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George W. Appenzeller, LISW CP and AP
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04/10/2023 1
WORKING WITH MILITARY CHILDREN
AND FAMILIES2013 SC Children’s Trust Fund Prevention
Conference
Prevention Conference System Wide Solutions, Inc. 2013
04/10/2023Prevention Conference System Wide Solutions, Inc. 2013
2
Purposes Who are veterans, career military and their
children and families Who you are most likely to see Mental models that influence our decisions Most important influences of the military life
on children and families Some of the results of the military life on
children and families
WHAT WILL COVER
04/10/2023Prevention Conference System Wide Solutions, Inc. 2013
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To provide an overview of the cultural and social influences on military children and families that are different from civilian influences
To provide a framework into which to fit your existing knowledge
To provide information based on empirical and observational evidence rather than institutional and legal constructs
PURPOSES
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Who are veterans, career military and their children and
families?
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Wide Solutions, Inc. 2013 6
SERVICE BY GENERATION
00.10.20.30.40.50.60.7
Gre
ates
tG
ener
atio
n
Sile
ntG
ener
atio
n
Bab
yB
oom
ers
Gen
X’rs
Mill
enia
ls
GENERATION
PE
RC
EN
T
04/10/2023Prevention Conference System Wide Solutions, Inc. 2013
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Tota
l Vet
eran
s
Non-C
aree
r Vet
eran
s
Activ
e Car
eer V
eter
ans
Milita
ry R
etire
d Ve
tera
ns0
5000000
10000000
15000000
20000000
25000000
THE VETERAN POPULATION
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VETERAN POPULATION COMPARISONS
Total Veterans
Post 9/11 Only
Pre/Post 9/11
Active Duty
Res/NG0
5000000
10000000
15000000
20000000
25000000
04/10/2023Prevention Conference System
Wide Solutions, Inc. 2013 9
NON-CAREER VETERANS Served on active duty and chose not to be,
or were not allowed to be, career military
Veterans average 64 years of age in US
The number gets fewer and the average age gets a little higher every year
Prevention Conference System Wide Solutions, Inc. 2013
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CATEGORIES OF MILITARY FAMILIES
04/10/2023
Retire
d Car
eer
Retire
d Res
erve
Activ
e Dut
y
NG/Res
erve
Adul
t BRAT
0
2,000,000
4,000,000
6,000,000
8,000,000
10,000,000
12,000,000
14,000,000
16,000,000
04/10/2023Prevention Conference System Wide Solutions, Inc. 2013
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Retired Active Duty Reserve/NG Total 0
2000000
4000000
6000000
8000000
10000000
12000000
14000000
16000000
18000000
20000000
CHILDREN BY COMPONENT
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All Single Parents Women Single Parents 0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
ACTIVE DUTY SINGLE PARENTS
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All Dual MiIitary Spouse Women Dual Military Spouse 0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
ACTIVE DUTY DUAL MILITARY SPOUSE
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Career Military w/Families Non-Career Military w/Families0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
ACTIVE DUTY MEMBERS WITH FAMILIESCAREER VS NON-CAREEER
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Ten times as many veterans served before 9/11 than after 9/11
Most veterans are older individuals with largest proportion from Vietnam Era
There are almost four times as many retired career personnel than active duty career personnel
If you are working with children, you are most likely to see the children of active duty personnel, younger retired personnel and recent veterans.
Women in the military with children are more likely to have less support than men.
CONCLUSIONS
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Mental models that influence our decisions
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War and combat are the root cause of problems among military and military families/BRATS
The US Military is a microcosm of the US itself
culturally, socially and demographically
Veterans and Regular Military Professionals are pretty much the same
COMMON MENTAL MODELS
Prevention Conference System Wide Solutions, Inc. 2013
04/10/2023Prevention Conference System Wide Solutions, Inc. 2013
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Deployed in Support
On Ground
Contact with Enemy
Combat MOS
0 1,000,000 2,000,000 3,000,000
PERSONNEL ENGAGED IN OVERSEAS CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS (GWT)
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Overall veteran rate up 10% since 1999
Overall civilian rate up 31% since 1999
Mean age of veteran suicide is 55
Veterans under 30 have lower suicide rate than non-veterans under 30
Among post-9/11 veterans who suicide, 53% had not deployed and 85% were not in combat
EXAMPLE OF MISUNDERSTANDINGS: SUICIDES AMONG MILITARY VETERANS
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Younger than US population as a whole Better paid than US workers as a whole More likely to be from rural areas or small
towns More likely to be from the South More likely to be white, non-Hispanic More likely to be married with children More likely to identify self as conservative Much more likely to come from a military
family
DEMOGRAPHICS OF US MILITARY
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DIFFERENT PERCEPTIONS
Career Military view Civilian view
To the career military and their families military service never ends even after retirement.
The DoD and the military branch is the provider of services and what one identifies with.
To the public and the non-career person who served and their families, military service has an end point.
The VA is where one goes to receive help after separation or discharge
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George A. Appenzeller
George W. Appenzeller
George N. Appenzeller
Lauren Appenzeller
George Forest Appenzeller
Katherine Appenzeller
Matthew N. Appenzeller
Gail Appenzeller Riddle
Tony Appenzeller
Peggy A. Martin
Forest P. Newman, Jr.
Susan Newman Appenzeller
Forest P. Newman III
Roger Newman
Mark Newman
4 generations4 career military1 veteran11 military BRATs
04/10/2023Prevention Conference System Wide Solutions, Inc. 2013
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Combat doesn’t appear to be the most important factor in the effects of military service on most individuals who serve and their children and families
People who have served in the military since the All-Volunteer Force was instituted are not representative of the general population
Career military and non-career veterans are different from one another in a number of important ways
CONCLUSIONS
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Most important influences of the military life
on members and families
04/10/2023
To maintain civilian control
To control the violence implicit and explicit in military service
To make what in civilian life is aberrational become aspirational
To normalize what would in civilian life be unacceptable social and work conditions
Military Life and its Families System Wide Solutions, Inc. 2013 25
PURPOSES OF US MILITARY CULTURE
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Wide Solutions, Inc. 2013 26
BASICS OF US MILITARY CULTURE
Limited rights and different laws- Title 10 US Code of Laws
Can-do optimism
Limited candor
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Amoral
Authoritarian
Obedience expected and demanded
Accountable only to the chain of command
Loyalty, duty and honor highly valued
Military Life and its Families System Wide Solutions, Inc. 2013 27
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Wide Solutions, Inc. 2013 28
Aggression highly valued
History and tradition honored
Only minimal casualties acceptable
Social interactions based on caste system
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Social dependency through all-encompassing system of care
Nationalistic
Priorities are:◦ mission
institution career
fellow members and retired members families
Military Life and its Families System Wide Solutions, Inc. 2013 29
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Civilian culture values individual freedom - military culture must limit freedom
Civilian culture values equality - military culture depends on inequality
Civilian culture values achievement, with limitations - military culture is ruthlessly achievement oriented
Civilian culture values self-interest - military culture values self-sacrifice
Contrasts W/Civilian Culture
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The occupational-social spectrum under the special mission of the military - no civilian analogue
Military organized by status Rank and caste system is visible everywhere Social dependency limits growth
opportunities and maximizes social control opportunities ‣ Behavior of military member is the
responsibility of the commander at all times
THE SOCIAL MATRIX
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Highly structured society requires that all members of military family be accountable for their actions
Behavior of a family member is a direct reflection on the military member so child’s self-worth and identity are directly tied to the family
Pressure on the child and family to conform to values of the culture
Developing and maintaining beliefs worth dying for may be necessary for the family to survive as a unit
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By moving continuously, self-identity could be lost through the loss of those who become part of that identity.
A new life must be reconstructed in a new community with new roles at each move
Many military families and BRATS display typical military determination when they relocate by denying their grief and loss
IDENTITY FORMATION FOR FAMILIES AND BRATS
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The military family and the military BRAT may project unresolved feelings from previous relationships with new relationships - there is no time to resolve feelings.
In an ultimate betrayal, for the BRAT, even the security and structure of the military is eventually taken away from them
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The life of military families, especially of military BRATS, could be described as a cycle of loss, grief, reorganization, loss, grief, reorganization and so on.
Unfortunately, for the BRAT, the loss and grief may very well be disenfranchised by the parents and other authority figures.
LOSS AND GRIEF CYCLES
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The social construction of the military family is
◦ Based in military culture
◦ Supported and controlled by all needs being taken care of by the military
◦ Isolated in a social matrix with no civilian analogue
◦ Formed as an identity in a military context
◦ Lived in a cycle of grief, loss and reorganization
CONCLUSIONS
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Some of the results of the military life on families
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• Living in a subculture of social dependence within a dominant culture that highly values independence
• Living in a classist subculture within a dominant culture that denies classism
• Limiting family life by continuously moving in a subculture that extolls the virtues of family life
• Required to be team players in a culture that is highly competitive
• Loss of contact with community and extended family outside of military in a dominant culture that emphasizes community and extended family.
KEY STRESSORS FOR MILITARY FAMILIES- DOUBLE BINDS
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The competition for career status and living in the double binds leads to stresses that create problems even for those families who make it to career status
For those families who don’t make it to career status, the personal investment in the military is lost
CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS OF THE MILITARY LIFE FOR FAMILIES
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Family construction for military families is different from family construction for civilian families
The military family lives in an environmental bubble
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Purposes Who are veterans, career military and their
families Who you are most likely to see in your
practice Mental models that influence our decisions Most important influences of the military life
on members and families Some of the results of the military life on
families
WHAT WE COVERED
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Some of the problems we see with military families have to do with their environment
Some of the problems we see with military families have to do with their culture.
We often interpret behavior from the viewpoint of mainstream culture and experience including the conceptual frame of and DSM.
DO WE OVER PATHOLOGIZE?
Working With Military, Military Families and Military Brats is All About:◦ Cultural Sensitivity◦ Accepting the Person in their environment ◦ Understanding their environment◦ Helping them understand their environment◦ Helping them accept and use or reject and leave
their environment
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Wide Solutions, Inc. 2013 44
WORKING WITH THE CAREER MILITARY FAMILY
04/10/2023
You do not need to know “special” methods to work with military families any more than you need to know “special” methods to work with anyone else. You use what you are comfortable with and knowledgeable of.
What you do need to know is the context and particulars of the life experience and life style of the individuals and their families.
You then need to decide what, if any, of your skills and knowledge may be helpful.
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METHODS
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George W. Appenzeller, LISW CP and APPO Box 11391Columbia, SC 29211(803)[email protected]
CONTACT INFORMATION