Journal Article


How do sociodemographic characteristics influence UK civilian opinions of UK armed forces Iraq and Afghanistan veterans?

Abstract

Evidence suggests that UK veterans are seen as victims with a consequent elevation of concern for their perceived mental health needs. The present study examined sociodemographic factors that contribute to victimising conceptualisations of British Army Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Participants (N=234) provided three word-associations to “British Army Iraq Veteran” and “British Army Afghanistan Veteran” and answered sociodemographic questions. A Multiple Linear Regression outlines that low national pride, opposition towards the missions and higher levels of education predict elevated levels of victimizing word-associations. Narrative accounts from 21 interviewed UK participants suggest that participants who did not perceive the recent conflicts as legitimate conceptualise veterans as passive, naïve actors who had to submit to the anthropomorphic agency of the government. This allowed holding overtly appreciative though belittling attitudes towards veterans, while opposing the missions. To dissociate veterans from victimizing perceptions, better knowledge about service and justifications for deployments need to be provided.

Attached files

Authors

Phillips, Rita
Connelly, Vincent
Burgess, Mark

Oxford Brookes departments

Department of Psychology, Health and Professional Development

Dates

Year of publication: 2022
Date of RADAR deposit: 2022-01-06


Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License


Related resources

This RADAR resource is Identical to How do sociodemographic characteristics influence UK civilian opinions of UK armed forces Iraq and Afghanistan veterans?

Details

  • Owner: Daniel Croft
  • Collection: Outputs
  • Version: 1 (show all)
  • Status: Live
  • Views (since Sept 2022): 454