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

这个博士论文研究项目考察了150名前美国海军陆战队退伍军人，探索他们从军人生活到平民生活的过渡。当研究人员考虑退伍军人重返平民生活时，重点往往是他们的健康状况以及他们如何重新融入社会。然而，经常被忽视的一个方面是他们与其他服役人员之间形成的牢固纽带。这些关系如何影响他们在服役期间的记忆，以及他们在退伍后可能会如何塑造自己的生活？该项目培养了一名人类学研究生，他本人也是一名海军陆战队退伍军人，在这一过渡中拥有独特的途径和视角。该项目对退伍军人社区有重大而广泛的影响，特别是对未来海军陆战队退伍军人的过渡进程。这项研究的发现不仅对这一特殊的退伍军人群体和人类学研究人员有价值，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)和国家卫生研究院(NIH)分享。为了更广泛和更详细地了解退伍军人的社会环境和退伍军人的生活经历，该项目特别询问了退伍军人报告的经历在参加退伍军人团体活动的人和不参加退伍军人团体活动的人之间是否有所不同。方法包括个人和集体收集数据的方法：对具有代表性的退伍军人样本进行深入访谈，以及参加重温共同军事经历的集体活动。通过这项研究，这项研究旨在了解退伍军人不同的人生道路和职业是如何影响他们记忆和解释自己在军队的时光的。该项目分析数据，以确定某些健康问题在该群体中有多常见，他们离开军队后的经历如何改变他们对服役的记忆，以及与他们的军事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的情感、记忆和归属感理论，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NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力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.