Martial Culture in the Lifeways of US Servicemembers and Veterans

<p>This book develops a new concept—“martial culture”—with which to problematize and reframe thinking surrounding the lifeways of US servicemembers by exploring the values beliefs norms and rituals they are exposed to and practice during military service.</p><p>By reuniting the two concepts of servicemember and veteran into one overarching cultural model the author shows how the concept of <i>martial culture </i>can be used to acknowledge the unbroken holistic multidimensional life cycle of an individual. Adopting a comparative mythological approach and drawing upon Roman Navajo Hindu Norse and Japanese myths that speak to the lived experiences of servicemembers veterans and their families it weaves together ancient voices and contemporary servicemember experiential existences to offer new insight into the psychological experience of servicemembers.</p><p>It will be of strong interest to psychologists who seek to develop their treatment of veterans by understanding the unique lifeway of service without judgement and offering a balanced integrated spiritual connection while pushing back against both inaccurate assumptions of martial lifeways and the influences of industrialized secular approaches to service. It will also appeal to those within the fields of military sociology and psychology.</p>