Rees DPhil student’s snapshots of British service children’s identity and experiences of mobility published

Rees DPhil student Lucy Robinson’s snapshots on “Military life, mobility, and me: A collection of composite images by British service children” has been published in the Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health.

 The four snapshots originate from ongoing doctoral research exploring how military life shapes British service children’s identity and educational experiences. Over a series of sessions, 19 service children aged 9 to 16 years engaged with several creative activities including self-portraits and relational maps and timelines, supported by exploratory questions and group discussion. For the snapshots, Lucy used images, spoken word, and text from the data corpus to create four compositive images that reflect British service children’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences around two military lifestyle dimensions — mobility and identity.

The goal of the snapshots is threefold. First, to act as a platform for service children’s voices to be amplified and taken seriously. Second, to act as a discussion point for readers so they can engage with the snapshots to spark conversation, draw comparisons, and — where applicable — reminisce about their own experiences of military childhood. Third, to advance current understanding of the experiences of British service children, as they continue to embody the strength beside the uniform.

“I’m delighted that my snapshots have been published within a special edition – The strength beside the uniform – of the Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health. By centring the service children in my contribution, I hope to highlight the importance of listening, and responding to, their experiences of military life,” Lucy said.

The snapshots are open-access and available to view following this link: Military life, mobility, and me: A collection of composite images by British service children | Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health (utpjournals.press)