This book contributes important new insights into how deployment on international military missions affects soldiers and their lives. Using both quantitative data and in-depth interviews, the authors provide a longitudinal perspective covering the participants in these missions before, during, and after deployment on a large range of life outcomes. The research centres around four key themes; who are the men and women who choose to be deployed; why do they choose to be deployed; what challenges do these soldiers face before, during, and after returning home from a mission; and what are the consequences of deployment for the soldiers’ individual lives?
Danish soldiers provide an illustrative study and data is drawn from administrative registries and is supplemented with broader surveys of present and former soldiers, in-depth interviews of parents and other relatives, and support group professionals.
Using specifically constructed datasets and comparing these soldiers with relevant control groups, this book offers a unique analysis of the impact of deployment on important issues such as personal finances, the labour market, criminal activity, smoking and drinking, and overall health. Mapping a full portrait of the men and women who choose to be deployed, and explaining both their initial motivations, this book highlights the challenges they face before and during deployment and upon returning home.
Chapter 1. Summary of Contents
Chapter 2. Overview of Data and Methods
Chapter 3. Soldiers Before and During Deployments
Chapter 4. Returning Home from an International Military Mission: An Investigation Based on Qualitative Interviews
Chapter 5. Mission Experiences and Subsequent Careers: Survey-Based Analyses
Chapter 6. Homecoming Soldiers: A 'Before-And-After' Analysis of Motivations, Financial Situation, and Criminality
Chapter 7. Soldiers on International Missions: Mental Health Profile Before and After Deployment
Chapter 8. Perspectives
Stéphanie Vincent Lyk-Jensen is Senior Researcher at VIVE - The Danish Center for Social Science Research, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Peder J. Pedersen is Professor Emeritus at Aarhus University, Denmark. Currently he is consultant at VIVE - The Danish Center for Social Science Research and Research Fellow at IZA, the Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn, Germany.