Beyond greedy: Understanding the impact of the military’s response on the bereaved family following the death of the service person in the line of duty

Lester, Nicola 2022. Beyond greedy: Understanding the impact of the military’s response on the bereaved family following the death of the service person in the line of duty. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

	PDF - Accepted Post-Print Version Restricted to Repository staff only until 29 June 2025 due to copyright restrictions. Download (1MB)
	PDF (Cardiff University Electronic Publication Form) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only Download (2MB)

Abstract

This thesis is an empirical study of the impact of the British military’s response following a death in the line of duty. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 20 bereaved military families, the study explores the ways in which these experiences were shaped by the response of the organisation in the aftermath of the death of the service person. It seeks to understand the extent to which the military’s bereavement process provided the family with an essential source of comfort and continued connection to their loved one or served to exacerbate their anguish and grief. Using an expanded theory of greedy institutions as a frame in which to contextualise the relationship between the military and the bereaved family, the narratives of the research participants document their experiences across the trajectory of the military’s bereavement process. Given the disparity, which is revealed within these accounts, betrayal trauma theory is used as a lens in which to view the data, demonstrating that the concept of ‘betrayal’ is the common thread running through each of these stories. I argue that, in the aftermath of the death of the service person, the military betrays the bereaved family. For some of the research participants, this institutional betrayal is obvious, their interviews described the profound effect of the military’s inappropriate and harmful response and the ways in which this served to compound their grief. For others, it is far less obvious and only revealed when the military’s process is mapped against ‘best practice’ in the field of traumatic bereavement. Whilst such findings contribute more generally to the wider scholarship on civil military relations and militarisation, the bereaved family’s blindness to such betrayal highlights the more seductive ways in which military power and authority permeate the lives of families, even after the death of the service person.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Law
Subjects:	J Political Science > JF Political institutions (General)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	British military Trauma Bereavement Bereaved military family Greedy Institutions Betrayal trauma theory Institutional betrayal Betrayal blindness Civil military relations Militarisation Best practice
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	29 June 2023
Last Modified:	01 Nov 2023 15:19
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/160706

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item