SOCIAL SUPPORT SERVICES DURING EXTERNAL MILITARY DEPLOYMENT

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nformed Consent

According to Christians (2000:138): Research subjects have the right to be informed about the nature and consequences of an experiment in which they participate. Proper respect for human freedom generally includes two necessary conditions. Subjects must agree voluntarily to participate, that is, without physical or psychological coercion. In addition, their agreement must be based on full and open information. Leedy and Ormrod (2005:101-102) elaborate further by saying that: The participants should be told that, if they agree to participate, they would have the right to withdraw from the study at any time. Any participation in a study should be strictly voluntary. A common practice is an informed consent form that describes the nature of the research project, as well as the nature of research subjects’ participation in it. 22 In summary, according to the researcher, informed consent entails a written document that clearly discloses all information about the study, which serves as an agreement between the researcher and research subjects. In the case of this study, research subjects signed informed consent forms. These forms contained information about the content of the study, the purpose of the study and procedures to be followed, the rights of research subjects, such as confidentiality, the fact that research subjects were at liberty to withdraw from the study at any time if they so desired, and the contact numbers of the researcher. This would enable research subjects to contact the researcher in case of any questions or comments.

Deception of Respondents

According to Neuman (2000:229), “deception occurs when the researcher intentionally misleads subjects by way of written or verbal instructions, the actions of other people, or certain aspects of the setting”. According to Bailey (1994:463), “lying about the research purpose is common, especially in the case 24 of small qualitative projects. Deception is hardly needed in large quantitative surveys, however”. Strydom (2002:67) is of the opinion that “no form of deception should be inflicted on respondents. If this happens inadvertently, it must be rectified immediately after or during the debriefing interview”. The researcher therefore ensured that all the information concerning the study, its purpose and the research process was disclosed before the commencement of the study.

Debriefing of Respondents

According to Judd, Smith and Kidder (1991:517), “debriefing sessions during which subjects are given the opportunity, after the study, to work through their experience and its aftermath, is possibly one way in which the researcher can assist subjects to minimise harm”. According to Babbie (2001:475), “problems generated by the research experience can be corrected through debriefing”. Salkind (2000:38) is of the opinion that “the easiest way to debrief participants is to discuss their feelings with regard to the project immediately after the session or to send a newsletter telling them the basic intent or results of the study”. The researcher therefore requested social workers in the deployment units to debrief research subjects at the end of the research process. However, social workers who assisted with the investigation did not participate in the debriefing of research subjects. Social workers who took part in this study as researchers could not act as therapists. Therefore, social workers who were not researchers in the study were requested to debrief research subjects at the end of the study. The spouses of SANDF members were also debriefed by social workers who had not taken part in the study in all nine provinces of South Africa.

Stage Seven: Reintegration and Stabilisation

According to Logan (1987:46): Sometime within the four to six weeks after homecoming, wives notice that they have stopped referring to “my car, my house, my bedroom” instead they use “our” or “we”. New routines have been established for the family and the wives feel relaxed and comfortable with their husbands. There is a sense of being a couple and a family. They are back on the same track emotionally and can enjoy the warmth and closeness of being married. Spellman et al. (1991:2) are of the opinion that “during the postdeployment/reunion phase, the soldier and family members experience the 50 emotional cycle of reintegration/stabilization”. In the researcher’s view, based on the abovementioned, it is only during this stage that everything is back to the normal state of functioning. Both the member and the spouse have now found each other and are once again a family. Furthermore, in the researcher’s view, the abovementioned clearly shows that deployment is not an easy process. It is complex due to the nature of problems that are associated with it. Spouses remaining at home during the absence of members experience psychosocial problems emanating from deployment. Homecoming also has its own challenges. It is thus vital for the spouse and the member to have a thorough understanding of typical problems and emotions that are related to deployment. Intervention measures should be introduced to ensure that issues are addressed well in advance, in order to prevent divorces and raising children in broken families. Obviously, one cannot expect these families to be problem-free. However, a lot of problems encountered by spouses during the absence of members and during reintegration into the home can be prevented if the necessary support measures are in place.

HE NATURE OF SUPPORT SERVICES THAT CAN BE

RENDERED TO SPOUSES DURING EXTERNAL MILITARY DEPLOYMENT OF MEMBERS According to Kaslow (1993:30-31): 56 The dramatic increase in the number of married enlisted personnel since the advent of the all-volunteer force has been responsible for the growth in support services in the armed forces. Facilities such as commissaries and exchanges, medical services for dependants, family housing, child development centers, family service centers, after-school and youth programs are now found on almost all bases and posts. Mothers in uniform, who make up less than 5% of the total active force, have greatly benefited from these facilities. It is difficult to assess the degree to which mothers, as compared to fathers, are responsible for the growth of these services, few would argue that female parents almost always shoulder more of the dayto-day responsibility for a family’s well being than do male parents. The recognition that childcare is an appropriate and necessary function for the military to provide resulted from changes in the demographics of the male military population, but it has also benefited women. Twenty-five years ago, few had both children and a spouse who worked.
Childcare was the responsibility of the nonworking mother. At that time, male single parents were not prevalent enough to be counted. Therefore, as a result of the increase in the number of married personnel and women in the SANDF, it is vital that support services are put in place during the external deployment of the member. The researcher aligns herself with Kaslow, and is of the opinion that the dire need for support services during the external deployment of the member within the SANDF emanates from the fact that the demographics of a previously male-dominated organisation are transforming. Presently, more and more women are gainfully employed in the SANDF in various capacities. In addition, most of the women shoulder the responsibility of running the family, hence the need to investigate a model for spousal support during the absence of the member.

Social Support System

According to Cutrona (1996:9): The term social support is sometimes applied to constructs that should properly be termed social integration or social networks. Social integration (also termed social involvement) reflects the presence or absence of key social ties, most often marriage and membership in groups such as churches, clubs and other voluntary organisations. Social integration is an important construct because 64 the absence of such ties (social isolation) is a serious health risk factor. The social network approach involves more detailed quantitative assessments of the individual’s social ties. A person’s social network includes the people with whom he or she interacts on regular basis (for example, friends, neighbours, co-workers, family members). Other research (Pehrson, 1993:442; see also Wood et al., 1995:219) indicates that “when all the subjects’ responses to the types of social supports were analysed, they listed family as the most used social support, followed by friends, no-one, outside (non-military) sources and religious sources”.

Family-Supportive Employer Responses

Zinn and Eitzen (1993:217-18) postulate that: The complex struggle that many women and men face in trying to combine work and family raises important issues for employers and public policymakers. Workplaces have been slow to respond to the needs of their employees who are parents. The traditional organization of work, an inflexible eight-hour workday makes it difficult for parents to cope with family problems or the conflicting schedules of family members. Figley (in Kaslow, 1993:176) is of the opinion that: Since early 1991 their family center staff had consulted with many individuals and institutions. These included other family-centered institutions, military service assistance programs, national mental health associations and other professional organisations. Most of them wanted to help military families. It was obvious that no plan of action existed on either a national or regional level. Few communities in the USA reacted to this emergency in a unified manner. As a result, agencies were grouping for direction in coordinating their efforts with others in their area. A critical need for national policies that focus on helping military families, especially in times of war was identified. There is a need for an emergency plan to identify and attend to the needs of our military families, especially our children, during periods of crisis.

RESEARCH APPROACH

According to De Vos (2002a:366), “the concept triangulation is sometimes used to designate a conscious combination of quantitative and qualitative methodology”. Mouton and Marais (in De Vos, 2002a:365) are of the opinion that “the term triangulation, originally coined by Denzin (1978), referred mainly to the use of multiple methods of data collection with a view to increasing the reliability of observation, and not specifically to the combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches”. According to the researcher, the research approach that was used in this study is a combination of both quantitative and qualitative approaches. As indicated by Mouton and Marais (in De Vos, 2002a:365) above, 77 the purpose behind the use of a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches is to increase the reliability of the study.

TABLE OF CONTENTS :

• Title page
• Declaration
• Dedication
• Acknowledgement
• Summary
• CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
  • 1.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 1.2 PROBLEM FORMULATION
  • 1.3 PURPOSE, GOAL AND OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
  • 1.3.1 Goal
  • 1.3.2 Objectives
  • 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION
  • 1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
  • 1.6 PILOT STUDY
  • 1.6.1 Pilot testing
  • 1.6.2 Feasibility of study
  • 1.7 ETHICAL ASPECTS
  • 1.7.1 Protection from harm
  • 1.7.2 Informed consent
  • 1.7.3 Right to privacy/confidentiality/anonymity
  • 1.7.4 Deception of respondents
  • 1.7.5 Release or publication of findings
  • 1.7.6 Debriefing of respondents
  • 1.7.7 Cooperation with contributors
  • 1.7.8 Action and competence of the researcher
  • 1.8 DEFINITION OF KEY CONCEPTS
  • 1.8.1 Model
  • 1.8.2 Spouses
  • 1.8.3 Support
  • 1.8.4 Military deployment
  • 1.8.5 Resilience
  • 1.8.6 Empowerment
  • 1.9 CONTENTS OF RESEARCH REPORT
  • 1.10 LIMITATIONS OF STUDY
  • 1.11 SUMMARY
• CHAPTER TWO: SOCIAL SUPPORT SERVICES DURING EXTERNAL MILITARY DEPLOYMENT
  • 2.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 2.2 DEPLOYMENT EFFECTS ON SPOUSES AND THE MEMBERS
  • 2.2.1 Stage One: Anticipation of loss
  • 2.2.2 Stage Two: Detachment and withdrawal
  • 2.2.3 Stage Three: Emotional disorganization
  • 2.2.4 Stage Four: Recovery and stabilization
  • 2.2.5 Stage Five: Anticipation of homecoming
  • 2.2.6 Stage Six: Renegotiation of marriage contract
  • 2.2.7 Stage Seven: Reintegration and stabilization
  • 2.3 RATIONALE BEHIND SPOUSAL SUPPORT DURING THE EXTERNAL MILITARY DEPLOYMENT OF THE MEMBER
  • 2.4 THE NATURE OF SUPPORT SERVICES THAT CAN BE RENDERED TO THE SPOUSES DURING EXTERNAL MILITARY DEPLOYMENT OF THE MEMBER
  • 2.4.1 Components of family support
  • 2.4.1.1 Family preparation
  • 2.4.1.2 Spousal support group programme
  • 2.4.1.3 Social support system
  • 2.4.1.4 Communication
  • 2.4.1.5 Children and separation
  • 2.4.1.6 Professional therapy
  • 2.4.1.7 Family-supportive employer responses
  • 2.4.1.8 Home coming
  • 2.5 SUMMARY
• CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
  • 3.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 3.2 RESEARCH APPROACH
  • 3.3 TYPE OF RESEARCH
  • 3.3.1 Problem analysis and project planning
  • 3.3.2 Information gathering and synthesis
  • 3.3.3 Design
  • 3.4 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
  • 3.4.1 Data collection
  • 3.5. UNIVERSE, POPULATION, SAMPLE AND SAMPLING METHOD
  • 3.5.1 Universe
  • 3.5.2 Population
  • 3.5.3 Sample and boundary of sample
  • 3.5.4 Sampling method
  • 3.6 DATA ANALYSIS
  • 3.7 SUMMARY
• CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION: QUALITATIVE STUDY
  • 4.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 4.2 Section A
  • 4.2.1 Biographical information
  • 4.2.1.1 Age of respondents
  • 4.2.1.2 Gender of respondents
  • 4.2.1.3 Years of experience in the marital relationship
  • 4.2.1.4 Rank of the member
  • 4.2.1.5 Spouses employment status
  • 4.2.1.6 Residential area
  • 4.2.1.7 Deployment period in the past twelve months
  • 4.2.1.8 Country of deployment
  • 4.3 SECTION B
  • 4.3.1 Themes and sub-themes
  • 4.3.1.1.1 Theme 1: Issues coupled to deployments
  • 4.3.1.1.1 Sub-theme 1: Transport problems
  • 4.3.1.1.2 Sub-theme 2: Financial problems
  • 4.3.1.1.3 Sub-theme 3: Marital problems
  • 4.3.1.1.4 Sub-theme 4: Poor/lack of communication facilities
  • 4.3.1.1.5 Sub-theme 5: Death, illness in the family and admission to hospital
  • 4.3.1.1.6 Sub-theme 6: Maintenance
  • 4.3.1.1.7 Sub-theme 7: Problems with children
  • 4.3.1.1.8 Sub-theme 8: Interference by the in-laws
  • 4.3.1.1.9 Sub-theme 9: Loneliness and emotional problems
  • 4.3.1.2 Theme 2: Attitude towards deployment
  • 4.3.1.3 Theme 3: Organisational military external deployment support
  • 4.3.1.3.1 Sub-theme 1: Lack of support/assistance
  • 4.3.1.4 Theme 4: Need for spousal support services
  • 4.3.1.4.1 Sub-theme1: Before deployment
  • 4.3.1.4.2 Sub-theme2: During deployment
  • 4.3.1.4.3 Sub-theme3: Post deployment
  • 4.6 SUMMARY
• CHAPTER FIVE: DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION: QUANTITATIVE STUDY
  • 5.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 5.2 Section A: Biographical data
  • 5.2.1 Gender
  • 5.2.2 Age distribution
  • 5.2.3 Relationship status
  • 5.2.4 Years in the relationship
  • 5.2.5 Occupational status of the spouse
  • 5.2.6 Rank distribution of respondents
  • 5.2.7 Period of employment in the SANDF
  • 5.2.8 Period away on deployment in the last 12 months
  • 5.2.9 Frequency Involvement in external military deployment
  • 5.2.10 Country of deployment
  • 5.2.11 Participation in the preparation for deployment programme
  • 5.2.12 Spousal participation in the preparation for deployment programme
  • 5.3 Section B: Nature of problems experienced by members during external military deployment
  • 5.3.1 Finance related problems encountered whilst on external military deployment
  • 5.3.2 Views on the joint financial account
  • 5.3.3 Reliance on each other even during deployment
  • 5.3.4 Social support system that would be approached in case of emergencies
  • 5.3.5 Nature of communication with the spouse
  • 5.3.6 Frequency of communication with the spouse whilst on deployment
  • 5.3.7 Problems experienced in communicating with the spouse during deployment
  • 5.3.8 Solutions to communication Problems
  • 5.3.9 Members’ perception regarding whether or not Unit Commanders are concerned about the welfare of the spouse
  • 5.3.10 Services that could have been offered to improve the situation of the spouse during deployment
  • 5.3.11 Type of relaxation by members whilst deployed
  • 5.3.12 Sexual relationship formation during deployment
  • 5.4 Section C: Need for social support services
  • 5.4.1 Number of weeks in advance that the respondents received notice of deployment
  • 5.4.2 Ability to make the necessary arrangements in the time of notice
  • 5.4.3 Type of services that would have helped in making the necessary arrangements
  • 5.4.4 Deployment effects on the relationship
  • 5.4.5 Family responsibilities that interfered with combat readiness
  • 5.4.6 Rating of the importance different forms of assistance during deployment
  • 5.4.7 Period when assistance was needed most
  • 5.4.8 Emotions experienced at homecoming
  • 5.4.9 Additional social assistance required after deployment
  • 5.4.10 Whose responsibility is it to support the spouse of the deployed member?
  • 5.4.11 Feelings about external military deployment
  • 5.4.12 Perception about the importance of provision of a standardized unit social support services to the spouses during external military deployment of the member
  • 5.4.13 Additional comments about social support services to spouses during external military deployment of the member
  • 5.5 SUMMARY
• CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSIONS AND
  • RECOMMENDATIONS
  • 6.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 6.2 GOAL AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
  • 6.2.1 Goal
  • 6.2.2 Objectives
  • 6.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
  • 6.4 CONCLUSIONS
  • 6.5 RECOMMENDATIONS
  • 6.6 SUMMARY
• CHAPTER SEVEN: MODEL FOR SOCIAL SUPPORT SERVICES TO SANDF MEMBERS’ SPOUSES DURING EXTERNAL MILITARY DEPLOYMENT
  • 7.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 7.2 STAGES OF MODEL DEVELOPMENT
  • 7.2.1 PROBLEM ANALYSIS
  • 7.2.2 SETTING OBJECTIVES FOR MODEL DEVELOPMENT (Stage 2)
  • 7.2.3 CONSIDERING OPTIMAL APPROACHES AND MATERIALS (Stage 3)
  • 7.2.4 DRAFTING AND DESIGNING(Stage 4)
  • 7.2.4.1 Introduction
  • 7.2.4.2 Design Questions
  • 7.2.4.3 SANDF Units Family Support Groups (SANDF UFSGs) Model
  • 7.2.4.3.1 Contents of the Model
  • 7.2.4.3.2 Overview
  • 7.2.4.3.3 Purpose of the SANDF UFSGs
  • 7.2.4.3.4 SANDF UFSGs Governance
  • 7.2.4.3.5 Multi-disciplinary Approach
  • 7.2.4.3.6 Roles and responsibilities of key role players
  • 7.2.4.3.7 Overview of the phases of deployment
  • 7.2.4.3.8 Intervention programmes applicable to each phase
  • 7.2.5 CONSULTING, EDITING, ASSESSING AND TAKING CORRECTIVE ACTION
  • 7.4 AREAS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
  • 7.5 SUMMARY
  • REFERENCES

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SPOUSAL SUPPORT IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE FORCE DURING EXTERNAL MILITARY DEPLOYMENT: A MODEL FOR SOCIAL SUPPORT SERVICES