Homeless veterans: mess or misconception?
Published: 25 September 2009
Author: Rose Gamble
[ 4 ] Recommendations
[ 4 ] Comments
Military veterans are in prison and homeless. Do we blame the services or a lack of social support? Or are the media pedaling a problem out of proportion? Homeless charity for ex-servicemen, Veterans’ Aid, give their surprising opinion.
Ex-armed forces men and women make up 8.5% of Britain’s prison population, while around 12,000 military veterans are on probation or parole, reveals a report released by the National Association of Probation Officers (Napo).
That’s more ex-military servicemen than there are serving in Afghanistan, points out the Times. Furthermore, recent research from the University of York has shown that on any given night there are 1,100 homeless ex-military personnel in London alone.
Yet, speaking on the BBC news on today, Professor Wesley of Kings College London states that 94% of the service men and women who leave the armed forces transit perfectly smoothly into civilian life.
We deal with people who have fallen into poverty, one way or another. It may be through substance abuse or unemployment. These are problems that are very rarely related to their military service
Is this is a case of a media-fuelled mountain from a molehill? Sideways News spoke to Glyn Strong, spokesperson for Veterans' Aid. “A lot of people try to make a causal connection between military service and homelessness – and frankly it is one that does not exist,” says Strong.
Contrary to popular belief, it is very rarely time in military service that causes the problems that may result in someone ending up homeless. Most of the men and women that Veterans'
Aid come into contact with, explains Strong, have problems that pre-date their experience in the forces.
“Many of the people we see come from broken homes and struggled with poverty, violence or mental health issues before they joined the forces. The effect of these problems don’t become
manifest until after they leave,” she said. “The armed forces often actually postpone a problem – people are protected, they’re given a structure to their life, clothed and fed.”
According to Veterans' Aid, what follows are societal problems. “We deal with people who have fallen into poverty, one way or another. It may be through substance abuse or unemployment. These are problems that are very rarely related to their military service.”
Napo, however, connect poverty and substance abuse to an individual’s military service. Claiming combat-induced Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and alcohol abuse, violence and depression go hand-in-hand.
“Veterans' Aid deals with very few people presenting symptoms of PDST,” says Strong. “For the veterans we see who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, PDST is not the main problem. I am not saying it is not a problem, but it is a small one. The media have pedaled this issue furiously – but it’s just not accurate.”
This apparent inaccuracy may lie in the common misconception as to what defines an ex-military veteran. A veteran is a term for anyone who has enrolled in the army and completed some (not all) of the required training, regardless of whether or not they have served in a combat zone.
“The people we deal with, throughout the history of this organisation, do not tend to be personnel who have just come back from the frontline. Many of the people we see have never served in a combat zone.”
Veterans' Aid also contests the claim that the military are not doing enough in support of their ex-servicemen.
“The army, for instance, does more for ex-servicemen than any civilian organisation does for its employees,” said Strong. “If you worked for the BBC and you left, and six months later you were homeless you wouldn’t go to the BBC for help. Someone who has left the armed forces can go back to veteran support agencies for the rest of their life on the strength of that military service.”
“I’m not claiming that there is not a problem, said Strong. “For us one veteran being homeless is one too many, but I do think that this issue has been misunderstood.”
SIDEWAYS News for fresh perspectives
Comments
Most young men NOT entering the military gain trade certifications for a career; when the military guys come back they do not have those trade certifications, thus leading them through dead-end min-wage jobs, and the depression of having a worthless job can lead to crime & drinking & drugging!
I am not sure that this article is balanced in its views - it is right to say that for most of those leaving the services there is a positive outcome and that for those where there is not, their problems can often be traced back to issues that they brought with them into their service life. But to suggest that their service experience plays no part in how they fail to manage their issues subsequently is swinging to far the other way and is short sighted. Most crucially, this way of thinking will lead to inadequate solutions being developed which may get homeless Vetrans of the street but will not keep them from falling back into their homeless ways. The Service connection, and building solutions around this will be the only way to get some seriously damaged Veterans to engage so that they can understand how they can change their complicated and chaotic lives for the better.
I am aware of a lady who may become homeless.It is not the fault of the military life of her husband or her own service, it is due to his health and death, leaving her job to care for him, followed by debt and despair Can any one help get her back on her feet, ? She is very bright , is 62 years old, could still be useful.
Is this a commercial for the Veterans Aid ?
PTSD is not really treatable. It has been a factor in veteran care for decades - if not longer. IEDs are not a new phenomenon : mines are an old artifice.
Brain damaged people are prone to personality change, rages and violence. Combat training enhances a persons violence potential !
Society then 'reintegrates' people who now are compromised : often into poverty and crime because they are 'odd'. The stories of veteran's experiences are another matter - as are aftereffects of toxic exposure, strange inoculation procedures...and radiation from munitions.
The official 'response' to these conditions ? Denial is cheaper and less embarrassing than attempting effective response.