Table 1
Themes and components of the self.
| THEMES | COMPONENTS OF THE SELF |
|---|---|
| Destabilising Individualisation | Struggling to come to terms with the shift from military culture which embraces collective attitudes and working for each other, to the civvy understanding of the self which places emphasis on individual goals and achievements, impacted what James understands as the ‘spiritual self’. |
| Re-negotiating the self | Trying to bring aspects of the spiritual self to civvy street but realising that the cultural capital in the military and in civvy street are distinctly different. As a result, the key to successful transitioning was extracting the skills, values, and qualities that constitute their understanding of the self and renegotiating these through their social self. |
| Forging a self-understanding | Questioning self-views and understanding of the spiritual self as a result of engaging with civvy street with psychological distress as a potential outcome of this questioning. For some, turning to understandings of their pre-military self enabled them to move forward, for others they connected/re-connected with veterans to embrace their social self. |