There are currently approximately 187,000 UK armed forces personnel and whilst exact figures are ... more There are currently approximately 187,000 UK armed forces personnel and whilst exact figures are unknown, estimates place the number of children growing up in military families at 175,000. Multiple military operations into Afghanistan and Iraq during the last decade have prompted an increase into research into the effects of physical and psychological injury on the lives of servicemen and women, however little is known of the impact of the military lifestyle on their children. In addition to the potential stresses associated with having a parent deployed to an area of conflict, the impact of career demands such as geographical mobility, isolation from wider family, and education and housing issues all touch the lives of military children. However, the impact in terms of the social, emotional and identity development of these children remains largely under -researched.
A preliminary literature review revealed that much of the existing research focusses upon the impact of operational deployment only. For those studies that do consider the wider effects of the military lifestyle on home environment, structural and environmental challenges, and child development, research has been largely carried out in the United States of America. Very little has been undertaken in the UK and examples of data being generated through interactive research and exploration of children’s own subjective views of their experiences is extremely rare.
Therefore, this research study used a qualitative approach to explore ‘The impact of frequent geographical mobility and segregated housing on the lives, experience and identity of children from military families’, by collating and thematically analysing information gathered from one to one interviews with children aged 8 – 14 years old who have a parent serving in the UK army or Royal Air Force (RAF).
The data gathered highlighted that children’s experiences were characterised by feelings of absence, loss, anxiety and fear. These findings revealed that frequent absence or loss of close family members and peers, through operational deployment and geographical relocation, impact on their formation of attachment relationships with both family members and friends. The participants also gave insight into how disruption to education and fragmentation of wider family resources negatively impact on their informal support, formal learning experiences and psycho-social development. However the data gathered also overwhelmingly identified that these children are able to make many positive adaptations in light of these adversities, revealing multiple characteristics indicative of resilience. In particular, they have developed a strong group identity that is based upon their shared experience and cultural values and serves to provide a protective factor against some of the aforementioned risks to their development.
These findings are discussed in light of their potential use to strengthen interventions that may not only mitigate or repair deficits in the development of children from military families, but also to recognise and further augment these children’s strengths to provide protective factors against current and future adversity. Consideration is also given to how these findings may be used across the wider population of non-military families to explore whether interventions to promote the acquisition of resilience factors can overcome some of the developmental deficits and risks faced by children experiencing adversity in other similar family situations. Keywords: ‘UK Army’, ‘military families’, ‘child development’, ‘resilience’ and ‘geographic mobility’.
There are currently approximately 187,000 UK armed forces personnel and whilst exact figures are ... more There are currently approximately 187,000 UK armed forces personnel and whilst exact figures are unknown, estimates place the number of children growing up in military families at 175,000. Multiple military operations into Afghanistan and Iraq during the last decade have prompted an increase into research into the effects of physical and psychological injury on the lives of servicemen and women, however little is known of the impact of the military lifestyle on their children. In addition to the potential stresses associated with having a parent deployed to an area of conflict, the impact of career demands such as geographical mobility, isolation from wider family, and education and housing issues all touch the lives of military children. However, the impact in terms of the social, emotional and identity development of these children remains largely under -researched.
A preliminary literature review revealed that much of the existing research focusses upon the impact of operational deployment only. For those studies that do consider the wider effects of the military lifestyle on home environment, structural and environmental challenges, and child development, research has been largely carried out in the United States of America. Very little has been undertaken in the UK and examples of data being generated through interactive research and exploration of children’s own subjective views of their experiences is extremely rare.
Therefore, this research study used a qualitative approach to explore ‘The impact of frequent geographical mobility and segregated housing on the lives, experience and identity of children from military families’, by collating and thematically analysing information gathered from one to one interviews with children aged 8 – 14 years old who have a parent serving in the UK army or Royal Air Force (RAF).
The data gathered highlighted that children’s experiences were characterised by feelings of absence, loss, anxiety and fear. These findings revealed that frequent absence or loss of close family members and peers, through operational deployment and geographical relocation, impact on their formation of attachment relationships with both family members and friends. The participants also gave insight into how disruption to education and fragmentation of wider family resources negatively impact on their informal support, formal learning experiences and psycho-social development. However the data gathered also overwhelmingly identified that these children are able to make many positive adaptations in light of these adversities, revealing multiple characteristics indicative of resilience. In particular, they have developed a strong group identity that is based upon their shared experience and cultural values and serves to provide a protective factor against some of the aforementioned risks to their development.
These findings are discussed in light of their potential use to strengthen interventions that may not only mitigate or repair deficits in the development of children from military families, but also to recognise and further augment these children’s strengths to provide protective factors against current and future adversity. Consideration is also given to how these findings may be used across the wider population of non-military families to explore whether interventions to promote the acquisition of resilience factors can overcome some of the developmental deficits and risks faced by children experiencing adversity in other similar family situations. Keywords: ‘UK Army’, ‘military families’, ‘child development’, ‘resilience’ and ‘geographic mobility’.
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Papers by Tanya Bradbury
A preliminary literature review revealed that much of the existing research focusses upon the impact of operational deployment only. For those studies that do consider the wider effects of the military lifestyle on home environment, structural and environmental challenges, and child development, research has been largely carried out in the United States of America. Very little has been undertaken in the UK and examples of data being generated through interactive research and exploration of children’s own subjective views of their experiences is extremely rare.
Therefore, this research study used a qualitative approach to explore ‘The impact of frequent geographical mobility and segregated housing on the lives, experience and identity of children from military families’, by collating and thematically analysing information gathered from one to one interviews with children aged 8 – 14 years old who have a parent serving in the UK army or Royal Air Force (RAF).
The data gathered highlighted that children’s experiences were characterised by feelings of absence, loss, anxiety and fear. These findings revealed that frequent absence or loss of close family members and peers, through operational deployment and geographical relocation, impact on their formation of attachment relationships with both family members and friends. The participants also gave insight into how disruption to education and fragmentation of wider family resources negatively impact on their informal support, formal learning experiences and psycho-social development. However the data gathered also overwhelmingly identified that these children are able to make many positive adaptations in light of these adversities, revealing multiple characteristics indicative of resilience. In particular, they have developed a strong group identity that is based upon their shared experience and cultural values and serves to provide a protective factor against some of the aforementioned risks to their development.
These findings are discussed in light of their potential use to strengthen interventions that may not only mitigate or repair deficits in the development of children from military families, but also to recognise and further augment these children’s strengths to provide protective factors against current and future adversity. Consideration is also given to how these findings may be used across the wider population of non-military families to explore whether interventions to promote the acquisition of resilience factors can overcome some of the developmental deficits and risks faced by children experiencing adversity in other similar family situations.
Keywords: ‘UK Army’, ‘military families’, ‘child development’, ‘resilience’ and ‘geographic mobility’.
A preliminary literature review revealed that much of the existing research focusses upon the impact of operational deployment only. For those studies that do consider the wider effects of the military lifestyle on home environment, structural and environmental challenges, and child development, research has been largely carried out in the United States of America. Very little has been undertaken in the UK and examples of data being generated through interactive research and exploration of children’s own subjective views of their experiences is extremely rare.
Therefore, this research study used a qualitative approach to explore ‘The impact of frequent geographical mobility and segregated housing on the lives, experience and identity of children from military families’, by collating and thematically analysing information gathered from one to one interviews with children aged 8 – 14 years old who have a parent serving in the UK army or Royal Air Force (RAF).
The data gathered highlighted that children’s experiences were characterised by feelings of absence, loss, anxiety and fear. These findings revealed that frequent absence or loss of close family members and peers, through operational deployment and geographical relocation, impact on their formation of attachment relationships with both family members and friends. The participants also gave insight into how disruption to education and fragmentation of wider family resources negatively impact on their informal support, formal learning experiences and psycho-social development. However the data gathered also overwhelmingly identified that these children are able to make many positive adaptations in light of these adversities, revealing multiple characteristics indicative of resilience. In particular, they have developed a strong group identity that is based upon their shared experience and cultural values and serves to provide a protective factor against some of the aforementioned risks to their development.
These findings are discussed in light of their potential use to strengthen interventions that may not only mitigate or repair deficits in the development of children from military families, but also to recognise and further augment these children’s strengths to provide protective factors against current and future adversity. Consideration is also given to how these findings may be used across the wider population of non-military families to explore whether interventions to promote the acquisition of resilience factors can overcome some of the developmental deficits and risks faced by children experiencing adversity in other similar family situations.
Keywords: ‘UK Army’, ‘military families’, ‘child development’, ‘resilience’ and ‘geographic mobility’.