INSTITUTIONAL WELFARE AND RESILIENCE INITIATIVES FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY PERSONNEL AND FAMILIES: THEORY AND PRACTICE. A CRITICAL REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Abstract

The recent unprecedented levels of deployment of troops in operations in the Horn of Africa region has dramatically changed the Military families’ growth due to the large number of troops being deployed. Families get affected by deployment-related family separation, combat injury, and death. With continued involvement in operations, there is a deep concern over parental deployment and its impact on the well-being of military families. Parental absence or loss invokes emotional uncertainty and ambiguity in the family. Through Institutional Resilience programmes, family members can successfully adapt to the situation with significant adversity or trauma through interactions with environmental factors such as community environment, the population, and risk factors. This paper therefore reviews extant conceptual and theoretical literature on common resilience programmes, proposes a theoretical framework for transition and wellbeing of military personnel and their families, proposes a definition for the construct ‘social welfare’ and makes recommendations on resilience and welfare initiatives for adoption by the Disciplined Forces and other organizations with employees in conflict prone areas in the Horn of Africa. KEY WORDS: Peacekeeping, Resilience, Welfare, Wellbeing, Counselling, Communication.