Navigating Between Two Greedy Institutions: Family Resilience and Intergenerational Dynamics in Turkish Military Families
Family Relations, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1111/fare.70306
- Dergi Adı: Family Relations
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Periodicals Index Online, Abstracts in Social Gerontology, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, ATLA Religion Database, EBSCO Education Source, Education Abstracts, Gender Studies Database, Psycinfo, Public Affairs Index, Social Sciences Abstracts, EBSCO Communication Source, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Social Science Premium Collection (ProQuest), Communication Source (EBSCO), Education Collection (ProQuest), Education Source Ultimate (EBSCO), Health Research Premium Collection (ProQuest), Sociology Database (ProQuest), Sociology Source Ultimate (EBSCO)
- Anahtar Kelimeler: family resilience, greedy institutions, intergenerational transmission, military families, qualitative research, Türkiye
- Kırklareli Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Objective: This study examines how career military families in Türkiye navigate competing institutional demands, how military community structures foster resilience, and how military identity is transmitted across generations. Background: Military families must negotiate the demands of two greedy institutions—the armed forces and the family—yet research remain largely Western-centric. As a non-Western NATO member state with collectivist family traditions and a distinctive military housing (lojman) system, Türkiye offers a culturally distinct context for understanding military family processes. Methods: In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 men (born 1956–1986) whose fathers served as career military personnel in the Turkish Armed Forces and who themselves served as commissioned or noncommissioned officers. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Three themes emerged: (a) Caught Between Two Institutions—families managed relocation, paternal absence, and the permeation of military discipline into domestic life through maternal resilience and adaptive routines; (b) A World Behind Fences—military housing compounds provided safety and community while constraining social horizons; and (c) Following in Father's Footsteps—military identity was transmitted intergenerationally through environmental socialization, parental influence, and identity formation, with varying degrees of agency. Conclusion: Core concepts in military family scholarship—greedy institutions, family resilience, intergenerational transmission—take culturally specific forms in the Turkish context that extend current Western-centric frameworks. Implications: Findings underscore the need for culturally sensitive military family support programs that address cumulative relocation stress, recognize mothers' community-sustaining labor, and attend to the complex dynamics of occupational inheritance in non-Western settings.