Soldier, civilian, criminal: identifying pathways to offending of ex-armed forces personnel in prison

ABSTRACT

Little is known about why some ex-armed forces personnel become involved in the criminal justice system, however, they represent the largest known occupational group in prison. In-depth interviews were employed to explore possible pathways to offending. Twenty ex-armed forces personnel in prison were recruited from five prisons in England. Data were analysed using a combination of thematic analysis and constant comparison methods rooted in grounded theory. Four predominant themes were identified: experiences of trauma and adversity; belonging; impulsivity and creating a soldier. Participants had experienced a number of traumatic incidents and adversity in their lives, encompassing pre, during and post-service but felt a sense of belonging in the armed forces. Participants demonstrated impulsivity in a number of areas with links to both their service in the armed forces and offending behaviour. The creation of the identity of ‘soldier’ was perceived to impact participants’ lives in a number of ways, including their offending, alcohol use and coping with trauma. The interplay of these themes and their potential impact on participants’ pathways to offending are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Ex-armed forces
• prison
• offending
• mental health
• qualitative methods

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the prisoners and the participating establishments that took part in this research. The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was sponsored by the University of Manchester and funded via a Doctoral Training Grant from the Medical Research Council [grant number MR/J500410/1].