Doctoral Dissertation Research: Psychosocial Dimensions of the Transition to Civilian Life among Former Combat Veterans

This doctoral dissertation research project examines a group of 150 former U.S. Marine Corps combat veterans, exploring their transition from military to civilian life. When researchers have considered veterans transitioning back into civilian life, the focus has tended to be on their health and how they fit back into society. However, one aspect that is often overlooked is the strong bonds they formed with their fellow service members. How do these relationships affect their memories of their time in the service, and how might they shape their lives after the military? The project trains a graduate student in anthropology, himself a Marine combat veteran with unique access and perspective into this transition. The project has significant Broader Impacts for veteran communities, particularly with respect to the transitioning processes of future Marine corps veterans. The findings from this study will not only be valuable to this particular group of veterans and researchers studying anthropology but will also be shared with the wider Marine Corps community, the National Museum of the Marine Corps, the Veterans Affairs (VA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In taking a broader and more detailed look at veterans' social milieu and post military life experiences, this project asks specifically whether the experiences that veterans report differ among those who participate in veteran group events and those that do not. Methods include both individual and collective methods of data collection: in-depth interviews with a representative sample of veterans, and participation in group events where shared military experiences are revisited. Through this, the research aims to understand how the different life paths and occupations of veterans affect how they remember and interpret their time in the military. The project analyzes data to ascertain how common certain health issues are in the group, how their experiences after leaving the military change their memories of service, and how ongoing connections with their military comrades influence their transition to civilian life. The project advances theories of affect, memory, and belonging in psychological anthropology, particularly with regard to the relationship between ritualized experience and subjectivity. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.