Military families are exposed to different stressors of separation, risk of death or injury, and relocation. These families always react to these stressors in certain ways that interest researchers. The state of resilience while accommodating stressors of separation, risk, and relocation might be stigmatizing for some families and not others due to five factors ascribed by the Military Family Resilience Factors Model.
Synthesis of Military Family Resiliency Factors
Family Belief System
The family belief system varies from.one military family to the other. These belief systems are major components of the identities of these families. Therefore, based on the nature and purpose of a belief, the family might fail to handle resiliency with the stressors. The beliefs help these families in interpretation of the difficult moments. For instance, a family with the belief that serving in the military is a sign of patriotism, sacrifice, and hope for a country might find it hard to maintain resilience during difficult times (Cramm et al., 2018). However, a family holding onto these dreams survives mentally because they get hope of a better future and understand the meaning of sacrifices for a good course
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Communication Processes
Communication is key in determining how families relate with each other. Since different families have different communication processes, it is obvious that families with open communication strategies have high resilience than those that have restrictions on what information can be shared within the family (Cramm et al., 2018). The later might not have enough resilience. Open communication processes allow the family members to freely express their emotions, build attachments, and realistically recognize their stressors. Families which downplay stressors or deny their situations tend to have low resilience.
Organizational Patterns
Different families have varying organizational patterns, which dictate their responses to the stressors. Families with a clear hierarchy and well established boundaries are highly likely to be more resilient to the military stressors compared to households with undefined structures. A clear hierarchy establishes protection around the family, and an internal family system which offsets the less predictable stressors. Similarly, highly predictable stressors are foreseen by these families and mitigation plans set. A clear hierarchy also helps the family to create a sense of normalcy, which is essential in establishing calmness in extreme situations.
Context
The type, frequency, and length of the stressor are equally important factors in determining how a military family responds to a stressor. Different types of stressors have varying effects, and the same applies to the length and frequency. Therefore, while two families might be subjected to the same stressor, the length of the stressor might be different ( Meadows et al., 2016) . The difference in length creates the distinction in their resilience towards the stressor. Thus, stigmatization is possible in one scenario and it might not be present in the other.
Family-context Interaction
Repeated experiences tend to build resilience among military families. Therefore, a family with a low frequency of a stressor might have weakened resilience to it while the family which has been repeatedly exposed develops resistance and resilience.
Conclusion
Based on these five factors, it is possible to have two or more military families experiencing the same stressor but reacting differently to it. The differences are triggered by their family structures, beliefs, communication processes, and contexts. Therefore, the state of resilience while accommodating non normative stressors of separation, risk, and relocation varies from one military family to the other.
References
Cramm, H., Norris, D., Tam, Venedam, S. (2018). Toward a model of military family resiliency: A narrative review. Journal of family theory and review. 620-640.
Meadows, S. O., Beckett, M. K., Bowling, K., Golinelli, D., Fisher, M. P., Martin, L. T., ... & Osilla, K. C. (2016). Family resilience in the military: Definitions, models, and policies. Rand health quarterly , 5 (3).
