Domestic Abuse and Military Families: The Problem of Reintegration and Control

This paper is based on a project that was designed to ascertain the nature and extent of domestic violence and abuse (DVA) within military families in England. The research arose from concerns raised by practitioners working with military families, who had noted a rise in DVA. This paper examines the findings from a pilot project designed to ascertain the nature, extent and impact of DVA on military families. It begins by considering the research literature that currently exists before examining the findings of the research on which this paper is based. Whilst this research did not find high levels of formal self-reported DVA, it did find high levels of anxiety and concern amongst the partners of military personnel about the impact of family reintegration on all areas of family life. This research highlights the need to use much broader approaches that address areas of control and decision making within families in order to identify potential risk of DVA. In particular, confusion about gendered roles when military personnel are reintegrating was an issue for the partners of military personnel.