Military veteran entrepreneurs, also known as vetrepreneurs, form a unique entrepreneurial community based in part on their military-related skills and life experiences, the financial endowments derived from their service, and external influences like professional mentors and government-provided training programs. However, a research gap exists in the examination of the degree to which these factors meaningfully influence successful outcomes for military veterans who become small business entrepreneurs. Therefore, the research question for this project was: what experiences, endowments, and external influences impact successful entrepreneurial outcomes for small business vetrepreneurs? This exploratory research consisted of a mixed-methods approach involving a quantitative pilot study that included a survey of 70 veteran small business entrepreneurs (Study 1), and a qualitative case method study that included detailed interviews with 6 additional veteran entrepreneurs (Study 2). Among the findings in Study 1 were that military service is an advantage to vetrepreneurs, but traits such as education, military rank, job held in the military, and financial endowments were not. As discovered in Study 2, however, things like networking, passion for one’s business, and understanding administrative aspects of business are important contributors to successful outcomes. The implications for this research include potential updates to military pre-separation training programs, as well as providing useful data for both researchers and current or future vetrepreneurs. Keywords: Veteran Entrepreneurship, Vetrepreneur, Military Entrepreneurship / Business Administration/Entrepreneurship

The purpose of this qualitative ethnographic case study was to investigate how an adult agricultural educational program generates new learning spaces for military veterans. Utilizing Symbolic Interactionism and Cultural Capital Theories this study illustrates how military veterans use and making new meanings of military symbols in an agricultural educational context. After leaving their military service, veterans often discharge with not only the physical scars of battle, but sometimes harboring mental and emotional distress that can prevent their abilities to successfully reintegrate into a civilian setting. For several veterans, adult agricultural programs can provide a vital educational experience to help them address physical and mental challenges, launch a new career in agriculture, and form new civilian identities. Findings from this research indicate that participants of this study transformation of a civilian identity is positively impacted when familiar symbols of the military are used in the implementation of agriculture education and that these symbols then take on new meanings supporting Blumer (1969) Symbolic Interactionism Theory. Further, mutually beneficial experiences occurred between veterans and community members, allowing for the veteran to build positive connection with civilians and move up in civilian society. This supports the concept of Pierre Bourdieu (1986) Cultural Capital Theory. Further, these finding show that military veterans are employing this adult agricultural education program to transform their cultural identity and re-assign symbolic military meanings of objects and self. They connect with familiar military constructed language, behaviors, and physical symbolism to represent their identity, during and after their service. For them, it is important to be able to express their military identity to civilians and other veterans. It is also, vital for them to participate and express their military identities through symbolic military behaviors. This military symbolism is critical to their ability to socialize with others, acquire a civilian identity, and navigate social mobility. When the use of symbolism is not applied, or is not recognized by civilians, it influences their civilian identity and for some, creates transition challenges and challenges to their connection to civilian population. / Ph. D. / The United States has been engaged in a number of wars and conflicts throughout the world, including the more recent wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Military members returning from wars sometimes come home with not only the physical scars of battle, but many times harboring mental and emotional distress that inhibit their abilities to successfully reintegrate into civilian life. As such, adult agricultural education programs that serve veterans have grown in number to assist these service members as they transition back into the civilian society, face physical and mental challenges, begin a new career in agriculture, and construct new identities. This process is enticing veterans across the country to enter farming educational programs and many of those veterans are reporting transformations in their self-identity and quality of life. The purpose of this qualitative ethnographic case study was to investigate how an adult agricultural educational program generates new learning spaces for military veterans. Utilizing Symbolic Interactionism and Cultural Capital Theories, this study illustrates how military veterans use and make new meanings of military symbols in an agricultural educational context. Findings show that military veterans are employing this adult agricultural education program to transform their cultural identity and re-assign symbolic military meanings of objects and self. They connect with familiar military constructed language, behaviors, and physical symbolism to represent their identity, during and after their service. For them, it is important to be able to express their military identity to civilians and other veterans. It is also, vital for them to participate and express their military identities through symbolic military behaviors. This military symbolism is critical to their ability to socialize with others, acquire a civilian identity, and navigate social mobility. When the use of symbolism is not applied, or is not recognized by civilians, it influences their civilian identity and for some, creates transition challenges and challenges to their connection to civilian population

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Time spent in the military has the ability to guide service members with political characteristics that influence voting behavior and political involvement throughout life. The objective of this thesis is investigating the relationship between military service and their personal political ideology. This thesis will address political socialization as an agent, while truly understanding the difficulty in what time spent in the service has. The research questions addressed are: How much does military service contribute to an individual’s political ideology? and, Does military service alter an individual’s political belief from a neutral or liberal perspective to a more conservative view? The variables of political socialization are as vast as our imagination, and is a constant changing process. The course from which we form our political views is indicative of the social constructs from which we are subjected to. The ebbs and flows of life experiences is for the most part planned. To what extent our life experiences shape our views could never be calculated. There are, however, variables that can be applied to almost all human life such as our peers, family, institutions, education, strife, success, struggle, and perseverance. Most can understand that family and school are important early in life. Later as adults; peers, literature, education, and socioeconomic status is more impressionable. This research aims to discover military service as an agent with the ability to frame forming opinions. Military service is not a rare human experience of itself, but is rare in its ability to hold all of the above variables in a complete surrounding environment. Military service has the unique ability to sever ties from outside influence, inhabit complete social submersion, force uniformity in thought, regularity in action, all during the time an individual is most impressionable towards political ideas. This is interesting as it tests a full immersion political socialization environment to what we label ourselves in the grand scheme of political constructs over a life time.

<p> </p> <p>Though literature on the influence and efficacy of service dogs as a complementary and integrative health intervention option for a variety of needs (e.g., medical, mobility, psychiatric) continues to emerge, a focus on how service dogs are integrated into the everyday lives of their handlers remains understudied. This dissertation offers new insights to this previously understudied area by first comparing the expectations versus lived experiences of veteran service dog handlers with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and then focusing in on the influence of service dogs beyond the handler, looking at the influence of service dogs on spouses, family members and caregivers. Using a rigorous multi-modal approach, both qualitative and quantitative insights emerge regarding the integration of a service dog for the handler and their families. Findings suggest that understanding the similarities and differences between expectations and experiences may help to inform practitioners and interested recipients about the service dog intervention and help to set realistic expectations about the integration process. Additionally, in populations of psychiatric assistance dogs for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and in populations of mobility and medical alert assistance dogs, findings suggest that the benefits and challenges of the intervention reach beyond the service dog recipient and handler, extending to affect the wellbeing of their families and caregivers. Researchers and practitioners should work together to develop programs that integrate these findings to provide family-focused educational interventions where both positive and negative experiences are shared alongside strategies to overcome the challenges associated with integrating a service dog into a home prior to pairing. Providing this opportunity enables setting realistic expectations for this complementary and integrative intervention option which in turn may affect its efficacy and success throughout and beyond the integration process. </p>

No description available.

Background: Concern has been voiced over the needs of ex-military personnel following their discharge from military service and subsequent transition to community living. This concern has extended to include veterans, particularly those who have mental health, drug or alcohol problems, who come into contact with criminal justice services and are imprisoned. Research examining the experiences of military veterans prior to and during their incarceration in Scottish prisons was carried out. This study sought to examine whether veteran prisoners form a unique prison sub-group with different health, social and criminogenic needs when compared to non-veteran prisoners, and how veteran prisoners differ from non-prisoner veterans. Additionally an exploration of veterans’ experiences of prison, and what they believed caused or contributed to their imprisonment, was conducted. This sought to identify whether veterans in prison had unique vulnerability/ risk factors and whether they had a common or idiographic pathway that led to their incarceration. Methods and design: This study comprised of three separate but linked parts. It adopted a mixed-method approach combining quantitative analysis of survey data (Part 1) with qualitative interpretative phenomenological analysis of focus group (Part 2) and interview data (Part 3). Survey data examined, through the use of standardised questionnaires, a range of themes; including, mental health and wellbeing, substance and alcohol use, childhood experiences, offending histories, and military experience. In Part 1 participants were recruited into three separate groups. Group 1 consisted of veterans in prison, while Group 2 consisted of prisoners who had no military experience and Group 3 comprised of Scottish Prison Service staff who had previous military experience. In Parts 2 and 3 participants were recruited from the veteran prisoner population, with participants in Part 3 having declared current mental health and/or substance use problems. Findings: Analysis of survey data identified many differences in health and wellbeing, and some differences in length of, and discharge from, military service, when comparing veteran prisoners with a non-imprisoned veteran group. Both groups, however, appeared to have similar levels of combat exposure. Comparison between veteran prisoners and non-veteran prisoners identified more similarities than differences across most of the measures. Many of the mental health drug or alcohol problems experienced by veteran prisoners were also experienced by non-veteran prisoners. Post-traumatic stress disorder did appear to be a specific problem for veteran prisoners but this did not appear to be attributable to their military experience. Additionally, veterans being raised by a mother-figure other than their birth-mother appeared to be a unique risk factor for veteran imprisonment but this finding should be viewed with caution as the number of participants raised by a mother-figure other than their birth mother was small. Findings were mixed regarding how veterans described their experience of imprisonment: some found it unchallenging yet unstimulating while others described feelings of ongoing punishment and a sense of being embattled. Reciprocal processes of dehumanising both prisoners and staff were also evident, as were contradictory experiences on the availability and quality of care provision in prison. Veteran prisoners appeared to identify with their prisoner identity rather than their veteran identity, believing that they were the same as other prisoners and had the same needs. This was evident when veterans described their experiences of forming and maintaining interpersonal relationships, albeit within-prison relationships appeared superficial in nature. While some veterans appeared reluctant to ask for assistance in prison, concerns about the inadequacies or availability of support services appear valid. Gaps in provision of care, particularly mental health care, existed at the time of the study. Lastly, some participants appeared to feel unprepared for their release from prison back to the community. This may stem from their previous experience of transitioning from the military to civilian living but it is more likely the recognition that many prisoners leave prison only to return back to custody. For some veteran prisoners this is because they believe community services are unavailable or unable to help as they struggle to cope with community living. As such, some may consider prison living the easier option. Conclusions and implications: Many of the findings suggested that veteran and non-veteran prisoners had, or were believed to have had, by veteran prisoners, similar ‘needs’ and reasons for offending. Veteran prisoners should, therefore, not be regarded as a specific sub-group of the prison population, and addressing prisoner needs should not be prioritised according to their pre-prison occupational status. Lastly, where gaps in service provision exist, the SPS and its partner agencies, including the NHS, should continue to address these. This should include giving consideration to the adoption of a trauma-informed approach within the prison environment.

No description available.