Service children’s wellbeing in the context of three- to four-year-old Army children experiencing a parental deployment

Abstract

ABSTRACT Where ‘wellbeing’ is referred to in relation to children from Armed Forces (service) backgrounds, it is often done so in absence of an exploration of this conceptually vague term. This is problematic, as there are multiple interpretations and discourses of wellbeing which, in turn, influence how it is both understood and operationalised by practitioners and policy makers worldwide. This article examines the deployment-related wellbeing of an under researched group; pre-school children (aged three to four years) from British Army families. Framed within a cultural historical approach, this study employed interviews (n = 30) with ten non-deployed/at home mothers and fourteen pre-school practitioners. Six of the pre-school children also took part in the interviews. Findings highlight that young children’s relationships and socio-cultural environments influence the impact of a parental deployment on their different domains of wellbeing. Drawing upon different discourses of wellbeing further affords the reframing of young children’s deployment-related wellbeing away from the traditional deficit approach of observable problematised behaviours towards a more positive approach, considering the reasons behind such behaviours. Findings led to the creation of a model to aid practitioners and policy makers seeking to understand and support young Army children’s wellbeing.