Understanding the victimization of US Army Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in US public.

Previous research suggests that US public estimates of mental health problems in US veterans who returned from the deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan exceed actual concerns. The present project examines how sociodemographic factors may contribute to victimizing perceptions of US Army Iraq and Afghanistan veterans by conducting a free word-association task. A total of 245 US participants provided three open-ended word-associations to "US Army Iraq Veterans" and "US Army Afghanistan Veteran" and completed a sociodemographic questionnaire. Multiple Linear Regressions outline that higher social distance towards US Army Iraq and Afghanistan veterans predicts elevated victimization scores. A semi-structured, qualitative interview study examines underlying rationalities of victimizing sentiments in 10 participants with no-contact and 10 participants with close contact to US Army Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. The Thematic Analysis suggests that social distance towards US Army Iraq and Afghanistan veterans mitigates the victimization and stigmatization of veterans. This was the case as those with close contact to US Army Iraq and Afghanistan veterans had concrete knowledge about which jobs veterans accomplished in a deployment entail. In contrast, those who did not know US Army Iraq and Afghanistan veterans equated deployments with killing, front-line fighting and witnessing atrocities. Implications and conclusions are discussed.