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Military Psychology Practice in Italy: From Grass Roots to Recent Applications

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Handbook of Military Psychology

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to focus on a broad yet specific sector to briefly describe the history, development of military psychology (MP) in Italy in the last decades, and the current practices of psychologists working in several settings around Italy and overseas. The chapter will also discuss the role of military psychologist (MPsys) in regards to multiple issues, namely protocols for recruitment, organizational socialization, communication, and leadership training for Commanders, unit training with operational stress management, support to military families, and prevention of combat stress-related disorders. These areas of application of MP are closely interconnected and every MPsy is expected to keep that in mind at all times. In other words, the subjective, relational, and organizational dimensions of MP are all taken into consideration at once. This chapter will illustrate how the Italian Army sees all MP-related activities from a multidimensional and integrated perspective and will give examples of how such awareness should be the driver for every psychological intervention carried out in an organization.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Military personnel are organized into four categories, namely Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs), and two more categories for enlisted. NCOs are divided into Senior NCOs and Junior NCOs, or Sergeants. Enlisted personnel are often referred to as ‘Volunteers’ (noun, with capital ‘V’).

  2. 2.

    The groups are generally at platoon level for a total of 20 people maximum, including the Platoon Leader. In case of different units, e.g., a Brigade HQ, the discussion group will include Staff personnel and the related superiors.

  3. 3.

    In the same period, a Navy MPsy was afloat on the “San Giusto” ship.

  4. 4.

    Being involved as witnesses or providing First Aid in critical events is more and more considered potentially traumatic as well and, therefore, psychological intervention is generally asked for or provided.

  5. 5.

    The so-called “Social and Welfare Clerk” is a new role we defined. He or she works beside the psychologist, and can be selected from motivated personnel of every rank and specifically trained for this role.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Military Psychology, Italian Army General Staff, Rome, Italy

    Isabella Lo Castro

  2. Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, University of Rome “Sapienza”, Rome, Italy

    Stefano Livi

Authors
  1. Isabella Lo Castro
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  2. Stefano Livi
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Correspondence to Isabella Lo Castro .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for National Strategic Studies, Center for Technology and National Security Policy, National Defense University, Washington, DC, USA

    Stephen V. Bowles

  2. Institute for National Strategic Studies, Center for Technology and National Security Policy, National Defense University, Washington, DC, USA

    Paul T. Bartone

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Castro, I.L., Livi, S. (2017). Military Psychology Practice in Italy: From Grass Roots to Recent Applications. In: Bowles, S., Bartone, P. (eds) Handbook of Military Psychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66192-6_34

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