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‘You’re Just Chopped Off at the End’: Retired Servicemen’s Identity Work Struggles in the Military to Civilian Transition

Author

Listed:
  • Rachel Williams

    (University of Lincoln, UK)

  • Jacquelyn Allen-Collinson

    (University of Lincoln, UK)

  • John Hockey

    (University of Gloucestershire, UK)

  • Adam Evans

    (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)

Abstract

Promoting positive transition to retirement and cultural adaption for ex-service personnel has been identified as a priority for both social-science research and for public health policy in the UK. The Royal British Legion aims to provide support to service and retired service personnel, but to date the transition to retirement experiences of older (60-plus) ex-service personnel remain under-researched. In this article, we employ a symbolic interactionist theoretical framework to examine older servicemen’s experiences and identity challenges post-retirement from the British armed forces. Data were collected primarily through semi-structured, focus-group interviews with 20 former servicemen. Here, we focus specifically upon the challenges encountered by these ex-servicemen in the retirement transition from military to civilian life, a time of identity flux of sociological interest. To navigate this period of identity change and challenge, many participants constructed a ‘modified military self’ through involvement with the Royal British Legion as a key social support network. For many retired personnel the Royal British Legion offered a form of identification and group identity that resonated strongly with earlier experiences of comradeship in the military.

Suggested Citation

  • Rachel Williams & Jacquelyn Allen-Collinson & John Hockey & Adam Evans, 2018. "‘You’re Just Chopped Off at the End’: Retired Servicemen’s Identity Work Struggles in the Military to Civilian Transition," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 23(4), pages 812-829, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:23:y:2018:i:4:p:812-829
    DOI: 10.1177/1360780418787209
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Belk, Russell W, 1988. "Possessions and the Extended Self," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 15(2), pages 139-168, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Michelle M. Camacho & Susan M. Lord & Catherine Mobley & Joyce B. Main & Catherine E. Brawner, 2021. "Transitions of Student Military Veterans into Engineering Education," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-17, June.
    2. Jim McDermott, 2021. "‘It’s Like Therapy But More Fun’ Armed Forces and Veterans’ Breakfast Clubs: A Study of Their Emergence as Veterans’ Self-Help Communities," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 26(3), pages 433-450, September.

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