Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Carl Valdez

Abstract

The reintegration of a military service member into family life after a deployment can beexciting, but the reintegration process can also prove difficult. The difficulties associated with reintegration can be compounded when there is lack of acknowledgment of challenges faced by military spouses. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of military spouses following the reintegration of military personnel returning from noncombat deployment. In-depth face-to-face interviews were completed with 9 military spouses. The resiliency model of stress, adjustment, and adaptation was used as the conceptual framework to provide understanding for factors common in the life of a military family. Moustakas data analysis method was followed for inductive data analysis, and 8 themes emerged from the data: (a) initial feelings about reintegration, (b) military spouses’ and community expectations of reintegration, (c) issues with the military personnel upon reintegrating, (d) coping strategies during reintegration, (e) access to services on base during reintegration, (f) support from spousal service member, (g) experiencing resiliency, and (h) to deploy or not. The implications for positive social change include providing a better understanding of military spouses' lived experiences during reintegration after a noncombat deployment and bringing awareness to the stressors and barriers that correlate to the social and emotional well-being as a result of noncombat military deployment.

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