Suicide in the Marine Corps

Business Research Methods & Tools

Part 1: Introduction

Background Information

To augment the naval forces in the Revolutionary War, there was the establishment of the Marine Corps on November 10, 1775. Soon after the end of the war and many successful campaigns the Marine Corps was disseminated due to the stunted economical times America faced at the time. However, because there was a need for an infantry force Congress reenacted the United States Marine Corps in 1798 attaching them to the Department of the Navy. The Marines Corps heritage is deeply rooted with tradition, honor and valor. Many people believe this is due to the percentage of Americans that have served in the Corps which is only .08 percent (Chalabi, 2015).  With the honor of upholding the longstanding traditions comes great responsibility to the country as well as those that served before them. While the Marines are known as the smallest department out of all the services they have the highest suicide rate.

When looked at by human resources department in the Marine Corps there is a matter of great concern that the high suicide rate of veterans and active military personnel, which began around the time of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This was a surprise, since the increase followed the launch of new suicide prevention programs by Veterans’ Affairs, and the expectation had been that the suicide rate would decrease (McCarl, 2013). The result is not easy to understand, but a constructive approach is conducting regression analysis in order to better understand the profile of veterans and active members of the military forces who commit suicide. Detailed capture of data can provide for analysis which can contribute to better screening techniques as well as more accurate evaluation of suicide prevention programs that can contribute to continuous improvement of patient outcomes.

Management Dilemma

            The HR department as well as the supervisors and leaders in the Marine Corps are responsible for the health and well-being of every member under their care. The motivation for the protection of human subjects across the services include business research (Landrum, 2013). However, with the wake of an unforeseen evil lurking in the minds of many, the problem becomes how to help those that are not readily identifiable. While there are many services available to those military members and their families there is still a stigma that is attached to those who seek assistance from family care providers or other services offered. In the military culture many thrive on the brotherhood and esprit de corps. Whenever this is taken away or no longer part of their norm they do not know how to function in society (Deutsch, Lande, & Lande, 2017).

Research Question and Hypothesis

The research question is: Do the services provided be the Marine Corps help members in their time of mental instability?

The hypothesis is: In today’s military the professional services provided for every Marine Corps member will help to reduce the number of suicides.

Part 2: Literature Review

Background Research

While suicide is nothing new to the uniform services the matter of tracking the data and making those aware of what is happening is something that Congress and the military leadership are now taking notice of and trying to prevent such empirical loss. For years mothers and fathers have been screaming for help due to the rate to which their children were committing suicide and asking the question to all that would listen, what is the military doing about it? This is done through modification in the thought process as well as the training that is provided to all service members (VanSickle, Werbel, Perera, Pak, DeYoung, & Ghahramanlou-Holloway, 2016). Before, suicide in the Marine Corps had a stigmatism attached to it. Only weak-minded individuals would succumb to the fatality rate. Such an utterance would represent a level of unparalleled ignorance and insensitivity that is no longer accepted. It was not until the research was done showing that suicide had no boundaries of race, nationality, or even rank.

The Marine Corps plays a special role in society, and the injuries and problems that can develop at work are far beyond the typical ones found in the corporate world (McCarl, 2013). The question was answered through an analysis of the history, case studies and analysis of barriers. In terms of human resources, this is a phenomenon which is rare. The help to raise the awareness and the background to the situation, providing a review of the significance of the problem and what is already known. Human resources professionals are part of a broader team that includes the health care support system for military personnel.

Ethical Concerns

For six years the Marine Corps tracked the loss of service members from their casualty records which determined the manner of death. These records had factors such as race, sex, age, and rank. From there, the population of the Corps were given to the data collectors to assess the percentages of suicides versus other manners of death (Laurel, Anthony, & Coben, 1999). Along with this data the entire United States Marine Corps was ordered to take a survey detailing their mental stability at any given time. While the surveys were deemed to be anonymous, the survey posed questions about rank, race, location of service, sex and so forth. The concern that many Marines had was who was collecting this information and what repercussions would be had when given an honest assessment? Where was this information going and could the surveys pinpoint the individual so that their anonymity is no longer kept? In that, the protection of this data was close-hold to those individuals with a certain credentials which were not outside sources rather Department of Defense employees. None of the information was to be sold or utilized in an improper fashion. The data was kept under lock and key and only certain factors such as sex, age, rank and race were disclosed to the Marine Corps leadership and Congress.

References

Chalabi, M. (2015, May 25). What Percentage Of Americans Have Served In The Military?

Deutsch, A., Lande, G., & Lande, R. G. (2017). The Reasons for Living Scale-Military Version:          Assessing Protective Factors Against Suicide in a Military Sample. Military         Medicine, 182(7), e1681-e1686. doi:10.7205/MILMED-D-16-00382

Landrum, R. E. (2014).

Laurel, L. H., Anthony, G. W., & Coben, P. A. (1999). Suicide in the U.S. marine corps, 1990 to 1996. Military Medicine, 164(8), 551-5.

McCarl, L.I. (2013). To Have No Yesterday”: The Rise Of Suicide Rates In The Military And   Among Veterans. Creighton Law Review, 46(3), 393-432.

VanSickle, M., Werbel, A., Perera, K., Pak, K., DeYoung, K., & Ghahramanlou-Holloway, M. (2016). Principal Component Analysis of the Suicide Opinion Questionnaire in a U.S. Military Sample of Marine Corps Non-Commissioned Officers. Military Medicine, 181(7), 672-679. doi:10.7205/MILMED-D-15-00062