SOCIAL WORK AND MILITARY FAMILIES: DEPLOYMENT CYCLE

 

Social Work and Military Families

Catherine O'Neil, Nikki Barnes, Karrie Remmer

Fayetteville State University

Mrs. Molly N. Williams, MSW

INTRODUCTION

Since the beginning of the war in the Middle East, military families have experienced the emotional trauma of deployment. For Deploying service members and families, there are resources available to help during transitions. Although the military has faced many challenges since the war, social work has made solutions to provide military families with hope and encouragement to help them to focus on their families while loved ones are deployed, and guide them with a foundation to build upon within their families. With many programs and services available to the military families, they are able to use these services for many issues in their lives.

PROBLEM STATED

Since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack, American troops have been deployed almost 3.3 million times to Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Defense Department Data (Tan, 2009). It is estimated that more than 2 million men and women have shouldered those deployments with 793,000 of them deploying more than once (Tan, 2009). Many of the services members are National Guard and Military Reservists called to duty.

EARLY LITERATURE ON MILITARY FAMILIES

Military families have been a part of the United States armed services for over the last two centuries, but military life for families has changed along with societal changes (Pryce et al., 2012, p. 120).

During the Gulf War, deployment of 199-1991 came at a terrible time for military families (Baker, 2008, p. 122). This made military life a never-ending aggravation for families.

Today each branch of the armed services has developed a large number of support services for families. In fact, there are many programs designed to address the needs of military families.

With the help of welcome packets, a spouse, and an orientation briefing, most military families can adjust to life on a new base without many problems, especially if they have been through the process.

CHILD CLINGING TO HIS SOLDIER FATHER’S LEG WHILE HE HUGS HIS MOTHER ( WORLD WAR II DECEMBER 1944)

CHANGES IN THE MILITARY

The military is giving so much attention to the needs of family members now, because most of its history the military did not acknowledge the existence of family members at all.

If an officer or soldier wanted to bring his family with him, he paid for their transportation himself. Some wives remained with their parents, seeing their husband briefly every few years. Since the 19th century, military wives and children have participated in America’s huge global military(Baker, 2008, p. 119).

MAJOR POLICY CHANGES ADDRESSING FAMILIES

In 1983, Army Chief of Staff General John Wickman published “The White Paper- The Army Family”. The covenant is the Army’s commitment to take care of soldiers and their families, to standardize and fund family programs and services, provide top-quality healthcare, improve housing, ensure excellence in schools and childcare and expand education and employment opportunities for families. In the past 27 years, 192 changes been made towards program and services (Sondra, 1994).

ARMY FAMILY COVENANT

You are changing your life for the Army, so it seems that a bond should be formed that lets you know this is not a commitment taken lightly. The Army will look out for you, your soldier and your entire family. For we are all one family in the Army and should act accordingly(Pryce et al., 2012, p 124).

COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF MILITARY LIFE

Military members and families from all branches of the service all share certain characteristics

Benefits of the military include 30 days paid vacation, healthcare, housing or housing allowances, job security, training and upward mobility

Most military posts and installations have recreation facilities, churches, an exchange for household and personal tax-free purchases, package stores for alcoholic and nonalcoholic purchase, dry-cleaning services, various social clubs, mental health services and counseling, child-care centers, youth services, schools, employment assistance, beauty and barber shops and movie theaters (Pryce, et al., 2012)

COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF MILITARY LIFE CONTINUED… Brings unique challenges that everyday civilians are not

faced with. Early military members were mostly unmarried; less than

one-fourth enlisted (Booth et al., 2007). The emergence of married enlisted brought situations that the army had not dealt with in the past.

The military family is often times relocated to other areas within the States and sometimes to other countries.

They are away from their extended family members and often times feel isolated.

The military member is usually working long hours and the spouse or caregiver is left to take care of the family and home by themselves.

Empirical evidence shows that the strain on military families from separations, deployments, and reintegration at post-deployment is a major source of marital discord, poor parenting skills, and no communication between the family members (Blount, Curry, & Lubin, 1992)

PHOTOS OF MILITARY FAMILIES ACROSS BRANCHES

MILITARY READINESS: AN ONGOING ISSUE

The ongoing issues of family readiness have continued to adapt to changing environment, and family programs will continue as well to serve soldiers and families and ensure mission readiness. More than 660 issues have been identified and leading 123 to legislative changes (Brouker, 2011).

SOLDIERS DRILLING

MILITARY FAMILIES SEEKING HELP FOR MENTAL HEALTH

Variety of sources for military family members in need of mental health services

The service member and family have access to counseling on the military post or installation

Are also able to utilize Military OneSource and identify a list of local mental health providers and up to twelve prepaid counseling sessions can be offered to the service member or family.

Military is trying to dispel the stigma attached to seeking help because of a mental health problem. Primary Barrier to seeking help is stigma.

(Categorized as three different types of stigma)Public or Societal StigmaIndividualized Stigma Institutional Stigma(Corrigan & Watson, 2002)

TAKING A LITTLE BREAK: MAIL

L

TAKING A LITTLE BREAK: MAIL CALL

TRANSITIONAL DENSITY AND FAMILY SURVIVAL Transitional density is the term used to describe how a family

can get to the breaking point. Over the course of a lifetime, a family will experience many

transitions and role changes. Being separated from family due to deployments and

redeployments causes more stress than an average marriage experiences.

These stressors are a threat to the survival of families and sometimes the family cannot overcome the stress.

The Army Family Readiness Handbook (Lee, 2002), advises that if a family can learn to utilize positive coping methods then there likely to be successful in making it through a separation.

The handbook however, only has recommendations dealing with a single deployment. There are many questions about whether or not it is realistic to believe that persons shall be able to continue to cope through numerous deployments. “A deployment of fifteen months is fertile ground for divorce, as is a deployment of thirty or sixty months. Families are not meant to be separated like this.” (Pryce et al., 2012, p 134)

PRE-DEPLOYMENT, SEPARATION, POST-DEPLOYMENT & REINTEGRATION PERIODS

During pre-deployment arrangements are made to get families ready while the service member is deployed. Wills and powers of attorneys are obtained and financial arrangements are made, anxiety about the unknown (Martin, Rosen, & Sparacino, 2002).

During deployment spouses of the military member miss the companionship of their significant other. There is stress with having to do the day-to-day tasks and chores required to maintain the household. There are also events that are missed due to deployments like births of babies, graduations, and holidays (Martin, Rosen, & Sparacino, 2002).

When the service member returns from deployment the reunion can be complicated. Some people have the unrealistic expectation that everything will be wonderful when they return home. Some feel that everything should fall back into the same routine that was in place prior to the deployment. Successful reintegration begins when everyone understands that it takes time to adjust to family changes that have occurred while the service member was deployed (Martin, Rosen, & Sparacino, 2002).

PRE-DEPLOYMENT, SEPARATION, & POST-DEPLOYMENT CYCLE

SECONDARY TRAUMATIC STRESS

Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) occurs whenever a family member or a caregiver of a traumatized person becomes indirectly traumatized (Schiraldi, 2000).

Whenever STS occurs, the caregiver may even experience similar signs and symptoms of trauma such as emotional distress and sleep disturbance.

Whenever a family member takes on the role of caregiver for the military member who is suffering from PTSD they end up falling into the same patterns as the one who is actually affected with PTSD.

They may find themselves watching certain circumstances or people who may set them off in order to try and avoid a conflict so that nothing will aggravate or upset the veteran.

FINDINGS

Much more is being asked of military families than ever before.

Impact of the mental health of military spouses had not been studied until recent years.

250,626 Army wives were studied and it was determined that those who had a spouse deployed versus wives that did not, were more likely to be diagnosed with depression, sleep disorders, anxiety, acute stress reactions, and adjustment disorders(Hoge et al., 2004).

The longer the deployment the greater the incidences of mental health problems (Hoge et al., 2004).

FINDINGS: CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

There are 1.76 million children and youth that are part of military families (Sogomonyan & Cooper, 2010).

These children are mostly under the age of eleven and most of them come from a household that is active duty versus reserves.

Children of military families may experience mental health trauma due to the stress of military life.

Factors such as multiple deployments, frequent moves, and possibly having a parent who is injured or who was killed in action can be a reality that many military children face.

CONCLUSION

Multiple deployments have become a part of the new normal in today’s armed forces. Many of the branches of service have developed a large number of support services for the service member and their families. There is still a need to explore the impact that deployments are having on military families as well as the service member. Also, to educate and provide awareness, resources and programs on issues related to the deployment cycle and the need for well informed social workers and other helping professionals.

HELPFUL RESOURCES

Military OneSource

Tragedy Assistance Program For Survivors

VA Caregiver Support PTSD Support and

Information Our Military Kids

http://www.militaryonesource.mil/

www.taps.org/

www.caregiver.va.gov/

www.ptsdsupport.net/

www.ourmilitarykids.org/

REFERENCES

Baker, A. (2008). Life in the U.S. Armed Forces: Not Just Another Job. Westport, CT: Praeger Security International.Booth, B., Segal, M. W., Bell, D. B., Ender, M. G., Rohall, D. E., & Nelson, J. (2007). What We Know About Army Families: 2007 Update. Retrieved from MWR Brand Central website:http://www.mwrbrandcentral.com/Blount, W., Curry, A., & Lubin, G. I. (1992). Family separations in the military. In Military Medicine (157(2) ed., pp. 76-80).Brouker, S. (2011). Meeting Needs. Soldiers, 66(6), 8. Retrieved from www.ebscohost.comCorrigan, P. W., & Watson, A. C. (2002). The impact of stigma on service access and participation. Behavioral Health Recovery Management project.Hoge, C. W., Castro, C. A., Messner, D., McGurk, D., Cotting, D. I., & Koffman, R. L. (2004). Combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, mental health problems and barriers to care. New England Journal of Medicine, 351(1), 13-23. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1056/NEJMoa040603Lee, S. (Ed.). (2002). The army family readiness handbook: family deployment readiness for the active army, the army national guard, and the army reserve . []. Retrieved from ttp://www.1id.army.mil/documents/frg/Army_Family_Readiness_Handbook-OperationREADY.pdfMartin, J. A., Rosen, L. N., & Sparacino, L. R. (Eds.). (2002). Providing family support during military deployments. The military family a practice guide for human service providers (pp. 139-152). Westport, Ct: Pracger PublishersPryce, J. G., Pryce, D.H, & Shackelford, K. K. (2012). The Costs of Courage: Combat Stress, Warriors, and Family Survival. Chicago, IL: Lyceum Brooks, Inc.Schiraldi, G. R. (2000). The post-traumatic stress disorder sourcebook a guide to healing,  recovery, and growth. Los Angeles, Calif.: Lowell House  Secondary PTSD. (n.d.). Family of a Vet. Retrieved January 15, 2013, from  Sogomonyan, F., & Cooper, J. (2010). Trauma Faced by Children of Military Families. National Center for Children in Poverty, 1, 1-13. Retrieved January 12, 2013, from http://www.nccp.org/publications/pdf/text_938.pdf Sondra, A. (1994). Military Recognition of Family Concerns: Revolutionary War to 1993. Armed Forces & Society, 20(2), 283-302. Retrieved from www.ebscohost.comTan, M. (2009, December 18). 2 million Troops deployed since 9/11. Marines Corp Times. Retrievedfromhttp://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/12/military_deployments_12180

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work was supported by Fayetteville State University: Department of Social Work

Mrs. Molly Williams, MSW, Professor- Research Mentor