The Forces in the Firing Line? Social Policy and the ‘Acceptable Face’ of Violent Criminality

Abstract

This chapter considers the way in which the military and crime nexus is currently interpreted and understood, both theoretically at a social policy level. Considering former military personnel’s involvement in crime in England, it argues that within mainstream media, public and governmental circles there are only a limited consideration of offending by ex-forces personnel. In particular, it contrasts the assumed acceptance that violent offending by veterans is linked to combat trauma, with the more complex reality of some former servicemen’s seeming heightened involvement in serious sexual violence and violent crime. Drawing on empirical evidence from research with the Howard League (Inquiry into former armed service personnel in prison. London: Howard League for Penal Reform, 2011) on former British military personnel in the English prison system, it provides a critical reflection on the veteran offender connection. It considers how little consideration has been given to the very term ‘veteran’ or the realities of this cohort’s violent and sexual crimes, and how frequently the very institution of the military is removed from any critical consideration of why they offend. It calls for greater empirical understanding of the complex motives and drivers of offending by veterans, including greater consideration of the role of the military as a backdrop to men’s future criminal violence.