Despite a breadth of research linking military service to positive and negative life-course outcomes, questions remain about the contextual relationship between military service and deviance across the life-course. Employing a life-course perspective using qualitative life-course interviews, the current study explores life-course deviance of 90 justice-involved veterans by investigating deviance before, during, and after military service. Findings show four distinct trajectories of deviance in which pathways of deviant behavior vary for these justice-involved veterans. In the current study, thematic analysis from descriptive content explores the contextual underpinnings of how the military may influence these trajectories. Findings build upon previous literature examining military service as a turning point, garnering evidence for both a positive and negative relationship between military service and deviance.
Abeling-JudgeD. (2020). Does military service continue to facilitate desistance? Revisiting theory and practice. Deviant Behavior, 41(5), 574–590.
2.
BaktirY.Mustafa IcerM.CraigJ. (2020). Military and crime: A systematic review of the literature. Deviant Behavior, 41(2), 233–251.
3.
BanksJ.AlbertsonK. (2018). Veterans and violence: An exploration of pre-enlistment, military and post-service life. European Journal of Criminology, 15(6), 730–747.
4.
BlonigenD. M.BuiL.ElbogenE. B.BlodgettJ. C.MaiselN. C.MidboeA. M.WagnerT. H.TimkoC. (2016). Risk of recidivism among justice-involved veterans: A systematic review of the literature. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 27(8), 812–837.
5.
BouffardL. A. (2003). Examining the relationship between military service and criminal behavior during the Vietnam era: A research note. Criminology, 41(2), 491–510.
6.
BouffardL. A. (2014). Period effects in the impact of Vietnam-era military service on crime over the life course. Crime and Delinquency, 60(6), 859–883.
7.
BouffardL. A.LaubJ. H. (2004). Jail or the army: Does military service facilitate desistance from crime? In MarunaS.ImmarigeonR. (Eds.), After crime and punishment (pp. 129–151). Willan.
8.
BoulangerG. (1986). Violence and Vietnam veterans. In BoulangerG.KadushinC. (Eds.), The Vietnam veteran redefined: Fact and fiction (pp. 79–90). Psychology Press.
BrookeE. J.GauJ. M. (2018). Military service and lifetime arrests: Examining the effects of the total military experience on arrests in a sample of prison inmates. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 29(1), 24–44.
11.
BrookeE. J.PeckJ. H. (2019). Does the military make the (Wo)man? An examination of gender differences among incarcerated veterans. Crime and Delinquency, 65(14), 1925–1948.
12.
BrowningH. L.LopreatoS. C.PostonD. L. (1973). Income and veteran status: Variations among Mexican Americans, blacks and Anglos. American Sociological Review, 38(1), 74–85.
13.
BrownW. B. (2008). Another emerging “storm”: Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with PTSD in the criminal justice system. Justice Policy Journal, 5(2), 1–37.
14.
BrownW. B. (2011). From war zones to jail: Veteran reintegration problems. Justice Policy Journal, 8(1), 1–48.
15.
BrownW. B.StanulisR.TheisB.FarnsworthJ.DanielsD. (2013). The Perfect Storm: Veterans, culture and the criminal justice system. Justice Policy Journal, 10(2), 1–44.
16.
BucherJ. (2011). General issue (GI) strain: Applying strain theory to military offending. Deviant Behavior, 32(9), 846–875.
17.
CanadaK.AlbrightD. L. (2014). Veterans in the criminal justice system and the role of social work. Journal of Forensic Social Work, 4(1), 48–62.
18.
CaspiA.MoffittT. E. (1993). When do individual differences matter? A paradoxical theory of personality coherence. Psychological Inquiry, 4(4), 247–271.
19.
CharmazK. (2001). Grounded theory. In EmersonR. M. (Ed.), Contemporary field research: Perspectives and formulations (pp. 335–352). Waveland Press.
20.
CorbinJ. M.StraussA. (1990). Grounded theory research: Procedures, canons, and evaluative criteria. Qualitative Sociology, 13(1), 3–21.
21.
CraigJ.FosterH. (2013). Desistance in the transition to adulthood: The roles of marriage, military, and gender. Deviant Behavior, 34(3), 208–223.
22.
CraigJ. M.ConnellN. M. (2015). The all-volunteer force and crime: The effects of military participation on offending behavior. Armed Forces & Society, 41(2), 329–351.
23.
CulpR.YoustinT. J.EnglanderK.LynchJ. (2013). From war to prison: Examining the relationship between military service and criminal activity. Justice Quarterly, 30(4), 651–680.
24.
CurrierJ. M.HollandJ. M.MalottJ. (2015). Moral injury, meaning making, and mental health in returning veterans. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 71(3), 229–240.
25.
EdwardsE. R.EpshteynG.ConnellyB.ReddenC.MoussaC. E. H.BlonigenD. M.StimmelM.HollidayR.OsterbergT. (2023). Understanding criminogenic risk factors among United States Military Veterans: An updated literature review. Criminal Justice Review, 49(4), 495–518.
26.
ElderG. H. (1986). Military times and turning points in men's lives. Developmental Psychology, 22(2), 233–245.
27.
ElderG. H. (1998). The life course as developmental theory. Child Development, 69(1), 1–12.
28.
GallawayM. S.BellM. R.Lagana-RiordanC.FinkD. S.MeyerC. E.MillikanA. M. (2013). The association between US army enlistment waivers and subsequent behavioral and social health outcomes and attrition from service. Military Medicine, 178(3), 261–266.
29.
GioiaD. A.CorleyK. G.HamiltonA. L. (2013). Seeking qualitative rigor in inductive research: Notes on the Gioia methodology. Organizational Research Methods, 16(1), 15–31.
30.
GiordanoP. C.CernkovichS. A.RudolphJ. L. (2002). Gender, crime, and desistance: Toward a theory of cognitive transformation. American Journal of Sociology, 107(4), 990–1064.
31.
HakeemM. (1946). Service in the armed forces and criminality. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 37(2), 120–131.
32.
HerzogJ. R.FerdikF.ScottD.DenneyA.ConklinS. (2019). Participants perceptions of veterans treatment courts: A qualitative assessment and systems model. Journal of Veterans Studies, 4(2), 78–93.
33.
JoinerT. E. (2005). Why people die by suicide. Harvard University Press.
LaubJ. H.SampsonR. J. (1993). Turning points in the life course: Why change matters to the study of crime. Criminology, 31(3), 301–325.
37.
LaubJ. H.SampsonR. J. (2001). Understanding desistance from crime. Crime and Justice, 28, 1–69.
38.
LaubJ. H.SampsonR. J. (2006). Shared beginnings, divergent lives: Delinquent boys to age 70. Harvard University Press.
39.
LoganM. W.BrookeE. J.MorganM. A.HazelwoodA. R. (2023). Taking stock of incarcerated military veterans: A review of (and guide for) research. Criminal Justice Studies, 36(1), 18–33.
40.
LucasK. T.MarcumC. D.LucasP. A.BlalockJ. (2022). Military veteran involvement with the criminal justice system: A systematic review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 66, 101721.
41.
LundenW. A. (1952). Military service and criminality. Journal of Criminal Law Criminology and Police Science, 42, 766–773.
42.
MacLeanA.ElderG. H. (2007). Military service in the life course. Annual Review of Sociology, 33, 175–196.
43.
MaruschakL. M.BronsonJ.AplerM. (2021). Veterans in prison: Survey of prison inmates, 2016. Bureau of Justice Statistics.
44.
MechanicD.McAlpineD.RosenfieldS.DavisD. (1994). Effects of illness attribution and depression on the quality of life among persons with serious mental illness. Social Science & Medicine, 39(2), 155–164.
45.
MooreB. A.BarnettJ. E. (2014). Military psychologists' desk reference. Oxford University Press.
46.
OrakU.WalkerM. H. (2021). Military service: A pathway to conformity or a school for deviance?Crime and Delinquency, 67(6–7), 1046–1069.
47.
PeckJ. H.BrookeE. J. (2024). We are all green: Do military experiences and involvement in the criminal justice system vary across race and ethnicity among incarcerated veterans?Deviant Behavior, 45(10), 1419–1438.
48.
SaldañaJ.OmastaM. (2016). Qualitative research: Analyzing life. Sage Publications.
49.
SalvatoreC.TaniguchiT. (2021). Military service and offending behaviors of emerging adults: A conceptual review. Social Science, 10(2), 1–15.
50.
SampsonR. J.LaubJ. (2005). Developmental criminology and its discontents: Trajectories of crime from childhood to old age (Vol. 602). Sage.
51.
SampsonR. J.LaubJ. H. (1993). Crime in the making: Pathways and turning points through life. Crime and Delinquency, 39(3), 396.
52.
SampsonR. J.LaubJ. H. (1996). Socioeconomic achievement in the life course of disadvantaged men: Military service as a turning point, circa 1940-1965. American Sociological Review, 61(3), 347–367.
53.
SampsonR. J.LaubJ. H. (2003). Desistance from crime over the life course. In MortimerJ. T.ShanahanM. J. (Eds.), Handbook of the life course (pp. 295–309). Springer US.
54.
SealK. H.MaguenS.CohenB.GimaK. S.MetzlerT. J.RenL.BertenthalD.MarmarC. R. (2010). VA mental health services utilization in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in the first year of receiving new mental health diagnoses. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 23(1), 5–16.
55.
StammS. (2009). Intimate partner violence in the military: securing our country, starting with the home. Family Court Review, 47(2), 321–339.
56.
SwartzJ. A.LurigioA. J. (2007). Serious mental illness and arrest: The generalized mediating effect of substance use. Crime and Delinquency, 53(4), 581–604.
57.
TaylorB. C.HagelE. M.CarlsonK. F.CifuD. X.CuttingA.BidelspachD. E.SayerN. A. (2012). Prevalence and costs of co-occurring traumatic brain injury with and without psychiatric disturbance and pain among Afghanistan and Iraq war veteran VA users. Medical Care, 50(4), 342–346.
58.
TeachmanJ.TedrowL. (2016). Altering the life course: Military service and contact with the criminal justice system. Social Science Research, 60, 74–87.
59.
TeetersJ. B.LancasterC. L.BrownD. G.BackS. E. (2017). Substance use disorders in military veterans: Prevalence and treatment challenges. Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation, 8, 69–77.
60.
TsaiJ.RosenheckR. A. (2015). Risk factors for homelessness among US veterans. Epidemiologic Reviews, 37(1), 177–195.
61.
TsaiJ.RosenheckR. A. J.KasprowW.McGuireJ. F. (2013). Risk of incarceration and other characteristics of Iraq and Afghanistan era veterans in state and federal prisons. Psychiatric Services, 64(1), 36–43.
WilmothJ. M.LondonA. S. (2013). Life-course perspectives on military service. Routledge.
65.
WrightJ. P.CarterD. E.CullenF. T. (2005). A life-course analysis of military service in Vietnam. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 42(1), 55–83.
66.
YagerT.LauferR.GallopsM. (1984). Some problems associated with war experience in men of the Vietnam generation. Archives of General Psychiatry, 41(4), 327–333.
