A Symbolic Interactionist Perspective on the Divide within the Veteran Self

Bibliographic Data

ID22158311
AuthorsJan Grimell (0000-0002-7327-8519, Uppsala University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume9
Issue1
Pages46-59
Publication date2023-02-07
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Veterans Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2470-4768 • E-ISSN: 2470-4768
PublisherVirginia Tech Libraries (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.21061/jvs.v9i1.392
OpenAlexW4319350237
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited29

This article focuses a theoretical lens on the veteran self and discusses what this can mean for veterans, their loved ones, and society. Mead’s (1934) generalized other, Cooley’s (1902) looking-glass self, and James’s (1890) and Mead’s division of the self into the I and the Me are central concepts in this discussion. The article embraces a symbolic interactionist understanding, which leads to the suggestion that there is no deeper symbolic consensus between the civilian and military lifeworlds. Military symbols are not shared with and are not meaningful to civilians and therefore are not symbols at all in the civilian lifeworld. The rupture of the veteran self is due to the lack of shared symbolism with the self and civilian society at large. This creates a divide within the veteran self, which is hard to bridge. The article is written with a special address to the deployed veteran

Epistemology · Interactionism · Lifeworld · Psychoanalysis · Self · Social science · Sociology · Symbolic interactionism · The Symbolic · Computer Science · Education and Military Integration · Medicine · Military, Security, and Education Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology