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Military Service in Lives: Where Do We Go From Here?

  • Chapter
Handbook of the Life Course

Part of the book series: Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research ((HSSR))

Abstract

Although the military has enduring effects on the lives of service members and their families, it is often overlooked as an institutional force that shapes the life course. This chapter aims to bring military service to the attention of life-course scholars by: providing a conceptual model for understanding the impact of military service on lives that builds on the core principles of the life-course perspective; reviewing empirical evidence regarding how military service is related to childhood and adolescence, influences the transition to adulthood, and has long-term consequences for various outcomes in mid-to-late life; and identifying methodological challenges and relatively unexplored questions that should be the focus of future inquiry. In doing so, this chapter facilitates an understanding of military service in lives while also underscoring the role of social institutions in shaping the life course.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Aging Studies Institute, and Institute for Veterans and Military Families, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA

    Andrew S. London & Janet M. Wilmoth

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  1. Andrew S. London
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  2. Janet M. Wilmoth
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Correspondence to Andrew S. London .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    Michael J. Shanahan

  2. Life Course Center and Department of Sociology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    Jeylan T. Mortimer

  3. Department of Sociology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA

    Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson

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London, A.S., Wilmoth, J.M. (2016). Military Service in Lives: Where Do We Go From Here?. In: Shanahan, M., Mortimer, J., Kirkpatrick Johnson, M. (eds) Handbook of the Life Course. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20880-0_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20880-0_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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