Negotiating civilian and military lives: Reserves, family and work

英国武装部队目前正在经历前所未有的变化，这将需要专职(正规)和兼职(预备役)军事人员以新的方式协同工作。这些变化将特别影响陆军，包括大规模裁减正规士兵，增加招募和依赖预备役人员。实现国防优先事项所需的灵活性和一体化将需要反映在预备役人员、他们的家人和关系以及他们的文职就业如何成功地相互联系和相互支持上。关于家庭、雇主和同事对兼职服兵役名额的需求，联合王国很少进行研究。众所周知，这些要求会影响预备役军人的健康结果，其方式与施加给正规军的不同。关于它们对预备役军人(平民)就业、职业发展、家庭和关系的影响，人们知之甚少。我们的小规模发展研究发现，预备役部队往往在其文职工作、军事参与和家庭生活的边缘开展工作，但有必要更好地了解这些需求以及它们如何相互交织，并将重点扩大到不同类型的预备役部队，例如，包括那些以前是常客的预备役人员。作为需求的对立面，国防部磋商的结果表明，家庭和文职雇主的支持对于鼓励预备役人员并将其保留在兵役中至关重要。因此，我们的目标是通过对主要是陆军预备役人员、他们的家人、他们的文职雇主和同事的经历进行多方法研究，以更好地了解兼职服兵役对家庭和关系的影响，并深入了解如何最好地支持预备役人员以丰富政策和做法并为其提供信息。这项研究将由一个拥有家庭社会学、心理学、就业和军事研究专业知识的多学科团队进行，包括三个相互关联的工作包(WPS)。在WP1中，我们将在项目期间(30个月)的两个时间点对20名现役预备役军人(代表各种军衔，包括不同年龄、族裔和军事职业类型的男女)进行深入的定性访谈。这一纵向因素将使我们能够检查保留者在谈判他们不同的世界方面的生活经验，以及这些经验如何随着时间的推移而改变。在这份工作计划中，还将采访每个储备队的两名家庭成员以及他们的文职雇主或一名工作同事，总共从80名受访者中产生120次采访。WP2将利用在线数字调查方法，进一步探索从我们的定性数据中出现的主题。调查将侧重于保护区及其家属，并将使我们能够在更广泛的样本中更详细地调查支助的各个方面，如关系的性质和质量。WP3将确保这项研究的综合和更广泛的传播。我们将与一系列利益相关者(国防部、政策制定者)开展三个重点小组，并将在整个项目中通过面对面和在线方法相结合的方式让其他用户参与，包括国际用户(例如美国和加拿大国防部)。持续的用户参与将最大限度地提高我们调查结果的实践和政策相关性。结果将通过学术会议报告和期刊产出以及建议和信息以方便使用的格式向各种受众传播，包括与国防部的政策简报和实践者研讨会。

The British Armed Forces are currently undergoing unprecedented changes that will require full-time (Regular) and part-time (Reserve) military personnel to work together in new ways. These changes will affect the Army in particular, and will include a large-scale redundancy programme for Regular soldiers and increased recruitment of and reliance on Reserves. The flexibility and integration required to meet Defence priorities will need to be mirrored in how Reserves, their families and relationships, and their civilian employment, successfully mesh and become mutually supportive. Little research has been done in the United Kingdom (UK) regarding the demands part-time military service places on families, employers and co-workers. These demands are known to affect health outcomes for Reservists in ways different to those placed on Regulars. Less is known regarding their impact on Reservist's (civilian) employment, career progression, families and relationships. Our small-scale development study found that Reserves are often operating on the margins of their civilian working world, their military engagement and their family life, but there is a need to better understand these demands and how they intersect, and to extend the focus across different types of Reserves, for example including those who have previously served as Regulars. As a counterpoint to demands, findings from MoD consultations suggest that support from families and from civilian employers is crucial in encouraging Reserves and retaining them in military service. However, the detailed nature of such supports, and how they may intersect with demands, is unknown.We therefore aim to address these gaps in knowledge through a multi-methods study of the experiences of mainly Army Reserves, their families, their civilian employers and work colleagues to better understand how part-time military service impacts upon families and relationships and gain insight into how Reserves can be best supported to enrich and inform policy and practice. The research will be undertaken by a multidisciplinary team with expertise in family sociology, psychology, employment and military studies and comprises three linked work packages (WPs). In WP1 we will conduct in-depth qualitative interviews with 20 serving Reserves (representing a range of ranks and including men and women of different ages, ethnic origin and type of military employment) at two points over the duration of the project (30 months). This longitudinal element will allow us to examine the Reservist's lived experience of negotiating their different worlds and how these may change over time. In this WP will also interview two family members for each Reserve as well as their civilian employer or a work colleague, generating a total of 120 interviews from 80 interviewees. WP2 will utilise on-line digital survey methods to explore further the themes emerging from our qualitative data. The survey will be focused on Reserves and their families and will allow us to investigate aspects of e.g. support, such as the nature and quality of relationships, in more detail and amongst a much wider sample. WP3 will ensure synthesis and wider dissemination of the research. We will conduct three focus groups with a range of stakeholders (MoD, policy-makers) and will involve other users, including internationally (e.g. US and Canadian Departments of Defence) via a combination of face-face and on-line methods throughout the project. On-going user involvement will maximise the practical and policy relevance of our findings. The results will be disseminated via academic conference presentations and journal outputs alongside advice and information in accessible formats for a variety of audiences including policy briefings with the MoD, and practitioner seminars.