Different families show different levels of resilience regarding transitioning from military to civilian life. While for some the transition is smooth, for others it’s a tough decision to make and one that involves major sacrifices (Westwood, et al., 2010). Those for whom the transition was smooth, it appears they had a gradual withdrawal from the military culture. For example, a family explains how not going to work in uniform helped them look at the military life just as the normal civilian life.
For others, they had to draw away from the military installations and live far away to avoid having to cope with the reality of friends one had made friends and lovers with. Their school of thought is that by residing in places far away from the military bases made them forget the thrill of military life allowing for an easier integration into the civilian life. For others, the love of those they leave back in the family kept them wishing to draw away from the military culture and spend time with their loved ones especially the kids (Faber,et al., 2008).
A special group feels an attachment to the Navy job and would be willing to risk all other opportunity costs to enjoy life in the military both for the benefits and for the sake of it. For most of these observations, it appears the common force of the conversation is the desire by the military men to keep up with their families and have an easy time with their friends just like the ordinary civilians. I would suggest that having programmes in place that encourage more friendly sessions between the military personnel and their friends and loved ones could substantially increase their resilience.
References
Westwood, M. J., McLean, H., Cave, D., Borgen, W., & Slakov, P. (2010). Coming home: A group-based approach for assisting military veterans in transition. The Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 35(1), 44-68.
Faber, A. J., Willerton, E., Clymer, S. R., MacDermid, S. M., & Weiss, H. M. (2008). Ambiguous absence, ambiguous presence: a qualitative study of military reserve families in wartime. Journal of Family Psychology, 22(2), 222.
