Revisting Social Work and the American Military Family

Abstract

Before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States and the subsequent military invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, authors Jo and David Pryce in a 1999 Families in Society article described the new American military family in the midst of changes undergone by the armed services. ¹ They provided principles of practice, as well as general advice, for social workers responding to the needs of military personnel, active-duty and Reserve, and their families. Now, in a June 2006 interview with FIS, Jo and David Pryce update their assessment of the role social workers can play in addressing the needs of military personnel and their families as they face the spiral of deployment, separation, and reunion, and as increasing numbers of deployed veterans return home with psychological problems.