’ perceptions of social support and the reconciliation of traumatic memories

Abstract

The current paper focused on the role social support plays in the reconciliation of traumatic memories. Four currently serving, male Royal Marines ranging from 40-42 years participated in semi-structured one-to-one interviews that explored perceptions of social support. Using thematic analysis, comradeship was found to be important in terms of maintaining support networks. However, this resource was used to avoid the reconciliation of traumatic memories. Social support from family members was sought when veterans were reassured that relatives would understand their experiences, and could support reconciliation. The importance of positive societal reaction was also emphasized. The paper concludes by highlighting the potential for early life reconciliation of traumatic war memories through the creation of a meaningful personal narrative.

Psychological Growth in Aging Vietnam Veterans

“…Recent research has demonstrated that the receipt of gratitude can mitigate negative consequences and posttraumatic stress responses after war (Burnell, Coleman & Hunt, 2006;Hautamäki & Coleman, 2001). In addition, gratitude may promote motivation, daily selfregard and the pursuit of constructive, satisfying, and rewarding social activities, leading to personal growth (Kashdan, Uswatte & Julian, 2006;Wood, Joseph & Maltby, 2009).…”

Experiences in the war zone, shared narratives, and shifting identities: Systematic review of qualitative research.

“…Schok and colleagues (2010) describe a comradeship that was developed between soldiers on a mission in Cambodia where one soldier reports: "yes we went through fire for each other" (Schok, 2010, p.289). In the Burnell et al 2006 study, the comradeship during the Falklands War conflict was very important for soldiers and the bond that was created through shared experiences were expressed as follows: "There is a bond you form with these people... because you've been through the same experience that never goes away" (Burnell et al, 2006, p. 285). Kilshaw (2004) also explores the comradeship of the Gulf War veterans in the United Kingdom who defined themselves as a group sharing a physical illness, further categorizing their experiences within the framework of an illness narrative: "Everyone WAR EXPERIENCES, SHARED NARRATIVES, SHIFTING IDENTITIES 21 can associated with each other with each other's symptoms..…”

“…What other military personnel have experienced in wartime adds to the narrative of war zone stories that are not shared in quantitative studies, but can still provide insight into the problems faced by personnel and the collateral impact of war experience (such as working in WAR EXPERIENCES, SHARED NARRATIVES, SHIFTING IDENTITIES 20 dangerous environments) which can remain unknown or undiscovered for various reasons related to diagnosis, delayed onset of symptoms or other stressors encountered at home (Burnell, et al, 2006;Kilshaw, 2004). Vogt and colleagues studied Vietnam War veterans to compare the levels of satisfaction and attainment between personnel who served in military campaigns in Vietnam, and those who had never served at all (Vogt, King, King, Savarese & Suvak, 2004).…”

“…Gradually, the need for the application of systematic examinations of research design and analysis of findings in qualitative research is beginning to grow (Crowe & Sheppard, 2011), alongside the prevalence of more traditional quantitative systematic review. Researchers who adopt qualitative methods to conduct interviews with service personnel find that the experiences shared by veterans are information-rich (Burnell et al, 2006(Burnell et al, , 2009Kilshaw, 2003), however this method of data collection and analysis is underused. Complimenting quantitative with qualitative systematic review may also allow researchers to understand how ex-service personnel perceive the effectiveness of interventions that are available to them as healthcare service users.…”

“…As in Appendix 1, studies applied an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) (Shaw & Hector, 2010), or an ethnographic approach to data collection (Kilshaw, 2004). Other studies applied phenomenological, content analysis, thematic analysis and Grounded Theory models to assess transcripts of interviews (Schok, Kleber, Boeije, 2010;Scannell-Desch and Doherty, 2010;Burnell, Coleman & Hunt, 2006). Researchers used interviews and questionnaires completed by participants and analyzed data focusing on mental and physical health, experiences in combat, and life after leaving the military.…”