Transition resilience with ICTs: 'Identity awareness' in veteran re-integration

Bryan C. Semaan, Lauren M. Britton, Bryan Dosono

Research output: Chapter in Book/Entry/PoemConference contribution

64 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper reports on a qualitative interview study of ICT use amongst a population undergoing transition following a life disruption. We interviewed 13 veterans who were reintegrating into civil society. Veterans are unique in that they experience several transitions at once-that is, after returning home, they often suffer from PTSD, become homeless, change occupations, etc. Amongst other challenges, veterans often undergo identity crises as caused by the lack of continuity between military and civilian social structures. We show how veterans are resilient through their uses of ICTs when navigating identity crises. We find that they use ICTs to develop identity awareness- that is, they connect with a human infrastructure through which they can develop a "big picture" understanding of unfamiliar rules and norms and receive support when navigating civil society. We discuss the implications of our study and identify implications for design.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationCHI 2016 - Proceedings, 34th Annual CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
Pages2882-2894
Number of pages13
ISBN (Electronic)9781450333627
DOIs
StatePublished - May 7 2016
Event34th Annual Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2016 - San Jose, United States
Duration: May 7 2016May 12 2016

Publication series

NameConference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings

Other

Other34th Annual Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2016
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Jose
Period5/7/165/12/16

Keywords

  • Crisis
  • Disruption
  • ICTs
  • Identity
  • Identity awareness
  • Resilience
  • Social media
  • Transition
  • Veterans

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Software
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design

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