Military Families

Families with a member in the armed forces face a conundrum similar to the one faced by families with a child who leaves to attend college. Oftentimes, families with a member in the armed forces can find themselves under extreme stress because soldiers often spend long amounts of time away from home (Lowe, Adams, Browne, & Hinkle, 2012). Like in the previous hypothetical scenario of the college student, geographical distance between family members can greatly affect the interpersonal relationships between family members. If there are children involved, the relationship between parents and children becomes strained as one parent is deployed and the other takes on more daily responsibilities, therefore, decreasing the amount of attention the children receive (Lowe et al., 2012). While time away from loved ones is always difficult, participation in the armed forces often only worsens stress. Before deployment, active armed force members must leave no loose ends and even prepare a will and power of

The number one strength individuals in a family require is flexibility because it allows family members to recover from stressful situations more easily (Bowles et al., 2015). This can come in handy since families tend to be on high alert during their family member’s deployment. Another strength useful to military families is a commitment to one another by continuing family routines and traditions (Bowles et al., 2015). Another major strength families must have is the ability to ask for outside help when it is necessary. By using sources from both outside and inside the home families are better equipped to maintain stability (Bowles et al., 2015). While families with members in the armed forces definitely face very challenging and stressful scenarios it is clear that with the right strengths families can successfully