Demystifying the Citizen Soldier

Cohen, Raphael S.

doi:10.7249/rr1141

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…These findings also have important implications for policy. A common view is that replacing the mass army with smaller, long-serving, professional forces has desensitized Western publics to casualties and encouraged them to endorse the use of military force (Abrams & Bacevich, 2001; Burk, 2007; Cohen, 2001; Moskos, 1977, 1993; Segal, 1989). If this theory were right, persistent belief among Americans in the patriotic citizen-soldier would have a silver lining: It would render them more sensitive to casualties and more reluctant to use force.…”

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confidence: 99%

Patriotism or Paychecks: Who Believes What About Why Soldiers Serve

Krebs

Ralston

2020

Armed Forces & Society

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Although voluntary recruitment to the military is today the Western norm, we know little about citizens’ beliefs regarding service members’ reasons for joining. This article, reporting and analyzing the results of a nationally representative U.S. survey, rectifies this gap. We find that, despite the reality of market-based recruitment, many Americans continue to subscribe to an idealized image of service members as moved by self-sacrificing patriotism. This belief is most heavily concentrated among conservative Americans. Liberal Americans are more likely to believe that service members join primarily for economic reasons. Those furthest to the left are more inclined to aver that service members join chiefly to escape desperate circumstances. Perhaps most surprising, we discover a disconnect between respondents with military experience and their families: The former are more likely to acknowledge that pay and benefits are a primary motivation for service, whereas their families are more likely to embrace a patriotic service narrative.

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confidence: 99%

Patriotism or Paychecks: Who Believes What About Why Soldiers Serve

Krebs

Ralston

2020

Armed Forces & Society

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“…In the late 1990s, researchers identified a “civil–military gap” between Americans who serve in the All-Volunteer Force (AVF) and those who do not (Cohen, 2015; Feaver & Gelpi, 2004; Feaver & Kohn, 2001; Roth-Douquet & Schaeffer, 2006; Thompson, 2011), observing demographic, cultural, institutional, and political differences. Comprising less than 1% of the U.S. population, the contemporary AVF draws disproportionately from young, evangelical, rural, minority, and lower socioeconomic groups as well as from military families (Elder, Wang, Spence, Adkins, & Brown, 2010; Griffith & Bryan, 2016; Hautzinger & Scandlyn, 2014; Roth-Douquet & Schaeffer, 2006; Thompson, 2011, 2016).…”

Section: Why Emotion Dysregulation Is So Prevalent In the Contemporarmentioning

confidence: 99%

Difficulties With Emotion Regulation in the Contemporary U.S. Armed Forces: Structural Contributors and Potential Solutions

Stanley

Larsen

2019

Armed Forces & Society

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The ability to regulate negative emotions is especially necessary for service members in the contemporary U.S. armed forces, since they routinely face situations that elicit negative emotions while executing their professional roles. Yet difficulties with regulating emotions, which are associated with stress and mood disorders, suicidality, and impairments in work performance, remain prevalent across this group. This article surveys research in five domains—recruitment and selection effects, military cultural pressures and coping strategies, training, common chronic stressors, and the contemporary operational environment—to highlight structural contributors to the heavy stress loads that U.S. service members often bear, which may contribute to their difficulty with emotion regulation (ER). It concludes with several recommendations that the military could implement to mitigate service members’ stress loads and facilitate ER. Enhancing their ER skills may offer a long-term strategy to improve their resilience and performance.

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The Military Forces as an instrument of the socialization of the State

Chaparro

2019

Rev. Cient. Gen. José María Córdova

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Most states continue building their Armed Forces with the premise of providing security for their citizens. This current process has motivated discussions from favorable and opposing positions. It has become a source of considerable disagreement between political parties, ethnic and religious groups, and even among generations. Because the Armed Forces are associated mainly with the use of force to obtain peace, the training of future military officers in the use of lethal means creates a contradiction in the eyes of many societies. This article demonstrates that the Armed Forces can be seen as a contributor to the socialization of any society. Moreover, they can be perceived as a source of moral strength and the foundation for the development of a nation on different levels.

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Demystifying the Citizen Soldier

Cited by 3 publications

References 20 publications

Patriotism or Paychecks: Who Believes What About Why Soldiers Serve

Patriotism or Paychecks: Who Believes What About Why Soldiers Serve

Difficulties With Emotion Regulation in the Contemporary U.S. Armed Forces: Structural Contributors and Potential Solutions

The Military Forces as an instrument of the socialization of the State

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