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Handbook of the Sociology of the Military pp 341–357Cite as

Military Families: A Comparative Perspective

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Abstract

With a focus on the changing definitions of family and the changing nature of warfare, we explore cross-national comparisons regarding the potential spillover and conflict experienced by military families. We emphasize the intersection of life course events for the family members connected to one, possibly two, military careers and the impact this has on individual and familial well-being across countries. We do this at a time when more than 1.5 million servicemembers, including women in combat support roles, from more than 57 countries have deployed in support of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which are unprecedented in their duration. Although these wars may be drawing down, at least in regard to declared combat operations, there is potential for the trends discussed to continue. In this work, we provide potential hypotheses that can be tested with further research, rather than providing an in-depth analysis of any one country or trend.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    To understand the model, we recommend reading the full published version.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership, United States Air Force Academy, 2354 Fairchild Hall, Suite 6L-107, U.S. Air Force Academy, CO, 80840, USA

    Karin De Angelis

  2. National Security Affairs Department, U.S. Naval War College, 686 Cushing Road, Newport, RI, 02841, USA

    David G. Smith

  3. Department of Sociology, The University of Maryland, 9007 Gettysburg Lane, College Park, MD, 20740, USA

    Mady W. Segal

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  1. Karin De Angelis
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  2. David G. Smith
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  3. Mady W. Segal
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro Interuniversitario di Studi e Ricerche Storico-miitari, Pisa, Italy

    Giuseppe Caforio

  2. Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics (E.So.Ma.S.), State University of Torino Italy, Turin, Italy

    Marina Nuciari

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De Angelis, K., Smith, D.G., Segal, M.W. (2018). Military Families: A Comparative Perspective. In: Caforio, G., Nuciari, M. (eds) Handbook of the Sociology of the Military. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71602-2_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71602-2_17

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