Officer First, Social Worker Second: A Case Study of Uniform Military Social Workers

Background and Purpose:

Social workers have been serving as uniformed military officers in the United States military since World War II. They represent a small, but growing, subset of professional workers with 550 social workers practicing as military officers in 2016. All military branches use social workers to serve in a variety of clinical and administrative settings. Military social workers engage in intervention and prevention practice in the areas of mental health, substance abuse, family violence, suicide, workplace violence, and occupational fitness for duty. Many social workers have deployed around the world with military units providing intensive services to service members on the front lines of combat. In addition, military social workers are tasked with providing supervision, program management, and subject matter expert consultation to military unit commanders in garrison and deployed.

Previous research on military social workers has focused on their experiences while deployed and the ethical challenges they faced. No previous study has examined the entire experience of military social worker as a unique type of professional social worker.

 

Methods:

A case study method was used to answer the question of “What is unique about military social workers?” Uniform military social workers were recruited through one military branch e-mail distribution to all uniform military social workers of that branch. Six uniform military social workers (four male, two female) participated in semi-structured interviews lasting 30-75 minutes. Interview questions asked participants how they came to be a military social worker, the benefits and challenges associated with being a military social worker, and their reasons for continuing in military service. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded line-by-line using principles of grounded theory. Emergent themes across interviews that adequately answered the research question were distilled from the data.

 

Findings:

Data analysis revealed that military social workers are “Officer First, Social Worker Second”. Military social workers adopt a military culture involving military customs, vernacular, and expectations that are distinct from civilian social workers. They are expected to be ready to deploy at a moment’s notice. As an officer, they constantly balance the needs of the military against the needs of their clients. Another overall unique aspect of military social workers was Opportunity. Military social workers consider it an opportunity to serve their country, live overseas, deploy, and take advantage of training opportunities the military provides them. One participant said that you are a pure social worker when deployed because your sole focus is caring for the needs of service members in combat.

 

Conclusion and Implications:

The findings highlight the unique experiences of military social workers. By understanding the unique practice and lifestyle challenges of military social work, civilian social workers can better collaborate with military social workers when collaborating about mutual practice areas or clients. This data can help social workers considering military social work as a career prepare for and understand the expectations associated with military service. Future research should obtain broader experiences of military social workers across all branches in order to gain greater understanding of the unique challenges associated with military social work.