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

这篇博士论文研究项目调查了150名前美国海军陆战队战斗退伍军人，探索他们从军队到平民生活的过渡。当研究人员考虑退伍军人回归平民生活时，重点往往是他们的健康以及他们如何适应社会。然而，一个经常被忽视的方面是他们与其他服役人员建立的牢固纽带。这些关系如何影响他们对服役时间的记忆，以及它们如何影响他们退役后的生活？该项目培养了一名人类学研究生，他本人是一名海军陆战队老兵，对这一转变有着独特的接触和视角。该项目对退伍军人社区具有重大的广泛影响，特别是对未来海军陆战队退伍军人的过渡过程。这项研究的结果不仅对这一特殊的退伍军人群体和研究人类学的研究人员有价值，而且还将与更广泛的海军陆战队社区、海军陆战队国家博物馆、退伍军人事务部（VA）和国立卫生研究院（NIH）分享。在对退伍军人的社会环境和退伍后的生活经历进行更广泛和更详细的研究时，该项目特别询问参加退伍军人团体活动和没有参加退伍军人团体活动的退伍军人报告的经历是否有所不同。方法包括个人和集体收集数据的方法：对退伍军人的代表性样本进行深入访谈，并参与集体活动，重新回顾共同的军事经历。通过这种方式，研究旨在了解退伍军人不同的生活道路和职业如何影响他们如何记忆和解释他们在军队中的时间。该项目分析数据，以确定某些健康问题在该群体中有多普遍，他们离开军队后的经历如何改变他们的服役记忆，以及与军队战友的持续联系如何影响他们向平民生活的过渡。该项目推进了心理人类学中关于情感、记忆和归属感的理论，特别是关于仪式化经验和主观性之间的关系。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.