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The Relationship between Military Service and Fighting: Selection or Causation?

Holbrook, April Dawn
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1383219501

Abstract Details

2013, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, Sociology.
Research on the relationship between military service and violent behavior is surprisingly lacking, and virtually no studies use nationally representative data. The main limitation of past research, which tends to find evidence of higher levels of violence among members of the military, is the inability to distinguish between selection and causal explanations. That is, does military service really lead to higher levels of violence, or is the relationship spurious, an artifact of pre-service characteristics related to both military service and violence? In the present study, I use data from Waves I and III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine differences in fighting behavior among male military service members and civilians. First, I look at whether a relationship exists between military service and fighting. Second, I examine early-life characteristics such as adolescent violent delinquency, having problems in school, family socioeconomic status, and family structure that might influence both entry into military service and increased levels of fighting in adulthood versus causal factors (e.g., stress and routine activities) directly related to experiences in the military. I find that fighting is much more prevalent among current military service members than civilians (30 percent versus 18 percent respectively). The results of a logistic regression analysis suggest that neither selection nor causation explanations alone suffice, but rather that both play a role. The results also show those who play recreational sports and those who own guns are significantly more likely to participate in fighting.
Stephen Demuth (Advisor)
Jorge Chavez (Committee Member)
Matthew VanEseltine (Committee Member)
51 p.
Sociology
Add Health; Fighting; violence; selection; causation; social learning; routine activities

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Holbrook, A. D. (2013). The Relationship between Military Service and Fighting: Selection or Causation? [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1383219501

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Holbrook, April. The Relationship between Military Service and Fighting: Selection or Causation? . 2013. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1383219501.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Holbrook, April. "The Relationship between Military Service and Fighting: Selection or Causation? ." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1383219501

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1383219501
570
© 2012, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License The Relationship between Military Service and Fighting: Selection or Causation? by April Dawn Holbrook is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.