The U.S Department of Veteran Affairs offers many events for veterans to compete in events and
clinics. On October 23rd through October 27th, the 2013 National Creative Arts Festival took place. At this festival, veteran’s creative
talents were exhibited in forms of creative writing, art, dance, drama, and
music. The competition was open to veterans enrolled at a VA Medical Center
for Outpatient Clinic. During the months
of April, May and June, the work that was submitted to the 2013 national
creative competition and then judged at the festival. The panel of judges invited the winners of the national creative competition to attend the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival.
This
year the festival was in Reno, Nevada.
The first place winners, in each category, perform in a variety show
with a professional orchestra whom accompanies the performance. Approximately 140 veterans receive an
invitation and attend the festival. The public is welcome as well. Anyone can attend the art exhibit as well as the stage show.
The
national competition and the festival is important because it recognizes
veterans for their creative accomplishments. The therapeutic benefits veterans
receive by expressing themselves through their art is also recognized during this festival.
Here are some of my favorite pieces of work that were awarded at the festival.
The video from Funny
or Die shows the continuing debt
ceiling disagreement between Barack
Obama and John Boehner in a lighter
sense. On a serious note, this disagreement has caused the government shutdown
to continue. The shutdown and the economic issues are causing the military
workforce to lose their paychecks and even their jobs.
According to the Department of Veteran
Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, millions of returning soldiers and
veterans, depending on their checks of compensation and support, will not receive
any compensation if the government is still shut down by the end of this month.
Shinseki
stated there are 3.8 million veterans. The compensation these veterans receive
takes care of them individually but also their families. Therefore, the
government shutdown is affecting approximately 5 million individuals.
The
veterans are at risk of losing death benefits, back pay, incentive pays,
reenlistment bonuses, disability benefits and survivor benefits. If a
soldier joined the army to have a set financial future, they are now losing all
the benefits they expected to acquire for risking their life, for our country.
The government sends you to wars that are
sometimes unnecessary, promises you benefits for your hard work and
for risking your life, but then takes those benefits away from you. How would
you feel if this scenario affected you?
If you went to war knowing you would have your compensation and benefits taken away from you would you still go to war and fight for your country?
Over 2.3
million American veterans served in the Iraq and Afghanistan war. Twenty
percent of those returning soldiers suffer from post-traumatic
stress disorder or PTSD. PTSD and DV are issues that coincide. It is
more likely a veteran or an active soldier suffering with PTSD will act in the
cycle of domestic violence than one who does not have PTSD.
The attempt
to solve the domestic violence problem with the military population began in 1995 when the Department of the Army and Department of Veteran
Affairs began to plan a research program with the Madigan Army Medical Center and American Lake
VA Medical Center. The plan was to deliver a state certified
rehabilitation program for the domestic violence batterers. The research
showed that a program less than one year would be useless. If the abuser drops
out of a rehabilitation program before one year they are more likely to repeat
their actions. The level of a perpetrator’s
PTSD mirrored the level of domestic
violence. A soldier with severe PTSD had severe abuse problems.
Therefore, the need for rehabilitation for a soldier with a high level of PTSD
was highly recommended. Also, the link between the severity of both PTSD and DV
had a high level of dropouts. This showed the patients believed they did not
have a problem or they were cured in a short amount of time.
The research
program in the mid 90’s was the first step to figure out a solution to the
problem of domestic violence in the military community. Today it is still an
infinite problem in both military and civilian families. The Department of
Defense or DOD made domestic violence in the military a specific
concern to assess an ideal solution. They came up with a system for both
abusers and victims in the military. If the abuser is in the military they go
through either the military justice system or the Family Advocacy Program. The process differs
for on base and off base soldiers. On base, the case is investigated by the
military police and sent right to the Family Advocacy Program. If it is an off base
scenario, the local police handle the case but it is not always reported back
to the base officials.
According to
the article “When Violence Happens,” written by Linda D. Kozaryn, from the American
Forces Press Service, many cases are reported early before any
severe casualties occur in the household. Also, the DOD stated the success rate
of the domestic violence cases are good because they are reported early and
sometimes reported by the actual abuser.
The
whole issue brings up many concerns for me. Starting from the beginning, PTSD
seems to be a big cause in the matter. PTSD alone is an unsolved issue.
Soldiers are not getting help for their traumatic issues let alone, soldiers
can’t come to terms with themselves that they have a problem. Society’s
stipulation on PTSD affects the steps to get help. So many suffering do not
seek help. This brings us to the cause of domestic violence in military
households.
Since
soldiers are not seeking help for their PTSD, they are affecting their home
life. They become violent in their homes and they are putting their family in
danger. So, not only are they not getting help for the PTSD they have but now
they are participating in the cycle of domestic violence.
PTSD and DV
are very similar because they both have a bad stigma in society. They are
issues that are normally dealt with behind closed doors. The Department of
Defense, according to Kozaryn’s article, says the success rate of fixing the
domestic violence in the military community is improving. I cannot believe them
because there are still soldiers and veterans who have not received help for
PTSD, the first step to the domestic violence problem. Therefore, if the
soldier does not think they have a post-traumatic stress disorder why would
they think they have domestic violence problems?
After doing
research, I am glad to see the military sees this as an issue. Domestic
violence sometimes goes unnoticed. It is nice to see they are spending a lot of
time to do research to create the best plan to fix the problem. I just know
there are so many layers to the issue that it is not going to be solved easily.
Here is a video from 2009 that shows an example of domestic
violence in the military.
What
do you think about the relationship between PTSD and domestic violence?
Do
you agree with the Department of Defense? Do you think the success rate of rehabilitated domestic
violence abusers is improving?
What
else can be done to stop domestic violence in military households?
