Ben Wadham
Biographic Data
| ID | 277525 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ben Wadham |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ben |
| FAMILY NAME | Wadham |
| SIGNATURE | BEN WADHAM |
| AFFILIATIONS | Flinders University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1340-3485 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 31 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 73 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 31 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Forgotten, Invisible, Dangerous
From Epistemology to Practice
Evidence based on peer review research findings shapes understandings of and policy responses to the higher than population prevalence of domestic and family violence (DFV) in military families. Drawing on a critical feminist theoretical perspective (centering the constructs of gender, inequality and power and foregrounding women’s knowledge, lived experience and voice), the purpose of this review was to understand how DFV in military families is…
Lost in Transition
This scoping review synthesises evidence on the system-level barriers Australian veterans and their families encounter during post-service reintegration, with a particular focus on accessing resources across the health, social, and community domains. A structured search of seven databases (CINAHL, JBI EBP Database, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science) and Google Scholar identified 509 studies published between 2013 and 2024, of …
The Unfolding Crisis
The transition from military to civilian life presents significant challenges for Australian veterans, particularly in terms of their social health and overall well-being. This study investigated the declining relevance of the Returned & Services League (RSL) as a support network for veterans, explicitly focusing on South Australia. Historically known for fostering camaraderie, the RSL now faces diminishing membership and reduced participation in…
Australian Women Veterans’ Experiences of Gendered Disempowerment and Abuse Within Military Service and Transition
Disempowering experiences of military service and transition for women veterans exist within an established, dominant, masculinised culture, in which their presence is highly visible, challenged, and often subject to institutional prejudice. Sexual abuse of women in the military, in particular, is a persistent finding in contemporary international research and national inquiries into military culture in countries such as Australia, the United Kin…
Guns and philosophy
Examining the promotion of mental health and wellbeing in Australian sports clubs
Organised sport is increasingly recognised as a culturally acceptable site for mental health and wellbeing promotion. To date, however, there is limited knowledge pertaining to how exactly mental health and wellbeing is supported in such contexts. The present study aimed to provide insight into mental health and wellbeing promotion practices in Australian sports clubs. An online cross-sectional survey examined the current provision of mental heal…
No Women’s Land
Women's experiences of military service and transition occur within a highly dominant masculinized culture. The vast majority of research on military veterans reflects men's experiences and needs. Women veterans' experiences, and therefore their transition support needs, are largely invisible. This study sought to understand the role and impact of gender in the context of the dominant masculinized culture on women veterans' experiences of militar…
Examining Sex-Based Delays in Utilizing Advocacy Support Services Among Australian Military Veterans
This study explores the impact of sex on delays experienced by Australian military veterans in accessing advocacy support services within the veterans' non-profit sector. A detailed analysis of intake records from 150 injured veterans who entered the Returned and Services League of Australia's advocacy program in 2021 reveals significant disparities between male and female veterans in seeking assistance. On average, male veterans delay accessing …
Weaving the threads of identity
Research shows that higher education can help veterans build a new sense of identity, purpose and belonging after leaving the military. There are critical gaps, however, in our understanding of student veterans in the Australian context. This article aims to map the experiences of Australian veterans across the student life cycle to improve our understanding of this unique group. We systematically address the higher education stages of pre-access…
Raped, beaten and bruised
The Australian government has recently established a Royal Commission on Defence and Veteran Suicide (DVSRC). Veteran suicide rates for those who have left the Australian Defence Force (ADF) are higher than the national average and there has been little success in reducing this over an extended period of time. Veteran suicide is poorly understood, and the collected data is imprecise and incomplete. Deployment trauma and Post-traumatic stress diso…
Commanding men, governing masculinities
Since its inception, the Australian armed forces, like all five eye military nations, have been challenged by the phenomenon of violence within the institution. Militaries are institutions of and for violence. The imperative of violence cultivates all service personnel through their initial training and then ongoing roles. This article assesses 4 decades of significant Australian military inquiries around the question of internal institutional vi…
Is the problem with military culture one of bad apples or bad orchards
This article examines the historic and current role of 'culture' in Australian Defence Forces' responses to scandals, war crimes, and illicit behaviours. It makes the case that the ADF has moved from arguing that illicit activities are the product of isolated soldiers, to arguing that illicit activities are the result of 'rogue' groups of soldiers. We call this a shift from the 'bad apples'' to the 'bad orchard' thesis. Drawing on the concepts of…
Staying the Course
The transition from military to civilian life is often challenging for veterans. International research shows higher education to be an important pathway that can help veterans navigate this change and improve their psycho-social wellbeing and career prospects. In this article, we examine how student veterans are being recognised and supported in the Australian higher education context. Our research finds the range of governmental and institution…
Assessing Student Veterans’ Academic Outcomes and Wellbeing
Higher education provides a pathway for military veterans to transition to an engaged civilian life. Veterans can be model students because of their diverse experiences, resilience, and discipline. Yet some veterans are simultaneously “at-risk”; most are nontraditional students and more likely than the general population to face mental/physical health issues. We propose wellbeing might protect student veterans from academic difficulties ensuring …
Level playing field
In Australia, and throughout the world, it is evident that the mental health and wellbeing of young males aged 15-24, is not a priority. In Australia suicide is the leading cause of death in people aged 15-24 years and 75% are male (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australian hospital statistics 2011-12, 2021). It is clear young males as well as those who identify as indigenous or LGBTIQ are at risk groups with respect to self arm and …
Families' experiences of supporting Australian veterans and emergency service first responders ( ESFRs ) to seek help for mental health problems
The objective of this phenomenological study was to describe families' experiences of supporting veterans and emergency service first responders (ESFRs) (known also as public safety personnel) to seek help for a mental health problem. In-depth semi-structured open-ended interviews were undertaken with 25 family members of Australian veterans and ESFRs. Fourteen participants were family members of police officers. Data were analysed thematically. …
Military Loyalty as a Moral Emotion
Loyalty between soldiers is idealized as an emotion that promotes cohesion and combat effectiveness. However, little empirical work has examined how military personnel understand, feel, and enact loyalty. We use a symbolic interactionalist informed frame to explore the lived experience of 24 retired Australian Defence Force members via in-depth semi-structured interviews. Our analysis revealed three core themes: (1) Loyalty as reciprocity, where …
The Military Scandal
Military scandals are disruptive episodes that can have long-lasting organizational consequences for military institutions. Recently, scholars who study military institutions have sought to understand this phenomenon and its significance. However, given their complexity and empirically opaque nature, military scandals are difficult to study, and a general account of this phenomenon has remained elusive. This article addresses this problem by draw…
Gender under fire
The news media is historically recognised for producing and reinforcing gendered norms and binaries. Correspondingly militaries are institutions where gender roles and expectations create contention. We conducted a content analysis of two Australian broadsheets; the Australian and the Sydney Morning Herald. We investigated how military women were represented between 1997 and 2017, exploring three categories (1). Gendered violence (2). Combat (3).…
War-fighting and left-wing feminist agendas
Western military institutions are reforming to enhance gender inclusion. This imperative is driven by the need to sustain a volunteer force in a society with rapidly changing values coupled with a recognition that sustainability and legitimacy requires diverse representation from the community from which they draw their human resources. Our recent research has considered the changing character of the Australian Defence Force (ADF)'s disposition t…
The minister, the Commandant and the cadets
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has recently undergone the most comprehensive review of its organizational culture since federation. Western militaries across the USA, Canada and the UK are similarly engaged. Military misconduct, including rape, assault and the long traditions of hazing and bastardization, have been increasingly exposed, engaging civil society, agitating government and undermining military integrity. The Skype Affair is descri…
Critical studies of the military or critical military studies
This is a reply to:Rech, Matthew. 2014. “Recruitment, counter-recruitment and critical military studies.” Global Discourse. 4 (2–3): 244–262. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23269995.2014.909243
Taking Relationships to School
The question of student engagement in schooling, or adherence to school values, is often conceived in terms of student transgression. Youth has, over time, become a problem to be solved – by parents, teachers and school administrators. This article outlines an engagement with lower socioeconomic status metropolitan schooling in South Australia, seeking to understand the clash of frames of reference between elements of the student body and the sch…
Young Australians' Attitudes to the Military and Military Service
What are young Australians' understandings of, and attitudes to, the military and military service? This article describes a pilot study of 320 young Australian university students' attitudes to the military and military service during a time when Australia was engaged in the Afghanistan war. The main purpose of this study was to develop a survey instrument for further work in researching civil-military relations in Australia. Civil-military rela…
Brotherhood
In April 2011 a group of young male Australian Defence Force Academy Cadets conspired to prey upon an unsuspecting female colleague. Their plan was to broadcast one of their mates having consensual sex with an unsuspecting female cadet colleague for their viewing pleasure and fratriarchal bonding. The incident generated a strong and heated public debate about military culture and the ways soldiers behave. But it also marked a long end enduring hi…
War-fighting and left-wing feminist agendas
Western military institutions are reforming to enhance gender inclusion. This imperative is driven by the need to sustain a volunteer force in a society with rapidly changing values coupled with a recognition that sustainability and legitimacy requires diverse representation from the community from which they draw their human resources. Our recent research has considered the changing character of the Australian Defence Force (ADF)'s disposition t…
Military Loyalty as a Moral Emotion
Loyalty between soldiers is idealized as an emotion that promotes cohesion and combat effectiveness. However, little empirical work has examined how military personnel understand, feel, and enact loyalty. We use a symbolic interactionalist informed frame to explore the lived experience of 24 retired Australian Defence Force members via in-depth semi-structured interviews. Our analysis revealed three core themes: (1) Loyalty as reciprocity, where …
Raped, beaten and bruised
The Australian government has recently established a Royal Commission on Defence and Veteran Suicide (DVSRC). Veteran suicide rates for those who have left the Australian Defence Force (ADF) are higher than the national average and there has been little success in reducing this over an extended period of time. Veteran suicide is poorly understood, and the collected data is imprecise and incomplete. Deployment trauma and Post-traumatic stress diso…
Commanding men, governing masculinities
Since its inception, the Australian armed forces, like all five eye military nations, have been challenged by the phenomenon of violence within the institution. Militaries are institutions of and for violence. The imperative of violence cultivates all service personnel through their initial training and then ongoing roles. This article assesses 4 decades of significant Australian military inquiries around the question of internal institutional vi…
The minister, the Commandant and the cadets
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has recently undergone the most comprehensive review of its organizational culture since federation. Western militaries across the USA, Canada and the UK are similarly engaged. Military misconduct, including rape, assault and the long traditions of hazing and bastardization, have been increasingly exposed, engaging civil society, agitating government and undermining military integrity. The Skype Affair is descri…
Is the problem with military culture one of bad apples or bad orchards
This article examines the historic and current role of 'culture' in Australian Defence Forces' responses to scandals, war crimes, and illicit behaviours. It makes the case that the ADF has moved from arguing that illicit activities are the product of isolated soldiers, to arguing that illicit activities are the result of 'rogue' groups of soldiers. We call this a shift from the 'bad apples'' to the 'bad orchard' thesis. Drawing on the concepts of…
Gender under fire
The news media is historically recognised for producing and reinforcing gendered norms and binaries. Correspondingly militaries are institutions where gender roles and expectations create contention. We conducted a content analysis of two Australian broadsheets; the Australian and the Sydney Morning Herald. We investigated how military women were represented between 1997 and 2017, exploring three categories (1). Gendered violence (2). Combat (3).…
Families' experiences of supporting Australian veterans and emergency service first responders ( ESFRs ) to seek help for mental health problems
The objective of this phenomenological study was to describe families' experiences of supporting veterans and emergency service first responders (ESFRs) (known also as public safety personnel) to seek help for a mental health problem. In-depth semi-structured open-ended interviews were undertaken with 25 family members of Australian veterans and ESFRs. Fourteen participants were family members of police officers. Data were analysed thematically. …
The Military Scandal
Military scandals are disruptive episodes that can have long-lasting organizational consequences for military institutions. Recently, scholars who study military institutions have sought to understand this phenomenon and its significance. However, given their complexity and empirically opaque nature, military scandals are difficult to study, and a general account of this phenomenon has remained elusive. This article addresses this problem by draw…
Critical studies of the military or critical military studies
This is a reply to:Rech, Matthew. 2014. “Recruitment, counter-recruitment and critical military studies.” Global Discourse. 4 (2–3): 244–262. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23269995.2014.909243
Young Australians' Attitudes to the Military and Military Service
What are young Australians' understandings of, and attitudes to, the military and military service? This article describes a pilot study of 320 young Australian university students' attitudes to the military and military service during a time when Australia was engaged in the Afghanistan war. The main purpose of this study was to develop a survey instrument for further work in researching civil-military relations in Australia. Civil-military rela…
Attitudes to Drought in Outback Communities in South Australia
This paper explores the perceptions of drought by residents in outback South Australia and their associated responses to the drought. Behavioural Geography methodology is used with data drawn from interviews with pastoralists, business owners, and residents of small outback towns and Aboriginal communities. Although they were not resident in the region, the perceptions of tourists were also garnered. The results show that perceptions varied betwe…
The provision of water infrastructure in Aboriginal communities in South Australia
The provision of water supplies to Aboriginal people in South Australia,\nparticularly to communities covered under the Commonwealth–State (South\nAustralia) Bilateral Agreement is considered world class in terms of the\nsuitability of the technology to the remoteness of many of the communities and\nthe harsh arid environment. This article explores the history of domestic water\nsupplies to these Aboriginal communities. The article begins with a …
Attitudes to Drought in Outback Communities in South Australia
This paper explores the perceptions of drought by residents in outback South Australia and their associated responses to the drought. Behavioural Geography methodology is used with data drawn from interviews with pastoralists, business owners, and residents of small outback towns and Aboriginal communities. Although they were not resident in the region, the perceptions of tourists were also garnered. The results show that perceptions varied betwe…
Marking a Marginal Past
In this paper we review the colonisation of the Franklin Harbour district in South Australia from the 1850s, focusing on public education and social memory. In the late nineteenth century schooling was entirely in women’s hands. Women teachers, notably the McEwen sisters, were important contributors to the district educationally, socially and economically. However, women’s and Aboriginal histories are marginalised in the district’s social memory.…
Thinking patterns, victimisation and bullying among adolescents in a South Australian metropolitan secondary school
Responding to staff concerns about anti-social behaviour among students (n = 311, 50.5% boys, age range 13–16 years) at a low socio-economic Adelaide metropolitan school, we investigated victimisation and bullying and associated patterns of thinking. Two instruments were administered: the How I Think Questionnaire, which measures self-serving cognitive distortions; and the Bullying Experiences Questionnaire, which requires students to rate victim…
Reconstituting Water? Climate Change, Water Policy Reform and Community Relations in South Australian Remote Towns
Water is a principal medium of exchange within communities facing changing climate patterns and the ‘new dry’. For some parts of the globe water has been taken-for-granted, uncontested, yet for others highly variable, scarce and a measure of global and national inequalities. Australia as a large and diverse landmass is emblematic of those varied water contexts, yet as a whole, and after the recent ‘100-year drought’, water has become heavily regu…
Brotherhood
In April 2011 a group of young male Australian Defence Force Academy Cadets conspired to prey upon an unsuspecting female colleague. Their plan was to broadcast one of their mates having consensual sex with an unsuspecting female cadet colleague for their viewing pleasure and fratriarchal bonding. The incident generated a strong and heated public debate about military culture and the ways soldiers behave. But it also marked a long end enduring hi…
Critical studies of the military or critical military studies
This is a reply to:Rech, Matthew. 2014. “Recruitment, counter-recruitment and critical military studies.” Global Discourse. 4 (2–3): 244–262. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23269995.2014.909243
Taking Relationships to School
The question of student engagement in schooling, or adherence to school values, is often conceived in terms of student transgression. Youth has, over time, become a problem to be solved – by parents, teachers and school administrators. This article outlines an engagement with lower socioeconomic status metropolitan schooling in South Australia, seeking to understand the clash of frames of reference between elements of the student body and the sch…
Young Australians' Attitudes to the Military and Military Service
What are young Australians' understandings of, and attitudes to, the military and military service? This article describes a pilot study of 320 young Australian university students' attitudes to the military and military service during a time when Australia was engaged in the Afghanistan war. The main purpose of this study was to develop a survey instrument for further work in researching civil-military relations in Australia. Civil-military rela…
The minister, the Commandant and the cadets
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has recently undergone the most comprehensive review of its organizational culture since federation. Western militaries across the USA, Canada and the UK are similarly engaged. Military misconduct, including rape, assault and the long traditions of hazing and bastardization, have been increasingly exposed, engaging civil society, agitating government and undermining military integrity. The Skype Affair is descri…
War-fighting and left-wing feminist agendas
Western military institutions are reforming to enhance gender inclusion. This imperative is driven by the need to sustain a volunteer force in a society with rapidly changing values coupled with a recognition that sustainability and legitimacy requires diverse representation from the community from which they draw their human resources. Our recent research has considered the changing character of the Australian Defence Force (ADF)'s disposition t…
Gender under fire
The news media is historically recognised for producing and reinforcing gendered norms and binaries. Correspondingly militaries are institutions where gender roles and expectations create contention. We conducted a content analysis of two Australian broadsheets; the Australian and the Sydney Morning Herald. We investigated how military women were represented between 1997 and 2017, exploring three categories (1). Gendered violence (2). Combat (3).…
The Military Scandal
Military scandals are disruptive episodes that can have long-lasting organizational consequences for military institutions. Recently, scholars who study military institutions have sought to understand this phenomenon and its significance. However, given their complexity and empirically opaque nature, military scandals are difficult to study, and a general account of this phenomenon has remained elusive. This article addresses this problem by draw…
Military Loyalty as a Moral Emotion
Loyalty between soldiers is idealized as an emotion that promotes cohesion and combat effectiveness. However, little empirical work has examined how military personnel understand, feel, and enact loyalty. We use a symbolic interactionalist informed frame to explore the lived experience of 24 retired Australian Defence Force members via in-depth semi-structured interviews. Our analysis revealed three core themes: (1) Loyalty as reciprocity, where …
Staying the Course
The transition from military to civilian life is often challenging for veterans. International research shows higher education to be an important pathway that can help veterans navigate this change and improve their psycho-social wellbeing and career prospects. In this article, we examine how student veterans are being recognised and supported in the Australian higher education context. Our research finds the range of governmental and institution…
Assessing Student Veterans’ Academic Outcomes and Wellbeing
Higher education provides a pathway for military veterans to transition to an engaged civilian life. Veterans can be model students because of their diverse experiences, resilience, and discipline. Yet some veterans are simultaneously “at-risk”; most are nontraditional students and more likely than the general population to face mental/physical health issues. We propose wellbeing might protect student veterans from academic difficulties ensuring …
Level playing field
In Australia, and throughout the world, it is evident that the mental health and wellbeing of young males aged 15-24, is not a priority. In Australia suicide is the leading cause of death in people aged 15-24 years and 75% are male (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australian hospital statistics 2011-12, 2021). It is clear young males as well as those who identify as indigenous or LGBTIQ are at risk groups with respect to self arm and …
Families' experiences of supporting Australian veterans and emergency service first responders ( ESFRs ) to seek help for mental health problems
The objective of this phenomenological study was to describe families' experiences of supporting veterans and emergency service first responders (ESFRs) (known also as public safety personnel) to seek help for a mental health problem. In-depth semi-structured open-ended interviews were undertaken with 25 family members of Australian veterans and ESFRs. Fourteen participants were family members of police officers. Data were analysed thematically. …
Commanding men, governing masculinities
Since its inception, the Australian armed forces, like all five eye military nations, have been challenged by the phenomenon of violence within the institution. Militaries are institutions of and for violence. The imperative of violence cultivates all service personnel through their initial training and then ongoing roles. This article assesses 4 decades of significant Australian military inquiries around the question of internal institutional vi…
Is the problem with military culture one of bad apples or bad orchards
This article examines the historic and current role of 'culture' in Australian Defence Forces' responses to scandals, war crimes, and illicit behaviours. It makes the case that the ADF has moved from arguing that illicit activities are the product of isolated soldiers, to arguing that illicit activities are the result of 'rogue' groups of soldiers. We call this a shift from the 'bad apples'' to the 'bad orchard' thesis. Drawing on the concepts of…
No Women’s Land
Women's experiences of military service and transition occur within a highly dominant masculinized culture. The vast majority of research on military veterans reflects men's experiences and needs. Women veterans' experiences, and therefore their transition support needs, are largely invisible. This study sought to understand the role and impact of gender in the context of the dominant masculinized culture on women veterans' experiences of militar…
Examining Sex-Based Delays in Utilizing Advocacy Support Services Among Australian Military Veterans
This study explores the impact of sex on delays experienced by Australian military veterans in accessing advocacy support services within the veterans' non-profit sector. A detailed analysis of intake records from 150 injured veterans who entered the Returned and Services League of Australia's advocacy program in 2021 reveals significant disparities between male and female veterans in seeking assistance. On average, male veterans delay accessing …
Weaving the threads of identity
Research shows that higher education can help veterans build a new sense of identity, purpose and belonging after leaving the military. There are critical gaps, however, in our understanding of student veterans in the Australian context. This article aims to map the experiences of Australian veterans across the student life cycle to improve our understanding of this unique group. We systematically address the higher education stages of pre-access…
Raped, beaten and bruised
The Australian government has recently established a Royal Commission on Defence and Veteran Suicide (DVSRC). Veteran suicide rates for those who have left the Australian Defence Force (ADF) are higher than the national average and there has been little success in reducing this over an extended period of time. Veteran suicide is poorly understood, and the collected data is imprecise and incomplete. Deployment trauma and Post-traumatic stress diso…
Lost in Transition
This scoping review synthesises evidence on the system-level barriers Australian veterans and their families encounter during post-service reintegration, with a particular focus on accessing resources across the health, social, and community domains. A structured search of seven databases (CINAHL, JBI EBP Database, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science) and Google Scholar identified 509 studies published between 2013 and 2024, of …
Political science (22 works) · Sociology (19 works) · Psychology (15 works) · Gender, Security, and Conflict (11 works) · Law (10 works) · Medicine (10 works) · Psychiatry (9 works) · Gender Studies (8 works) · Education and Military Integration (7 works) · Gender Studies (7 works)