Military sociology is a subfield within sociology. It corresponds closely to C. Wright Mills's summons to connect the individual world to broader social structures.Crabb, Tyler and Segal, David. 2015. "Military Sociology" in Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy, Third Edition, Taylor and Francis. pp. 2133-2138. DOI: 10.1081/E-EPAP3-120053116Mills, C.W. The Sociological Imagination; Oxford University Press: New York, 1959 Military sociology aims toward the systematic study of the military as a social group rather than as a military organization. This highly specialized sub-discipline examines issues related to service personnel as a distinct group with coerced collective action based on shared interests linked to survival in vocation and combat, with purposes and values that are more defined and narrow than within civil society. Military sociology also concerns civil-military relations and interactions between other groups or governmental agencies.
Theory and methodology Military sociology reflects the diversity of methods employed by sociology itself. These include large-scale data analysis, participant observation, social network analysis, survey research, comparative history, case studies etc.Crabb, Tyler and Segal, David. 2015. "Military Sociology" in Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy, Third Edition, Taylor and Francis. pp. 2133. DOI: 10.1081/E-EPAP3-120053116J. Soeters, P. Shields, & S. Rietjens (Eds.), Routledge handbook of research methods in military studies (pp. 238–248). London: Routledge The methods of military sociology also include philosophical perspectives and arguments.Shields P.M. (2020) Dynamic Intersection of Military and Society. In: Sookermany A. (eds) Handbook of Military Sciences. p. 13 Springer, Cham
Contemporary military sociology Contemporary military sociology is primarily a result of the World War II and Cold War. These events initiated the systematic study of military sociology, though it stands to reason that the relationship between the military and society would predate these events. The dismantling of the Soviet Union, the trauma of the terrorist attack on 11 September 2001 and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq also dramatically affected the field of military sociology.Shields P.M. (2020) Dynamic Intersection of Military and Society. In: Sookermany A. (eds) Handbook of Military Sciences. p. 4, Springer, Cham. There are numerous topics within military sociology and its scope is not exclusively limited to the military institution itself or to its members. Military sociology encompasses areas such as civilian-military relations and the relationship between the military and other military groups or governmental agencies.
Other topics within military sociology include: Shields P.M. (2020) Dynamic Intersection of Military and Society. In: Sookermany A. (eds) Handbook of Military Sciences. Springer, Cham The dominant assumptions held by those in the military Military members' willingness/motivation to fight Unionization in the military Military professionalism Transition of veterans to civilian life The increased utilization of women The military industrial-academic complex The military's dependence on research The institutional and organizational structure of military
Military as a society
Military as profession Two leading scholars, Samuel Huntington and Morris Janowitz, influence the notion of military professionalism in military sociology. Political scientist, Huntington argued that there should be a high degree of autonomy within the military profession over military matters, because civilians did not possess the necessary corporate quality or expertise to oversee military matters. He called this objective control.Huntington, S.P. The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil–Military Relations; Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA, 1957. Janowitz, on the other hand, asserted that the role of the military in modern society was so complex, and with such high stakes that the duty of the professional soldier went well beyond the execution of violence. The elite of the military had an obligation to maintain stable international relations, and this required management expertise and political skills in addition to the classical military officer skillset. Janowitz was concerned that the military profession could become a self-perpetuating, self-serving clique. Therefore, it was important that the military be socially representative of the citizen it served.Janowitz, M. The Professional Soldier: A Social and Political Portrait; Free Press: Glencoe IL, 1960. According to Sam C. Sarkesian and Robert E. Connor, the military profession holds the view that it is a unique profession.
There are six key elements that are paramount in shaping the character of the military profession: Sarkesian, Sam C. and Robert E. Connor, Jr. The US Military Profession into the 21st Century. Frank Cass Publishers; Portland, c.1999 The profession has a defined area of competence based on expert knowledge; there is a system of continuing education designed so as to maintain professional competence The profession has an obligation to society and must serve it without concern for remuneration It has a system of values that perpetuate professional character and establish and maintain legitimate relationships with society There is an institutional framework within which the profession functions The profession has control over the system of rewards and punishments and is in a position to determine the quality of those entering the profession
Military as an occupation Shortly after the United States ended conscription and initiated the All Volunteer Force, sociologist, Charles Moskos introduced the Institutional/Occupational model of military organizations.Moskos, C. (1977). From institution to occupation: Trends in military organization. Armed Forces & Society, 4, 41–50. He asked whether the military should be seen as more of an occupation rather than an institution. Although the military still retains institutional principles (patriotic values, historic traditions, etc.) the military is becoming oriented to the principles of business and economics and can be fairly categorized as a profession. This can be explored in relating to other professions in the grouping of power and compensation. There are different ranks within the military, granting some people more power. Many young people look to the military for compensation benefits and the opportunity to attend college without enormous loans.
Moskos used the United States as his point of reference. The militaries of countries such as France, Great Britain, Germany, Netherlands, and Australia also have elements of institutionalism.Moskos, C. C., & Wood F. R. (Eds.). (1988). The military: More than just a job? Washington DC: Potomac Books Incorporated. Moskos's model has influenced the scholarship of enlistment/reenlistment, which looks at how occupational and institutional factors shape a recruit's enlistment intention or the reenlistment decisions of active duty personnel.Shields P.M. (2020) Dynamic Intersection of Military and Society. In: Sookermany A. (eds) Handbook of Military Sciences. p. 4. Springer, Cham
Recruitment practices
Perhaps no other institution places as much emphasis on procedures for assimilating new members as does the armed forces. Assimilation involves the continuous process of recruitment, selection, training, and career development. Not only must the new recruit, officer, or enlisted officer learn new and difficult skills. He or she is also expected to master an elaborate code of professional behavior and etiquette, since membership in the military means participation in an organizational community which regulates behavior both on and off the "job". The American Military utilizes the citizen-soldier concept to gather military personnel from across the country. This term means the ability to quickly round up or call up troops for war or military tour at a virtual moment's notice. But once the assignment or tour is over, the military personnel are returned to civilian life.
According to Norman A. Hilman 2.5 million men were enlisted into military during the peacetime draft. During that rapid transitional period, many soldiers may have felt lost or confused by the differences in their previous life (civilian) and their new military life, which calls for a demand to conform to new orders that are expected to be followed without question. Although, there were many men and now women who have voluntarily joined in the armed forces, there are those who view joining the military and working for the government as selling out. The negative characterization of military life can be a real turn off for most people looking from the outside. Despite the negative thoughts about military life and the incentives of economic security, military recruitment practices changed from a means to help one's country into a way to attain an education back to a need to serve one's country, in recent years. Throughout its changes the enlisting numbers have not declined, they have stayed steady, if not increasing over the years.
The effects of military life on dependents (and the influence of military dependent subcultures)
A military family by definition is a unit that may consist of husband and wife and children (in many English-speaking countries, called military brats, which is a term of respect and endearment, not an insult); with either the husband and/or wife as the primary military enlisted. The emotional stress that a partner can experience, before, during and after a soldier, sailor, marine or airman's deployment is perhaps just as bad mentally, as the one who is fighting in the military. Those whose husbands or wives were deployed for the first time, rated their feelings about the whole experience as being very sad, and found it difficult to cope with the sudden absence of their loved one. However, women or men whose spouses have been deployed prior, coped with the present deployment with more positive reactions. They felt that they had a job to do away from home that was important and they and the rest of their family (children) had to be supportive and take care of things while the family member was away. Children begin taking on more adult responsibilities like: cooking, cleaning, getting groceries, etc. Despite the positive coping skills of some military families, some do not do well on their own coping with the long separation from their family and family members. Stressors and stress reactions of spouses vary over time. What is perceived as stressful before the deployment differs from what is perceived as stressful during and after the deployment. Deployments can last anywhere from 90 days to 15 months, and during this time, the role that the members of the family believe they should hold changes. This often makes it difficult for all members of the family.
Approximately one-fifth of all enlisted 18-year-olds and one-third of all junior personnel in the United States Army are married, compared to less than 5% of civilian 18-year-olds. As a result, young military families experience many of the same hardships that can accompany the start of a family in greater numbers than young civilian families. Like young civilian families, young military families may also experience maturity issues, life inexperience, low incomes, and living away from home. But these issues are compounded by the fact that young military families also experience special hardships not experienced by young civilian families. For example, while many young families, both military and civilian, often endure difficulties, civilian families are more likely to have the support of family and friends which is less likely to be an option for military families (e.g. on a military base stationed in a foreign country).