Hassn Almesien Unplash
THE
WAR VETERAN AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
EDUARDO C. GERDING
For I was hungry and you gave me
something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a
stranger and you invited me in, I needed
clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was
in prison and you came to visit me.’ (Matthew 25:35-46)
This article aims to become a point of discussion for society as a whole regarding the attitude of the criminal justice system towards war veterans who may be in prison currently or in the future.
Statistics
War veterans imprisoned in the
US
According to the US Criminal
Justice Council (CCI), there are more than 181,500 war veterans incarcerated. 1
According to 2022 Crime and
Justice News, one-third of military veterans were arrested and imprisoned at
least once compared to less than one-fifth among civilians. 58% of war veterans
in prison were men (and 38% women) who had been on the front lines.
(Stainbrook, Hartwell, & James, 2016). 74% of male veterans in state
prisons and 77% in federal prisons had had honorable discharges. 9
30% of US veterans in prison
have a history of homelessness (Tsai, Rosenheck, Kasprow, & McGuire, 2014).
War veterans imprisoned in the
UK
In 2022, 3.6% of the UK prison
population were found to be war veterans. 6. However, according to an article
published by The Independent in previous years, the number of soldiers in
prison is three times higher than what the government officially reports. One
in 10 prisoners are war veterans. 11. Approximately 13.6% (250,000) of the 1.85
million war veterans in England and Wales are women who require more mental
health support and this figure is expected to increase. 7.The prisons with the
highest proportion of war veterans were: The Verne, Haverigg, and Usk. 6
Predisposing factors to crime
People who volunteer to serve in the Armed Forces. They are more likely to be imprisoned than those who are not. (Culp, Youstin, Englander, & Lynch, 2013).
War veterans tend to have
suffered more adverse events in their childhood (Katon et al., 2015). Of US war
veterans in prison, 87% had traumatic events in their lives and 39% suffered
from Post Traumatic Stress (Saxon et al., 2001).
Factors predisposing to crime in the USA.
The US Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 15% of Vietnam veterans experienced Post Traumatic Stress and the same did 11 to 20% of those who participated in Iraq and Afghanistan. 3
A study revealed that war veterans in prison had a higher prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress and personality disorders than those who were not veterans, but there were no differences in terms of a history of major depressive syndromes, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or mood disorders. anxiety. (Bronson et al., 2015).
War veterans with Post Traumatic Stress are 60% more likely to be incarcerated than the general population. In turn, patients with Post Traumatic Stress are more prone to drug addiction which leads them to be imprisoned. 3
The pre-existing
characteristics of people entering military service could explain the
differences in the types of crimes produced. A high percentage of war veterans
in US prisons are detained for sexual offenses and a smaller percentage for
property attacks and linked to addictions. (Bronson et al., 2015).
Predisposing factors in the UK
A study in the United Kingdom revealed that people of low socioeconomic status are the most likely to enlist to escape poverty, unstable homes and unsociable company. These factors would be those that are linked to criminal behavior. For some criminologists, joining the Armed Forces has been a positive factor in the lives of these people. 13
The vulnerability of the
prison population
Women, the elderly and patients with HIV or Hepatitis C are considered vulnerable populations. However, only recently has the vulnerability of war veterans been taken into account. 5
Falklands War veterans
convicted
As of 14 January 2024, there were only two British war veterans in prison: Albert Patterson (then aged 65), a decorated former British paratrooper (SAS) sentenced to 15 months in prison by Nottinghamshire Court for possession of a weapon of war. (he had taken it as a war trophy). Released earlier as an exemplary prisoner. The other was Ian Lenaghan (61), a former British soldier sentenced to five years in prison for causing a gas explosion in a failed suicide attempt. The explosion destroyed a building and injured three people. 2,4,12
For the same date there were
only four Argentine war veterans convicted of crimes against humanity during
the military dictatorship: A former Argentine Army Colonel (72) (linked to the
9 Corrientes Regiment) wounded in combat at Top Malo House, decorated and
convicted to life imprisonment. In 2020, he was granted house arrest, where he
continues to serve his 25-year sentence. 8
A former Navy Captain (83)
(former Chief of Communications of the Mar del Plata Naval Base). Life
imprisonment, a former Senior Non-Commissioned Officer of the Argentine Army
(82) (linked to the V Corps of the Bahía Blanca Army and the 181st Communications
Battalion) with house arrest, a former Colonel of the Argentine Army (69)
(linked to the V Corps of the Bahía Blanca Army and the 181st Communications
Battalion).
In 2017, decree 1357/2004
established that war veterans who had been convicted of violating human rights,
among others, could not be beneficiaries of the Malvinas Honorary Pensions.
Why it is important to focus
on war veterans in prison
Finlay et al. consider that there are three reasons that support the importance of focusing on war veterans in prison:
1.War veterans are a
vulnerable population in terms of health and have different healthcare
requirements (mental health, addictions, etc.) compared to civilians. The
latter is due in part to the traumatic experiences of combat and other
circumstances experienced during the service. 5
The mortality risk of US war veterans released from prison is 12 times higher than that of the general population, with overdoses being the leading cause of death (Wortzel, Blatchford, Conner, Adler, & Binswanger, 2012). .
2.The Veterans Administration and society as a whole have an obligation toward war veterans, which includes those who are part of the prison population.
3.Communities will be safer and resources will be saved if they focus on the treatment of war veterans.
10% of US veterans do not
qualify for support from the Veterans Administration because they have been
discharged for dishonorable conduct. As a result, they lack insurance, have
restricted care options, and are subsequently unable to find housing or
employment. (Mallik-Kane & Visher, 2008).
Problem approach
The approach to this topic is multidisciplinary and includes, among others, the area of criminology, health services and psychology.
For the war veteran who has
committed a criminal act, there is a tension between the stigma of identity as
a criminal and the traditional recognition of his identity as a veteran. 10 The
identity of the war veteran is not only perceived from others but is
constituted by them, not only by the labels they apply to the veteran but by
the reaction that occurs in him as a consequence of said labeling. 10
Dr Emma Murray, Lecturer in Criminal Justice at Liverpool John Moores University says:
"We are dealing here with men who have been rewarded for violent behavior, but punished for not showing up for work. They have lived by different rules to the rest of us, we must expect crime and when dealing with it be more understanding. I'm not saying they should get away with it, but I am suggesting a different justice system for former members of the military, similar to the system that operates in the military. ¨ (Veteran Treatment Manager, 2012)
¨These boys have been in war;
They fought for their country; so we were proud of them. They have been trained
to kill and have been celebrated for their extreme violence. They come from a
culture that promotes “suffering in silence” and often the first time they
receive the support they deserve is when they end up in the criminal justice
system.¨ (Offender Manager, 2013) 10
“The criminal justice process
can be understood in terms of “production of people”: once convicted, labels
are applied to identify their participation in the criminal system. Edkins
(2008) argues that this label disrupts the biographies of individuals with
criminal records: the “offender” identity becomes a person's “primary status,”
in which all other identities are consumed.
As such, individuals are
defined by what they have done and, in many ways, are divided by social
fractures that exist in society at large (e.g., race, disability, and gender).
Identity management is inherent to the “production of people.” “Veterans’ offenses
may be outweighed by their military past.” This requires a special approach to
the criminal justice system..¨
It is common to hear: In that wing we have terrorists and there are sex offenders there, armed robbers tend to lurk there and veterans are around the corner. (Veterans in Custody Support Officer, 2012) 10
The paradigmatic case of Shawn
Jensen
Shawn Jensen was 17 years old and escaping an abusive foster family when he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1966. A year later, Shawn was deployed to Vietnam, where he saw combat and was wounded twice. In December 1967, Shawn's superior infantry skills set him apart and he was trained as a member of the elite Reconnaissance Battalion, where he and a team of seven to eight men were sent on multiple long-range patrols deep into the jungles of the Southeast Asia to gather intelligence, often without reinforcements.Shawn again faced combat, danger and death. He was repeatedly exposed to Agent Orange. For his service in Vietnam, he earned multiple military decorations, including a Purple Heart.
Shawn returned to the United
States after 13 months of combat. He met and married his wife, Rhonda, and
attempted to rebuild his life after the war. After Shawn returned, he began
having flashbacks of combat with enemy soldiers, as well as experiencing many
other symptoms of what we now know as PTSD.
Shawn recognized that
something was wrong with him. Together with Rhonda they tried to get help for
what was then known as "shell shock."
Shawn described his instant
flashbacks tied to particular combat situations. Shawn's invisible wounds
continued to manifest, and in March 1973, while walking alone in the Arizona
desert with his guns, he suddenly saw a figure rise from behind a tree and it
took him back to Vietnam. Tragically, during this flashback he ended up killing
a couple of teenagers who were enjoying the Arizona desert. A little over a
month before the episode, Rhonda had taken Shawn to the local emergency room
due to his mental health issues. The emergency room discharged him, describing
his condition as "Acute Vietnam flashbacks. Psychiatric treatment at
the VA hospital is recommended..." He was precisely waiting for this
treatment when he killed the two people who were only a few years younger than he.
Shawn received two life sentences for killing the couple and
has been locked up in Arizona prisons since 1973. In his first nine years of incarceration, he sought cognitive behavioral
therapy. He studied and obtained two degrees.
Shawn and Rhonda celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary last year. 3
Bibliography
1-Commission To Study Why So Many Veterans End Up In Jail, Prison- Crime and Justice News-Aug 23, 2022.
2-Condenaron a un veterano británico de la Guerra de las
Malvinas que provocó una explosión que destruyó un edificio-
INFOBAE-19 Agosto 2022
3-Dominguez-Ruiz,Marisol et al- Our Veterans Need Support,
Not Incarceration-ACLU
https://www.aclu.org/news/prisoners-rights/our-veterans-need-support-not-incarceration
4-Ex combatiente inglés en Malvinas quiso presumir
de un "trofeo de guerra" y terminó preso-INFOBAE-Julio 1,2016
teransin Prison: Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016-Bureau of Justice Statistics-March
30,2021.
5-Finlay, Andrea et al-A scoping review of military veterans involved in the criminal justice system and their health and healthcare-Health & Justice volume 7,Article number: 6 (2019)
6-Hawksworth,Daniel-Ministry of Justice-Official Statistics-Ex Service Personnel in the
prison population, England and Wales.
7-I don’t feel like that’s for me: Overcoming barriers to mental healthcare for women veterans-Forces in Mind Trust(FIMT)
-December 2023
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comando Losito en el combate de Top Malo House-INFOBAE-Abril 3,2022
9-Maruschak,Lauraet al- Veterans in prison Inmatesm2016
Bureau of Justice Statistics ,March 30,2021
10-Murray,Emma- Post-army trouble: veterans in the criminal justice system-Center for Crime and Justice Studies.
11-Roberts,Genevieve-One in 10 prisoners is a former soldier, new research reveals. The
Independent, Saturday 14 July,2012
12.Robinson,Julian-SAS herowho was jailed for keeping his
Falkland gun as a souvenir walks free from
prison after being released early from his 15-month sentence-
Daily Mail-August21,2016.
13-Simpson,LeanneK.Dr- The truth about the links
between military service and crime- The Conversation-April 27, 2016
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