The Military to Civilian Transition: Exploring Experiences of Transitions to ‘Civvy Street’ and Implications for the Self

Ontological and Epistemological Foundations

To consider the self along with the wider social implications on the self, the current article adopted a critical realist position. Critical realism posits that the data can tell us something about the real world, but not directly (Willig, 2012). Rather, the data relies on the researcher to make inferences about the underlying mechanisms of the data (Willig, 2013) because what is knowable is dependent upon the subjective knowledge of the researcher (Braun & Clarke, 2013). Critical realism rests within an ontologically realist position, whereby reality exists independent of human knowledge, and an epistemologically relative position, where what we know is socially, culturally, and historically located (Harper, 2011). Thus, critical realism holds that there is no one way of knowing about objects of enquiry (e.g., events), but those objects of enquiry are created by enduring phenomena (Willig, 1999). The current study aimed to capture participant meaning making whilst attending to the socio-political climate of today that may be informing the meaning-making process, rather than a search for an objective truth. A key consideration in adopting this approach was to ensure that social attitudes could be incorporated into understanding how participants made sense of their MTC experiences.

Procedure and Participants

In-line with the critical realist approach highlighted above, data was collected using semi-structured interviews (e.g., Bonnington & Rose, 2014). Semi-structured interviews enable an open exploration of the topic, whilst allowing for participants to discuss their subjective experiences (Evans, 2018). Existing literature suggests that qualitative research utilising semi-structured interviews should consist of 10–20 participants for medium-sized projects (Braun & Clarke, 2013), as such the author sought a number of participants between this.

Participants were eligible to participate if they had served in the British Armed Forces and met veteran status (served at least one day; Office for Veterans’ Affairs, 2020). Furthermore, participants met inclusion criteria if they had left either voluntarily or for medical reasons. Participants met exclusion criteria if they had retired fully in civilian life, were early service leavers, or were dishonourably discharged. A total of 20 participants met the study criteria, of which 17 were male and 3 were female. All participants identified as being white-British.

Participants were recruited via posts on social media and through snowball sampling, as has been used elsewhere in qualitative literature (e.g., Grogan et al., 2013). The recruitment post was advertised on social media (Twitter/X) with a link to express initial interest. Snowball sampling also took place, where participants shared the post on social media to other people within their network. Once participants had expressed interest, they were provided with an information sheet. The researcher then sent a link to the consent form, which also detailed study information via the information sheet. Once informed consent had been provided, the researcher provided several dates and times, so that the participants could choose a time best suiting their schedules.

The semi-structured interview was used to provide prompts and facilitate a detailed account of the area of interest. Interviews took place via online video software or by telephone, according to participant preference, and lasted between 40 and 105 minutes. These technological solutions facilitate a wider geographical range of participants and allow for the participant to remain in their own comfortable environment (Hanna, 2012), as well as supporting participant recruitment through the COVID-19 restrictions.

Data Analysis

Reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019) was utilised as a means through which to interpret the data through the outlined philosophical positioning. Thematic analysis is a epistemologically flexible mode of analysis that facilitates a deep understanding of participant meaning making (Braun et al., 2015), whilst also maintaining reflexivity such that the author could be mindful of assumptions being made (Braun & Clarke, 2019). Thematic analysis facilitates the ontological and epistemological foundations of critical realism (Braun & Clarke, 2013; Willig, 2013), as it enables the development of meaning from described experiences whilst recognising that the meaning described is not necessarily fully realised (Bonnington & Rose, 2014; Maxwell, 2012), and may take on different characteristics in different contexts (Willig, 1999).

The analysis followed the six stages of analysis as recommended by Braun and Clark (2006). To familiarise with the data, the first author firstly transcribed all data prior to reading and rereading the data. Patterns of participant meaning making was sought and initial codes utilising qualitative software Nvivo (Version 12) were identified through close reading. Codes were subsequently sorted into potential themes. Key to reflexive thematic analysis is an awareness that the researcher is constructing themes rather than identifying already existing themes (Braun & Clarke, 2019). Some themes were collapsed into one overarching theme as a means to establish a “central organising concept” (Braun & Clarke, 2013, p. 224). Additionally, both authors reflected on and questioned more common-sense cultural assumptions when organising themes. For example, initial codes of “Civvy self-interest” and “lack of trust in Civvies” could have, prima facie, been themes in and of themselves; however, through considering the intuitive ideas of societal beliefs in the pursuit of the authors’ personal goals, they were brought together to form the theme “destabilising individualism,” since they reflected the social, cultural, and historical climate that need be considered in critical realist positioning. In the interest of transparency as it pertains to reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019), no inter-rater reliability was accounted for, since this more readily represents a positivist framework that is inconsistent with the epistemological underpinnings of the current article (Braun & Clarke, 2013).

Ethical Considerations

The research project received favourable ethical approval by the University of Surrey Ethics Committee.

Destabilising Individualism: People Should be Standing by Their Word and They’re Not

The first theme pertains to the intersubjective interaction between the participant and the civvy street, which impacted how they perceived themselves. Transitioning out of the military involved a process of leaving behind a sense of community or “camaraderie” that is associated with the military, into a world of individualisation. The majority of participants saw a shift from collective beliefs within the military, to a realisation that each individual may hold their own differing beliefs:

In the extract above, Participant 17 highlighted how the military collective is not translatable to the civilian world. Through “I have been stung a few times,” the participant understood their experiences through the suggestion that they have wrongly assumed a uniformity in people’s belief systems, but ultimately, this has come as a detriment to himself. Indeed, it is argued that society holds personal pursuits and goals to great importance (Trevisan et al., 2021). This is further exemplified by one participant’s description of civilian society:

Depicted here is the contrast between acting through togetherness towards a collective goal, versus acting for the benefit of someone’s self-interests. Participant 15 offered an account in which their experiences are understood through notions of civilian life being organised by self-interest and thus they grapple with trying to trust others for fear of getting “burned by people.”

One way in which this can be understood is through the spiritual self (James, 1890), whereby within the military each person holds the same common aspiration or value, such that there is a congruence with one another. This has implications for the social self, whereby within the military there is a mutual recognition of one another as a loyal and hardworking service member, which is likely to be beneficial when considering the nature of military operations. Upon returning, Participant 15 highlighted how the personal-pursuit-driven society (Trevisan et al., 2021) is unfamiliar, and in some sense may be seen as destabilising the self that had been constructed in the military.

Participants felt forced into individualising and that individualising process appeared to result in a loss of bondedness that is initially attempted with others. As the following participant commented:

Participant 27 may be interpreted as demonstrating their value in loyalty, working hard together, and a capacity to help others.

However, this is not met by civilians, who are in it for themselves and do not reciprocate the support that this participant has provided. Capitalist or neoliberal conditions actively influence our self-understanding (Rose, 1999), which can induce a heightened sense of loneliness (Becker et al., 2021), and the stark contrast outlined by participants suggests civvy street to be perceived as an isolating, individualised society. Civvies were understood to be much more self-interested than compared to the desire for a collective goal:

Participant 22 may be seen to describe how there was a lack of preparedness for the inability to trust civvies. A way in which this could be understood is that the military necessarily fosters an environment in which one is able to trust others with one’s life; however, entry into civvy street ultimately results in a realisation that civvies are self-interested.

The perception of increased self-interest ultimately led participants to feel “isolated” or “cast out into the wilderness.” The association of isolation or loneliness on our mental health is well-documented (Beutel et al., 2017), and these experiences were expressed by most participants, regardless of whether they had deemed themselves to be transitioning successfully or unsuccessfully. Our sense of self is intertwined with those that we connect and bond with (Burkitt, 2008; James, 1890): the social self, which develops esteem through recognition from others. Experiencing rejection, having civvies undermine them, or perceiving civvy street as cutthroat, was expressed as detrimental to participants, as highlighted in Participant 22’s comment. Our experience of our self is additive but fluid in nature, such that we extract our self-understanding from previous experiences (Burkitt, 2008; James, 1890).

Participants described how they had in the military internalised the notion that they were the “best,” and to be the best, one must work hard. In the face of the individualising process of transition, many participants demonstrated hard work in maximising their achievements. Some participants however, experienced civvy street to be continually rejecting such that they felt that had their “ego beaten to death” (Participant 30, male). This rejection and continual experience of civvy self-interest had a key role in participants’ understanding of themselves. As the following participant commented:

Participant 30 offered an account that could be understood as a demonstrating the continual impact of external societal forces, such that the continued rejection has a destabilising impact on the self. High esteem had existed within the military, where the social self had received positive recognition. Over time the individualised nature of a capitalist society, that has negative implications for our sense of self (Becker et al., 2021; Bell, 2019), erodes participants’ sense of their qualities and abilities.

Renegotiating the Self: Extracting What I Needed From the Forces to get me Forward now

In relation to the transition process, participants drew on an account that suggested that the military equipped them with a strong sense of self described as “indoctrination” (Participant 17, male). This theme suggests that participants attempt to bring forward their understanding of their self into civvy street, and that this process required some learning. Participants exemplified this through their descriptions of their attempts at acting in civvy street in a way that was consistent with their understanding of their military self:

What could be understood by Participant 19’s comment is the belief that civilian norms and attitudes contrast significant with what has been learnt through the military, such that it creates a sense of feeling out of touch. It seems that what is normal about oneself in regard to their attitudes may be perceived as abnormal by civvies.

We can understand this difference through James’ (1890) notion of the spiritual self, which includes beliefs in one’s own qualities (Swann & Bosson, 2010) and attitudes (Burkitt, 2008).

Participant 19’s account can be understood as highlighting how he suggested his attitudes, which rested within military norms, no longer fit when it comes to navigating civvy street. Furthermore, he felt unprepared for the difference in what is considered “normal” to communicate with one another. Participant 19 brought forward his understanding of his “spiritual self” into civvy street; however, an aspect of his self, namely his “social self” had not received the recognition anticipated, bringing about a sense of self consciousness. In other words, this participant has accrued cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1984) in the form of specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes (spiritual self), that inform his understanding of himself as a social actor (Cooper et al., 2018). However, the capital accrued by civilians informs an alternative way of understanding their selves as social actors.

Cooper et al. (2018) considered a framework in which veterans may have developed a cultural competence that is vastly different from the competence required in civvy street, which Participant 19’s comment above highlights. Another participant commented:

Participant 15 demonstrated the differences in humour expressed by most participants, where the humour internalised throughout the military is not translatable to civvy street. What could also be understood by Participant 15 is that this feedback process facilitates learning about the new norms of civvy street, such that he adjusted his attitude so as to fit the social norms contained within civvy street. Key to transitioning was extracting the skills, values, and qualities that constitute the spiritual self and applying them to civvy street.

Through social interaction, feedback is provided enabling an adjustment of self understanding (Gergen, 2004). As Participant 1 (male) suggests: “Yeah, this is one of the again, it’s one of those things I found for, you know, over the years is extracting what I what I needed from the forces to get me forward now.” Participant 1 described extracting learnings that assist him in civvy street. The utterance could be understood as a process of self-reflection that takes place to evaluate one’s own performance.

The “I” as conceptualised by James (1890) observes the spiritual “me” (Burkitt, 2008), noticing what in civvy street is deemed appropriate or inappropriate. Furthermore, the need to extract what is needed appears dependent upon the reactions from others, where “shocking” people or inappropriate “banter” may result in negative feedback, creating a sense of self that is undervalued relative to others (Kraus & Park, 2014). Furthermore, Participant 1 may be understood to recognise that some components of his skills and abilities could prove useful, whilst others may prove less useful.

Specific characteristics that were present in most participants was a desire to help others and a sense of personal integrity. These characteristics were applied by participants navigating a different environment, which at times produced positive outcome:

The social act of helping others within the community drew feedback deemed by Participant 22 as positive. In stating that it “helps them out loads,” Participant 27 may be understood to interpret the action of bringing others together as part of his spiritual self, in that he draws upon his qualities in creating a communal neighbourhood. This perhaps, has provided him with a sense of achieving greater recognition, allowing him to strengthen these aspects of himself as he navigates civvy street.

The community context in the example provided by Participant 27 produced positive feedback, as opposed to destabilising feedback others had experienced. A process of rebalancing took place through social relations, which for Participant 27 above, occurred upon leaving the military. For others, there was an explicit recognition that beliefs once held needed to change:

In the above extract, Participant 9’s rhetoric can be understood as one way in which she understood the magnitude of the changing nature of the belief systems during the transition to civvy street. The nature of the transition is transformational for Participant 9’s belief system, such that at times it was scary. Through using the word transformation, we may interpret this as major shift in numerous aspects of one’s spiritual self, as opposed to small changes in specific attitudes and beliefs.

Forging a Self-Understanding

Participants’ drive to calibrate important aspects of their spiritual selves, at times, brought about existential questions and uncertainty. Key to this theme is that participants had a drive to answer the questions of uncertainty as to who they are in terms of where they want to be. The individualising civvy street brings about a rebalancing process of the self, and the application of calibrating the self can, at times, create an unknown self-understanding. As one participant describes:

Here, Participant 30’s account can be interpreted as describing a process where he was questioning key aspects of his self that he felt were stable as a result of a difficult transition; namely, a good and capable person.

Such an interpretation can be conceptualized through James’ (1890) descriptions of our successes and our pretensions; our actual achievements versus our desired achievements (Swann & Bosson, 2010). As Swann and Bosson (2010) depict, our self-esteem is rooted in our competent performance in important areas of living. The military invokes a self-view of capability and goodness, which is threatened in civvy street, where our pretensions do not meet our previous successes. Participant 30’s experience could be understood to have, perhaps due to his interactions in civvy street, had a significant reduction in his self-views in areas of life deemed important to him, which can result in significant psychological distress (Thoits, 2013). This appears to have led to his questioning of his self-view such that it has become unknown. In questioning what he is capable of, he may be implying that his vision of a future possible self shifted in a way that his congruent with his current self view, one that has reduced in its esteem.

Participants worked to develop an understanding of themselves in different ways. Some sought to embrace the uncertainty that pervades civvy street through reconnecting with their past self-understanding:

Participant 19 appeared to be describing a process whereby he has identified how he wants to be within civvy street. Further, he may be understood to suggest that he hopes to be able to embrace the less predictable nature of civvy street in a way that he perhaps once did prior to entering the military. In drawing upon possible selves (James, 1890; Markus & Nurius, 1986), Participant 19 may be reconnecting with past qualities and attitudes that formed his spiritual self and casting them towards a future possible self so as to seek greater comfort during the MTC transition.

Other participants worked to reconnect with old or connect with new veterans rather than previous versions of their self, which helped reduce a sense of being misunderstood and a need to change the self in a new climate:

Participant 22 appeared to describe feeling more relaxed and connected to those from a military background compared with those from a civilian background. It seems that he is describing an interconnectedness and mutual understanding between others from the military that does not exist with civvies. Reconnecting with other ex-military personnel can be conceptualised through the social self (Comello, 2009; James, 1890). The recognition received from mutual understanding assists in boosting esteem. When there is a mutual understanding between people, there is a natural inclination to connect, rather than put up with an individualising society where a lack of recognition could result in distress (Slavich et al., 2010).

Numerous participants described this experience of feeling a greater sense of recognition and connection with other veterans, and some worked to develop ways in which to maximise this, by retaining friendship groups or establishing new networks. For example, one participant, having established a veteran networking group, explained: “So, considering you know, 18 months ago, I didn’t want, you know, veteran was the last word that I ever wanted to hear. It’s now going to be fully embedded part of my day now” (Participant 8, female). Here, Participant 8 appeared to be describing how she was connecting with the term veteran through her networking group, having previously not sought to define herself in this way, since it offered a way to “get some support and have a safe place to practice and all that kind of stuff.” Participant 8 could be seen to appreciate the mutual connection and understanding provided by connecting with a group of people that offer recognition. Further, she highlighted how opportunities to connect with others when leaving the military was limited, and as such she needed to set up a specific group. Based on participants’ responses, it seems that connecting with ex-military personnel may be a route through which people can seek to forge a positive self-understanding.

Implications

In this article we have highlighted the struggles that participants experienced in the negotiation of the self when moving into civilian life. Whilst some attitudes and beliefs taken forwards from the military were helpful, for example, through bringing together a neighbourhood, other attitudes left people further isolated. Implications from the current research are manifold.

There is a clear need for veterans in civvy street to have the opportunity for greater connectedness and a sense of community. Given the impact on both the social self and the spiritual or psychological self and the challenges this brings, attention needs to be paid to community approaches to mental health in the context of the MTC transition. Shared experiences formed some participants’ pursuit of reconnection, and this provides opportunity for improved transition experiences.

Community spaces offer much as a means of improving social relations and well-being (Walker et al., 2017). As the transition currently stands, the process of extracting what is needed from the forces, a sense of the collective is a challenge in a society where individuals work to their own personal goals. Community spaces do not need be veteran specific, as this may only maintain the current disconnection that persists between the military and civilian society, and may target veterans with an aim to support the reintegration into civilian society such that shared experiences can be harnessed.

There is a need for recognition that veterans are undergoing a process of rebalancing. Their sense of self—where their social self, attitudes, and beliefs are in flux—may facilitate distress (Slotter & Walsh, 2017). Our sense of self plays an important role in much of the theoretical underpinnings of mental distress (e.g. Breakwell, 1986) and is recognised in psychological models pertaining to specific areas of mental health (Ehlers & Clark, 2000; Greenberger & Padesky, 2016; Waller et al., 2007). What has been elucidated through participants’ experiences is that they are having to manage and negotiate key aspects to the ways in which they construe themselves, which in consideration of much literature, will likely have implications for their own mental health, regardless of whether they require or seek support. Recognition then, needs to come from multiple sources.

Whilst mental health support services may consider aspects of the self, wider consideration of the role of transition on the sense of self may prove beneficial for veterans coming to terms with the experience. For example, whilst the self is considered in PTSD treatment (Ehlers & Clark, 2000), it specifically pays attention to the interpretations of the self based on the traumatic event(s). This article highlights that there may be wider and broader interactions taking place that are further confounding those interpretations that also need attending to in clinical work in this population. This may include developing an understanding of known risk factors such as financial, housing precarity, and family conflict, as well as exploring how the individual perceives themselves in navigating civilian life and the challenges that arise as a result. Systemic models that attend to the wider context such as the coordinated management of meaning (Pearce, 2005), may prove useful in aiding the exploration of transition and veteran’s sense of self.

Limitations and Future Directions

The current research facilitated an in-depth analysis of participant experiences of the MTC transition, there are however, several limitations to consider. Although participants represented a wide range of job roles and experiences within the military, diversity characteristics in relation to gender and ethnicity were limited. All participants identified as white-British, and the interviewer too was white-British. Whilst the UK military is a predominantly white population, there is an increase in global majority military personnel (Ministry of Defence, 2020) whose voices have not been heard. Entering a civvy street where explicit and implicit racism exists (Miller, 2021; Razai et al., 2021) may create additional transitionary stress, as such research attending to global majority transition experiences is paramount. Furthermore, the current research did not explore in detail the experiences of participants prior to serving in the military. It has been speculated that pre-enlistment difficulties may account for difficult transition (Murphy et al., 2019), and it may be that the experiences of the participants during transition may reflect pre-enlistment experiences.

Of participants interviewed for the current research, three of 20 were women. Recent research has highlighted key gender differences in women veterans’ willingness to access support for mental health upon their return to civvy street (Godier-Mcbard et al., 2022). Experiences of feeling overlooked as women within the military, as suggested by Godier-Mcbard and colleagues (2022), may be influential in their subsequent transition. One participant, whilst not suggesting it was harder for women, recognized barriers in connecting with female civilians that may not be present for men. Further research may incorporate a larger sample of women to consider in greater depth possible gender differences in how society and the self interact in the MTC transition.

Voluntary and medically discharged leavers were included in the current research. Whilst being medically discharged from the military has different implication for the material self, whereby it may be perceived as a failure (as described by one participant), leavers described similar experiences regarding their sense of self and the challenges faced in civvy street. There may indeed be differences amongst voluntary leavers, whereby some may be motivated by a wish to leave, and others may be motivated by a wish to pursue something specific and tangible. Further research is required to examine the complexities of transition for both voluntary and medically discharged service leavers.

The current research has facilitated consideration of how veteran and societal attitudes may hinder the MTC transition as advised by Binks and Cambridge (2018). Participants highlighted how their own perceptions of societal attitudes and structures have hindered their transition and impacted their sense of self in important and complex ways. Further research may be carried out with civilians with no military experience to examine the perspectives held of military veterans.