Veteran Subculture

A veteran can best be described as any individual that served in military service no matter the length of their service and no matter their role. Veterans can best be described as a subculture given that it creates a small community that is differentiated from the normal society. A subculture is best defined as a shared system of believes, customs, norms and psychological processes. This element of definition greatly apply to veteran status, they come home from combat and enter the purgatory of a veteran. Here they are not active soldiers, they are not true civilians either and so they create their own culture of veterans. They have their own manner of communication and symbols for instance red poppies are their veteran symbol, which is defined as a national symbol of sacrifice. As Brenda a veteran that served for four years in Afghanistan indicates, veterans do not mind including civilians in their gatherings. The problems is that civilians do not always fit in because they tend to ask the wrong questions, and engage in offensive discussions that the veterans prefer not to talk about. Brenda indicates that their veteran community is informed by the shared experience. Their shared values are motivated from their service to their country, their shared training experiences and their shared mission including preparation for war and national defense. The common understanding generates a set of basic cultural beliefs and norms that distinguish the veterans from civilians.

Language and norms among veterans

In military structures, there is a shared language that helps in making communication among the soldiers to be effective.  Veterans communicate in a stiff, formulaic and formal manner; they do not apply the use of personal pronouns because they are taught to always work as a team in the military (Davis, p 20). Brenda illustrates some of the special vocabulary that they have as veterans; ‘ bird’ means a helicopter in military language, ‘bang-bang’ is another name for a rifle, ‘the hawk’ is a phrase used to refer to a cold weather. All these vocabularies and many others are only understood by individuals that have served in the military and they are important in helping them understand the unspoken dynamics. Jobs in the military are normally classified by codes and not descriptions like in the civilian society.  Veterans are used to protocol; they understand the concept of respect and hierarchy, which is what, guides them to complete their duties (Davis, p 20). These concepts are not really relevant in the normal civilian society and this lack of consistency tends to be challenging for the veterans. Military branches may be different in that they have different cultural systems; these systems are however shared across the branches making them a subgroup.

Loneliness, isolation and PTSD among veterans

Loneliness and social isolation are some of the traits that can be used to define veterans of all ages. This has created room for post traumatic disorder (PTSD) being one of the most common health disorders that veterans have to deal with in their everyday lives (Demers, p 162).   PTSD is always perceived as a weakness of character and though there are counselling centres that are available today in response to the mental health needs of the veterans, not many veterans use them. The prevalence of PTSD, substance abuse and depression is very high among veterans and it is some of the problems that they have to deal with in their daily lives (Demers, p 162). Female veterans as compared to male veterans have higher risks of suffering from PTSD especially from sexual assault during their military service. All veterans tend to experience some difficulty while transitioning back to the civilian society and this poses threat to their identity (Demers, p 164).

As Brenda explains, the frequent movements when they were in service affects their social lives because it entails a disruption of close relationships and friendships that were formed during service.  As Brenda explains, friendships formed during service are important to veterans because they help create military identity. These bonds are broken when one leaves service and it is what leads to loneliness on the veterans, where most of them like in her case joined the military to escape abusive family relationships. Coming back home after service was not easy for her, it meant a separation from the people she considered family and a place she had come to accept as home. She felt lost and lonely and ended up engaging in substance abuse as a way of trying to cope with her loneliness. This is why veterans have a tendency of sticking together and it is even more common for them to live near military bases that they served to sustain the friendship formed during service.

Negative stereotype on veterans

The society has created a stereotype where all veterans are assumed to suffer from a mental breakdown. Veterans have over the years been perceived to be short tempered loners, who have no human emotions and do not work well with other people (Demers, p 163). This stereotype has disadvantaged the veterans from acquiring jobs most of which require emotional expressions and understanding of other people. Employers disregard veterans even when they are fully qualified for certain jobs that require them to work with people, forcing them to take up roles where there is no much human interactions (Demers, p 164). The media also has its role in this because they do not try to intervene and share the stories of these veterans for the society to understand their true stories. All they do is make headlines of what a small part of the veteran population has ethically done wrong and paint the whole veteran population as criminals that the society need to look out for. Breda indicates that the negative stereotype affects and it sometimes motivates them to engage in immoral activities just to confirm the negative stereotype. The negative stereotype has led the veterans not to seek mental health services because they fear confirming the stereotype and it aggravates their mental health.

Gender roles

When it comes to gender roles, female veterans just like the normal civilian society are to an extent neglected. People in the society always assume that veterans are only males and consideration is hence not given to the female soldiers that come home from combat.  As Brenda indicates, many women that leave military service always expect that it will be much easier for them in the civilian community than for the men. This is however not true, these female veterans have to prove their abilities in order to earn their place in the society, which is not always easy, given the issue of gender inequality. Brenda indicates that female veterans try to appear and operate on traditional gender roles applied to women and it does not work because they have experienced another sense of duties that do not conform to traditional gender roles.

In her case, Brenda says that she was always at odds with the traditional expectations of the society as she did not understand whether to take up traditional roles or be her military disciplined self. This was a significant drawback that affected her ability to fit in the civilian society and it affects all female veterans in general. The population of women in military is much less than the men and so women in the army have very tight relations, they support one another and stick together through the good and the bad. In the civilian society, Brenda indicates that she was often judged because of being masculinity and engaging in the traditional male roles. Instead of fitting in the society, the uniqueness of the female veterans causes them to stand out and it makes the people around them uncomfortable. Female veterans in order to fit in are forced to forget and lose the identities that they developed in the military and assume the traditional gender roles.

How to improve communication between veterans and civilians

In order to bridge the communication divide that is there between civilians and the veterans, the society need to first acknowledge the cultural differences. The military and the civilian cultural settings are different in that they speak different languages and also have different protocols (Davis, p 21). Employers need to understand the correct questions to ask the veteran candidates in order to understand their qualifications. The skills and experiences that veterans have can be a great asset for an employer if they are understand and treated appropriately (Davis, p 22). The veterans should always be provided with a support system to help them transition well in the society. This will help them feel appreciated and improve their output in the society. The society should foster a sense of belonging for the veterans. Veterans need to find something to do in order to find a sense of purpose and offering them jobs can greatly help them find this purpose. Veterans on their part need to cultivate a mind-set of growth; they should thrive on challenges and take failure as an opportunity for stretching existing abilities and growth. They should be open to feedback and also give it back in a manner that it will be well received. Everything that one does as a veteran should be in the same military discipline that they were trained the military.

Future prospects of veteran community

The veteran subculture will continue to grow and become successful as the society accept and understand them. This understanding will help to reduce the negative stereotype, motivating the veterans to work hard to secure their place in the civilian society. As of today, veterans on the whole are better educated with 89% of those that are 25 years and above having high school diploma as compared the 81.6% of the civilian population (Davis, p 22). 25% of these veterans also have at least a bachelor’s degree as compared to 18.9% of the civilian population. Veterans also earn much more with their median income being 5% higher than that of their peers; this means that veterans are less likely to suffer poverty (Davis, p 22). 70% of the veterans have stable families with children, less than 1% of them are homeless.

Most of the successful people in the American society today, whether business leaders, senators or celebrities among others are all veterans, an illustration of the growth in the veteran culture. An understanding of the differences there are between the military culture and the civilian culture can greatly help to understand the veterans and their positions in the society. The society at large needs to be educated on how to interact with veterans to avoid motivation of negative stereotype. The media, which have a great impact on the society, need to start addressing these issue in a manner that they educate the society to love and give veterans an opportunity to transition back without judging them. Doing this will help the civilian society to reduce their negative stereotype on the veterans and build better relationships between them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Demers, Anne. “When Veterans Return: The Role of Community in Reintegration.” Journal

of Loss & Trauma, vol. 16, no. 2, Mar. 2011, pp. 160–179. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/15325024.2010.519281.

This article explores the challenges that are faced by veterans as they are transitioning back to civilian life. Demers in his research indicates that the integration greatly impacts on the mental health of the veterans causing them to be distressed that find themselves caught between the civilian and military cultures. Veterans feel alienated from their families and friends and thus experience a crisis of identity. Stigma and negative stereotype causes the veteran not to seek mental health care to deal with the trauma that they experienced while in service.  Health care providers need to understand the cultural needs of veterans including matters of stigma in order to provide effective care to them. This article is important in this research as it helps support the loneliness nature of veterans.

Davis, Tim. “VETS OFFER SKILLS YOU CAN’T TEACH: Former Military Personnel

Have a Range of Skills and Values That Can Improve Your Franchise.” Franchising World, vol. 51, no. 6, June 2019, pp. 20–22. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=136876042&site=ehost-live.

This article explores the strengths that veterans have as compared to civilians. Davis argues that veterans have unique qualities that help make them the best employees and employer should consider employing them any chance they get. The article argues that veterans are good team players and they can overcome any challenge because these are some of the lessons they learnt while in service.  The society has failed when it comes to giving veterans a chance to get back to their lives as civilians after service. The military lifestyle is one that includes protocols and veterans are people who were trained to adapt to stress. The article argues that the society should try and understand the situations of the soldiers in order for them to offer the needed support to the veterans.  This article is important in this study because it helps to show the strengths that veterans have and how the society can use this strength for the good of the economy.

Interview Questions for Brenda a veteran

• Where did you serve and for how long?
• What was your experience as a soldier serving far away from home?
• How did you feel when you learnt you would be coming back home?
• How did your family and community receive you when you came home?
• How were you able to readjust to civilian life?
• Did you deal with loneliness and trauma after you were back?
• Did you seek mental health care?
• Do you keep in touch with other veterans?
• Is your experience as a female veteran different from the male veterans?
• What are some of the challenges that you face as a veteran in the civilian society?
• What message would you want to pass to your fellow veterans and also the civilian society?