Warring Identities

Abstract

Drawing from 26 life story interviews of recent American veterans, this paper analyzes the identity struggle faced by soldiers returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom and reentering the civilian world. Instead of examining veterans' problems as a consequence of post-combat mental illnesses such as PTSD and major depression, we analyze the contrast between the participants' identities as soldiers and their identities as civilians. We find that the postwar transition causes adverse mental health effects that stem from contrasts between the military's demands for deindividuation, obedience, chain-of-command, and dissociation and the civilian identity expectations of autonomy, self-advocacy, and being relational. Veterans' reintegration to civilian society is further hindered by a culture that is perceived (by veterans) as having decreased understanding of the soldier/veteran experience itself. These identity conflicts-what we term warring identities-have an important yet understudied effect on veterans' combat-related mental health problems.

Veterans’ Civilian Employment Experiences: Lessons Learnt From Focus Groups

“…Cultural differences between the military and civilian society created employment barriers due to clashes in communication, work ethic, and team work. Employment barriers due to militarycivilian cultural differences have been reported elsewhere in the literature (Atuel et al, 2016;Shields et al, 2016;Smith & True, 2014). The change in work ethic and environment can make civilian employment and life seem alienating and frustrating.…”

“…Military communication is marked by frequent use of acronyms, direct command orientated exchanges, and nuances in vocabulary and colloquialisms (Shields, Kuhl, Frender, Baurmann, & Lopresti, 2016). Mismatch in communication and being misunderstood can lead to feelings of invalidation, in turn creating challenges with social relationships, identity, belongingness, and self-esteem (Shields et al, 2016;Smith & True, 2014).…”

Pathways into homelessness among post-9/11-era veterans.

“…Homelessness typically came more than two years (and as long as 10 years) following their separation from the military. Two years represents the transition period (Rivers, Gordon, Speraw, & Reese, 2013;Rumann & Hamrick, 2010) when new veterans reconstruct civilian identities (Jolly, 1996;Smith & True, 2014) and, more practically, go about consolidating housing, employment, and financial and family arrangements (U.S. Government Accounting Office, 2014). Homelessness, insofar as it occurred after this transition period, more commonly represented a breakdown of the aforementioned arrangements, rather than a direct consequence of leaving the military.…”

Mixed methods study examining work reintegration experiences from perspectives of Veterans with mental health disorders

“…Specifically, one's sense of self, or self-concept, as defined through one's role as a Veteran may have a substantial impact on community reintegration long after returning from combat or separating from the military [16]. With regard to work, this notion is supported by past findings indicating that the meaning of work varies across persons according to their self-concept [17].…”

“…As a result, interacting with and understanding civilians can be a difficult process, which can extend into the workplace. Furthermore, reintegrating into civilian life also involves identity renegotiation [20], consisting of a changing sense of self, making meaning of military and war experiences [18], and integrating military experiences with prior self-concept and newly formed circumstances, e.g., a new civilian job or career [16]. Taken together, this literature suggests that work reintegration in light of the Veteran role is a potentially crucial area that warrants further exploration.…”