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Psychological Services Nov 2015This article provides a first-hand experience of military sexual abuse and trauma. The course of the abusive events unfolded over a span of 12 months. The abuse started...
This article provides a first-hand experience of military sexual abuse and trauma. The course of the abusive events unfolded over a span of 12 months. The abuse started almost immediately and continued over time, despite direct comments to stop, report to others, and other attempts by the victim at obtaining help to stop the abuse. The fact that the victim did not manifest the expected behaviors of a victim of abuse led many either to not see the effects or not view the effects as having significant impact on the victim. At different choice points, both colleagues and senior personnel either blamed the victim or refused to concern themselves with the events or get involved. Although the military system eventually understood and resolved the situation, it was a long, arduous, and painful process for the victim.
Topics: Adult; Crime Victims; Female; Humans; Military Personnel; Psychological Trauma; Sex Offenses
PubMed: 26524274
DOI: 10.1037/a0039201 -
Journal of Special Operations Medicine... 2017Within the Department of Defense over the past decade, a focus on enhancing Warfighter resilience and readiness has increased. For Special Operation Forces (SOF), who... (Review)
Review
Within the Department of Defense over the past decade, a focus on enhancing Warfighter resilience and readiness has increased. For Special Operation Forces (SOF), who bear unique burdens for training and deployment, programs like the Preservation of the Force and Family have been created to help support SOF and their family members in sustaining capabilities and enhancing resilience in the face of prolonged warfare. In this review, we describe the shift in focus from resilience to human performance optimization (HPO) and the benefits of human performance initiatives that include holistic fitness. We then describe strategies for advancing the application of HPO for future initiatives through tailoring and cultural adaptation, as well as advancing methods for measurement. By striving toward specificity and precision performance, SOF human performance programs can impact individual and team capabilities to a greater extent than in the past, as well as maintaining the well-being of SOF and their families across their careers and beyond.
Topics: Adaptation, Psychological; Anxiety, Separation; Family Relations; Holistic Health; Humans; Military Personnel; Physical Fitness; Resilience, Psychological; Stress, Psychological; United States; Warfare
PubMed: 28910478
DOI: 10.55460/23RQ-8OSZ -
British Journal of Hospital Medicine... Nov 2019
Topics: History, 20th Century; Humans; Hysteria; Military Personnel; Psychotherapy; Time Factors; World War I
PubMed: 31707880
DOI: 10.12968/hmed.2019.80.11.680 -
American Journal of Health Promotion :... 2000Questionnaires on exercise practices, reasons for exercising, factors that would increase exercise, and demographics were mailed to a stratified random sample of 19,510...
Questionnaires on exercise practices, reasons for exercising, factors that would increase exercise, and demographics were mailed to a stratified random sample of 19,510 active duty personnel in all of the United States military services who were stationed at 38 large military installations and a number of remote locations. Responses were returned by 8,572 (55%). Approximately 63% exercised three times a week for 15-20 minutes, and 15% did not exercise at all. Mean BMI was 25.2. The top five reasons for exercising were to improve physical conditioning, have fun, manage weight, improve appearance and manage stress.
Topics: Body Mass Index; Cross-Sectional Studies; Exercise; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Male; Military Personnel; Motivation; Surveys and Questionnaires; Time Factors; United States
PubMed: 11194698
DOI: 10.4278/0890-1171-15.2.77 -
Third World Quarterly 2010This article revisits the debate about recent American torture practices, particularly the use of discredited anthropological texts to validate long-held Orientalist...
This article revisits the debate about recent American torture practices, particularly the use of discredited anthropological texts to validate long-held Orientalist assumptions about the sexual vulnerability of Muslim males. Such practices are placed in an historical context of older imperial constructions of sexually deviant Muslims as well as of more general forms of gendered and sexual subordination required for war. American torturers intended to produce very particular objects of torture—ones willing and able to confess their 'true' orientation in terms of a binary hetero/homo sexual code established in 19th-century Europe. The torturers had the power to confirm through confession and re-enactment their crude assumptions, irrespective of the actual sexualities of those being tortured, with consequences for the transnational and reactionary politics of sexual identity.
Topics: Europe; Gender Identity; History, 19th Century; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Men's Health; Middle East; Military Personnel; Religion; Sex Offenses; Social Control, Informal; Torture; United States
PubMed: 21280374
DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2010.518790 -
Journal of Clinical Psychology Sep 2020Art therapy has been widely used in clinical settings and has shown preliminary success in military trauma. This case study describes a mask-making art therapy directive...
OBJECTIVES
Art therapy has been widely used in clinical settings and has shown preliminary success in military trauma. This case study describes a mask-making art therapy directive facilitated by a board-certified art therapist as an adjunct to group posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment in a military-intensive outpatient program.
METHODS
Described are clinical outcome measures, linguistic analysis of a personal journal, evaluation of this service-member's artwork, and experiences in the program.
RESULTS
Mask-making, as a trauma-focused group-art therapy directive, expanded the understanding of treatment progress reflected in journal notes, mask imagery, and by a change in linguistic indices of trauma processing, despite an overall increase in PTSD symptoms as he confronted his traumatic experiences. He reported improvement in coping and successfully returned to full military duty following treatment.
CONCLUSIONS
This case study suggests that art therapy and written narrative, combined with standardized self-report assessments, may more accurately indicate improvement in overall PTSD treatment.
Topics: Ambulatory Care; Art Therapy; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Military Personnel; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Treatment Outcome
PubMed: 31951287
DOI: 10.1002/jclp.22929 -
Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps Apr 2019The tri-Service Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey, commonly known as AFCAS, was introduced in 2007 to coherently assess and monitor the attitudes of Regular... (Review)
Review
The tri-Service Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey, commonly known as AFCAS, was introduced in 2007 to coherently assess and monitor the attitudes of Regular Service personnel in key policy and management areas and is used by groups internal and external to the Ministry of Defence. It is a statistically valid and robust survey which is annually distributed to almost 28 000 regular serving personnel. AFCAS data have been used to inform the development and evaluation of a wide range of personnel policies, including remuneration, accommodation, flexible working, career management and training. AFCAS allows for the tracking of attitudes over time, as well as the analysis of differences between respondent cohorts. AFCAS is well regarded as it is a one-stop shop survey for strategic personnel issues. This article describes the purpose, content, conduct and use of the survey to inform Armed Forces personnel policy.
Topics: Attitude; Humans; Military Personnel; Psychology, Military; Surveys and Questionnaires; United Kingdom
PubMed: 30341168
DOI: 10.1136/jramc-2018-001041 -
Military Medicine Jul 2023In 1802, the deadliest recorded epidemic of yellow fever struck a French expeditionary force, permanently destroying Napoleon Bonaparte's ambition to re-conquer Haiti...
In 1802, the deadliest recorded epidemic of yellow fever struck a French expeditionary force, permanently destroying Napoleon Bonaparte's ambition to re-conquer Haiti and secure a North American empire. Toussaint L'Ouverture, Haitian revolutionary, effectively used his medical experience to spread this disease among French troops.
Topics: Humans; Yellow Fever; History, 19th Century; Haiti; Military Personnel; France; United States; Military Medicine
PubMed: 37192221
DOI: 10.1093/milmed/usad161 -
From exclusion to acceptance: a case history of homosexuality in the U.S. Court of Military Appeals.Journal of Homosexuality 2013Policing the legality and normalcy of service members' sexual lives was a contentious process for military courts throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s that...
Policing the legality and normalcy of service members' sexual lives was a contentious process for military courts throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s that resulted in the inconsistent enforcement of the homosexual exclusion policy. Military personnel of all ranks and occupations harbored a variety of attitudes and beliefs about homosexuality that challenged the legitimacy and uniformity of the military's legal assault on sexual deviance. Over half of the active duty personnel originally accused of homosexual tendencies received either sentence reductions or sentence reversals as a result of this highly contested process by which official military policy was translated into practice via courts-martial. Paradoxically, the very policies that discriminated against alleged homosexual service members generated legal avenues through which gays and lesbians exercised their rights to due process, and, ultimately, their rights as American citizens embodied in the repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. Rather than being an ideologically homophobic monolith, the Cold War American military rocked with contestation over an exclusion policy that attempted--unsuccessfully--to eliminate all gay and lesbian service members.
Topics: Female; History, 21st Century; Homosexuality; Humans; Male; Military Personnel; Politics; Psychological Distance; Public Policy; Social Alienation; Social Discrimination; United States
PubMed: 23414272
DOI: 10.1080/00918369.2013.744671 -
European Journal of Psychotraumatology 2024As armed conflict grows increasingly complex, the involvement of children in armed violence across diverse roles is rising. Consequently, military personnel are more...
As armed conflict grows increasingly complex, the involvement of children in armed violence across diverse roles is rising. Consequently, military personnel are more likely to encounter children during deployment. However, little is known about deployment-related encounters with children and their impact on the mental health of military personnel and Veterans. This study qualitatively examines the nature and impacts of deployment-related encounters with children. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 Canadian Armed Forces Veterans, eliciting rich information on the nature of child encounters on deployment, the psycho-social-spiritual impacts of these encounters, and perceptions of support. Interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Six primary themes were identified: (i.e. factual aspects of deployment-related encounters with children), (i.e. aspects of the mission, environment, and personal context relevant to one's experience of the encounter), (i.e. sensory or sense-making experiences relevant to the encounter), (i.e. psycho-social, existential, and occupational impacts), engaged in both during and after deployment, and , describing both formal and informal sources of support. Encounters with children are diverse and highly stressful, resulting in impacts pertinent to mental health, including psychological and moral distress, and difficulties with identity, spirituality, and relationships. These impacts are prompted by complex interactions among appraisals, expectations of morality, cultural norms, and professional duties and are amplified by various personal factors (e.g. childhood maltreatment history, parenthood), feelings of unpreparedness, and lack of post-deployment support. Implications for prevention, intervention, and policy are discussed with the aim of informing future efforts to safeguard and support military personnel facing a high likelihood of encounters with children.
Topics: Humans; Canada; Veterans; Male; Female; Qualitative Research; Child; Military Personnel; Adult; Adaptation, Psychological; Military Deployment; Interviews as Topic; Middle Aged
PubMed: 38832673
DOI: 10.1080/20008066.2024.2353534