Exploring U.S. Veterans’ post-service employment experiences

Keeling, Mary; Kintzle, Sara; Castro, Carl A.

Abstract

© 2018, © 2018 Society for Military Psychology, Division 19 of the American Psychological Association. Although most U.S. veterans transition to civilian life successfully, securing employment and reintegrating into civilian communities, some veterans face transition challenges that can lead to or exacerbate mental and physical health problems. Emerging research from a survey conducted by Prudential indicates that difficulty transitioning to civilian life is largely attributable to employment (Prudential, 2012). This study sought to understand veterans’ employment experiences. Four focus groups (n=33) with pre- and post-9/11 veterans who at the time were accessing housing and employment support services were conducted. Thematic analysis of focus group transcripts led to the emergence of 2 master themes: (a) organizational and societal barriers, such as limited availability of transition programs, discharge type, negative experiences of support services, and perceived discrimination; and (b) personal barriers, such as lack of initiative to plan and difficulty adjusting to working with civilians. Since data was collected for this study, updates to TAP have been implemented; this may have alleviated some of the reported barriers. The role of veterans’ personal characteristics in employment requires attention in the context of agency, initiative, identity, and cultural adjustment. Policy, programmatic, practice, and future research recommendations are made.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 29, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Feb 28, 2018
• Publication Date: Jan 2, 2018
• Deposit Date: Dec 17, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 17, 2018
• Journal: Military Psychology
• Print ISSN: 0899-5605
• Electronic ISSN: 1532-7876
• Publisher: American Psychological Association
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 30
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 63-69
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08995605.2017.1420976
• Keywords: Veterans, employment, military transition, employment barriers, visible difference
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/871139
• Publisher URL: http://doi.org/10.1080/08995605.2017.1420976
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Military Psychology on 28th February 2018, available online: http://doi.org/10.1080/08995605.2017.1420976.
• Contract Date: Dec 17, 2018