and Children:
Implications for Social Work
Practice
SSS 804: Social Work With Children
National Catholic School of Social
Service
Jane Slomski
November 2009
Military Families of Today
• All-volunteer military
• No longer only single men
• Most do not choose long-term service
• 60% of U.S. service members have
children under age 5
• Military policies are getting better but still
do not fully reflect the changing needs of
its families.
Families Cont.
• Families expected to conform to demands
of military lifestyle
• Demands have recently been met with
increasing intolerance and dissatisfaction
by service members and their families
• Recently recognized need for widespread
reevaluation of military policies and
procedures as they relate to military
families
Unique Stressors in Military
Families
• Deployment
– Long term separations, sometimes with limited
contact with soldiers/families
– War zones: increased risk of injury or death
• Reorganization
– Family roles shift to compensate for absence of
soldier
– When soldier returns, must reintegrate into family
• Relocation
– Frequent moves disrupt networks of social support
– Children have difficulty frequently changing schools
and making new friends
Military Children
• Literature suggests that children with
deployed parents:
– Are aware of the dangers of deployment
– Show a greater ability to adapt than civilian
cohorts
– Are extremely resilient
– Feel a sense of sacrifice and patriotism
Children’s Mental Health During
Deployment
• Strongly linked to coping skills and mental
health of at-home parent
• If parent exhibits symptoms of distress,
depression, or anxiety, children are likely
to present with clinically significant
symptoms as well
• Among surveyed military spouses, most
common concern is fear for solider safety
Satisfaction With Army Life
• In study of factors associated with family’s satisfaction
with army life, most important factor was impact of
separations
• Impact of separation: Effect that soldier’s absence has
on family life cycle
• Absence during important life events: Graduation,
marriages, holidays…
• Impact of separation negatively correlated with spouse’s
– physical well-being
– psychological well-being
– marital satisfaction
– Army life satisfaction
Attachment and Separation
• Attachment Theory:
– Biological attachment system activated at
birth: newborns seek safety, nourishment,
comfort, connection.
– Attachment system is active throughout life;
humans maintain psychological equilibrium
through emotional and physical connections
with others
– Separation from attachment figures activates
the attachment system and causes
psychological distress, anxiety, depression
Attachment Figures
• In childhood
– Adult the child depends on to meet basic needs including the
need for physical comfort and emotional closeness (usually
parents, not always)
• In adulthood
– Moves away from parents; transfers to significant others in life
• In romantic relationships
– Attachment style developed in childhood becomes the way we
relate to others as adults