Military Families and War in the 21st Century

This book focuses on the key issues that affect military families when soldiers are deployed overseas, focusing on the support given to military personnel and families before, during and after missions. Today's postmodern armies are expected to provide social-psychological support both to their personnel in military operations abroad and to their families at home. Since the end of the Cold War and even more so after 9/11, separations between military personnel and their families have become more frequent as there has been a multitude of missions carried out by multinational task forces all over the world. The book focuses on three central questions affecting military families. First, how do changing missions and tasks of the military affect soldiers and families? Second, what is the effect of deployments on the ones left behind? Third, what is the national structure of family support systems and its evolution? The book employs a multidisciplinary approach, with contributions from psychology, sociology, history, anthropology and others. In addition, it covers all the services, Army, Navy/Marines, Air Force, spanning a wide range of countries, including UK, USA, Belgium, Turkey, Australia and Japan. At the same time it takes a multitude of perspectives such as the theoretical, empirical, reflective, life events (narrative) approach, national and the global, and uses approaches from different disciplines and perspectives, combining them to produce a volume that enhances our knowledge and understanding of military families. This book will be of much interest to students of military studies, sociology, war and conflict studies and IR/political science in general.

René Moelker is an Associate Professor at the Netherlands Defense Academy. Manon Andres is an Assistant Professor at the Netherlands Defense Academy. Gary Bowen is Kenan Distinguished Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH), USA. Philippe Manigart is Professor of Sociology at the Royal Military Academy, Belgium.

Part I: Military Organizations and Families in Transition 1. Introduction, René Moelker, Manon Andres, Gary Bowen and Philippe Manigart 2. Transitions in the military and the family as greedy institutions: Original concept and current applicability, Karin De Angelis and Mady Wechsler Segal 3. Organizational culture and military families: The case of combat officers in the IDF, Meytal Eran-Jona 4. Dual military families: Confronting a stubborn military institution, David Smith 5. Profession and the military family in the armed forces of Argentina. Generational differences and socio-cultural changes, Sabina Frederic and Laura Masson Part II: Military Families under Stress 6. The emotional cycle of deployment, Maren Tomforde 7. The British military family, Christopher Dandeker, Claire Eversden, Catherine Birtles and Simon Wessely 8. Well-being of military families: Coping with the stressors of military life among spouses of Canadian Armed Forces members, Sanela Dursun and Kerry Sudom 9. Reintegration, reconciliation and relationship quality, Manon Andres, Karin De Angelis and David McCone 10. Stress, wounds, injuries and meaning: The effects of combat related PTSD on intimate relationships and partners, Rachel Dekel, Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth and Laura Sanchez 11. Children and deployment, a cross country comparison, Manon Andres and Julie Coulthard Part III: National Social-psychological Family Support 12. Missions alike and unlike: Military family support in war and peace, Jocelyn Bartone 13. Community capacity and the psychological well-being of married United States Air Force members, Gary Bowen, James Martin, Jay Mancini and Danielle Swick 14. The influence of the primary social environment on members of the Slovenian armed forces, Jelena Juvan and Janja Vuga 15. How do military families cope with multiple deployments abroad of loved ones: The case of Belgium, Philippe Manigart, Valerian Lecoq, and Salvatore Lo Bue 16. The invisible families of Portuguese soldiers. From colonial wars to contemporary missions, Helena Carreiras 17. Family support systems in the Turkish military, Kadir Varoglu, Yavuz Ercil and Unsal Sigri 18. "Down under:" Support to military families from an Australian perspective, Philip Siebler 19. Family support and the Japan Self-Defense Forces: Challenges and developing new programs, Hitoshi Kawano and Atsuko Fukuura 20. Epilogue, Manon Andres, Gary Bowen, Philippe Manigart and René Moelker