The military service readiness of reserve soldiers is an essential question for countries that rely mostly on reserve units for their defense or other operational needs. This study examines how forms of capital related to the military and civilian fields are associated with the military service readiness of reservists. Survey data were obtained from 396 Estonian reservists during the 2018 Hedgehog exercise. Reservists' military service readiness (RMSR) was studied first with respect to military field–related factors, and in the next phase civilian field linked factors are included. In a military field, cultural, social, and symbolic capital have a positive influence on RMSR. However, if civilian field–related social and economic capital is included, some military capitals would lose their effect. Study outcomes are discussed considering Pierre Bourdieu's theory of the forms of capital.
"The article looks at the transition of Estonian society towards dual earner/ dual carer family model and focuses on fathers' decision regarding taking their parental leave. Based on theory of planned behaviour by Ajzen, data from 20 qualitative interviews with fathers of small children are analysed to explore the beliefs fathers have when it comes to parental leave. The analysis distinguishes between two images of 'good parenting' that play a role in the fathers' intention to take parental leave. First, there is an image of an outcome-oriented 'project manager' affected by failure anxiety, and second, there is a much more relaxed image of a 'good parent' as a 'companion' who values everyday contact and a close relationship with the child(ren)." (author's abstract)
"Using data from two nationally representative surveys (Estonian Living Conditions survey 1994, n=4,455; Estonian Social Survey 2004, n=8,906), we assess whether informal support networks have changed during the ten year period in Estonia. We hypothesize that during this period due to the establishment of a new welfare system and an overall increase in living standards, on one hand, and diversification of family forms and increased geographic mobility of the population on the other, family support networks have lost their functionality. Our findings show that informal support has decreased between relatives, while mutual helping activities with non-relatives – neighbours, colleagues and friends – have remained almost at the same level. We suggest that the developments in the Estonian society are 'crowding out' the instrumental support exchange in the kinship system and empowering social networking with nonrelatives." (author's abstract)
What makes individuals willing to defend their (adopted) homeland as their own? This is an essential question for all diverse societies. We turn to the case of Estonia, which inherited a sizable Russian-speaking population after the fall of the Soviet Union. Using recent polling data, we test demographic and attitudinal predictors of defense willingness among the first generation of males that have been raised in the republic since the restoration of independence. The results enable us to unpack differences between Estonian-speakers and Russian-speakers, as well as disagreements among the latter, which shed light on the state of social cohesion in Estonia's national fabric.
Introduction: Children are influenced by different environments – home, friends, school, community, society, and the existence and availability of various services – and child well-being is the outcome of the interrelationships between the child and these environments. The military is one of the environments that shapes the well-being of children in military families, and the environments interact with each other. Methods: Our main assumption is that the effect of military environment on child well-being may vary in different societies depending on the general social security system. We describe how the military children's well-being is embedded in military systems, which in turn is embedded in welfare state. The main question is how the well-being of children from military families varies across countries and how much variation can be explained by the interplay between military systems and different welfare regimes. Results: We begin by describing the differences in welfare states and military systems, and then give a short overview of children's well-being in the context of different welfare regimes (e.g., availability of public child care, health care, and access to education and extracurricular activities). Discussion: Next, we look at the interplay between the military and welfare regimes and, finally, we show how the well-being of military children is supported across countries by their different welfare regimes.
Introduction: Children are influenced by different environments – home, friends, school, community, society, and the existence and availability of various services – and child well-being is the outcome of the interrelationships between the child and these environments. The military is one of the environments that shapes the well-being of children in military families, and the environments interact with each other. Methods: Our main assumption is that the effect of military environment on child well-being may vary in different societies depending on the general social security system. We describe how the military children's well-being is embedded in military systems, which in turn is embedded in welfare state. The main question is how the well-being of children from military families varies across countries and how much variation can be explained by the interplay between military systems and different welfare regimes. Results: We begin by describing the differences in welfare states and military systems, and then give a short overview of children's well-being in the context of different welfare regimes (e.g., availability of public child care, health care, and access to education and extracurricular activities). Discussion: Next, we look at the interplay between the military and welfare regimes and, finally, we show how the well-being of military children is supported across countries by their different welfare regimes. ; Introduction : Les enfants sont influencés par différents environnements – maison, amis, école, communauté, société, et l'existence et la disponibilité de différents services – et le bien-être de l'enfant est le résultat de l'interaction entre l'enfant et ces environnements. L'environnement militaire influence le bien-être des enfants de familles militaires. De plus, il est nécessaire de mentionner que les environnements s'influencent mutuellement. Méthodes : Notre principale hypothèse est que l'effet de l'environnement militaire sur le bien-être de l'enfant peut varier d'une société à l'autre, selon le système général de sécurité sociale. Nous décrivons comment le bien-être des enfants de militaires est intégré au système militaire, qui à son tour est intégré dans un État providence. La principale question est : quelles sont les différences dans le bien-être des enfants de familles militaires dans différents pays, et dans quelle mesure ces différences peuvent-elles être expliquées par l'interaction entre le système militaire et les différents régimes de bien-être? Résultats et discussion: En premier, nous décrivons les différences entre l'État providence et les systèmes militaires, ensuite nous présentons un aperçu du bien-être de l'enfant dans le cadre des différents régimes de bien-être (disponibilité des services publics pour les enfants, soins de santé et accès à l'éducation, activités parascolaires), ensuite nous mettons l'accent sur l'interaction entre l'environnement militaire et les régimes de bien-être, et finalement, nous démontrons comment le bien-être des enfants de militaires est géré dans différents pays, qui ont des régimes de bien-être différents.
AbstractThe study examined the relative importance of the quality of relationships with parents and grandparents, maternal acceptance and control, the structure of the family, the number of siblings, and adolescents' own attachment style to their perceived peer acceptance. The sample consisted of 300 adolescents (mean age = 15.5) and 300 mothers (mean age = 41.5). Regarding the role of family relationships, the results indicated that only the quality of the mother–child relationship was related to adolescents' peer acceptance. Maternal acceptance and control, however, were unrelated to youth's perceptions of acceptance by peers. Adolescents who had more siblings, lived in a single‐mother family, and were high in anxious attachment reported lower peer acceptance.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, former Soviet republics became sovereign states and faced a challenge of building new political systems. While some of the countries have become authoritarian, democratic political systems were successfully built in a number of post-Soviet countries. In this study the focus is on these new democracies and their armed forces, as such states face questions related to the armed forces' monopoly over the means of violence, their subservience to civilian politicians, the core values around which soldiers coalesce, and their legitimacy in the eyes of publics. How then does a military create a tradition in a new democracy? The term "military tradition" is used to refer to public events (ceremonies and performances), symbols (flags and adornments), and narratives (stories and lore) produced and reproduced in and around the armed forces. Accordingly, the article turns to the study of public events in order to further the study of military traditions in new democracies. As empirical focus, the authors propose to look at a key state-centered, national public event, the military parade through an exploratory case study of Estonia, a relatively young democracy of 30 years. The results of the study show that the form and practices of Estonia's military parade simultaneously signal its subservience to elected officials, its role as defender of a democratic polity and its fate, its closeness and openness to society, and they reflect the wider societal developments centered on individualization, digitization, and marketization.
The military covenant is a set of morally binding expectations marking the exchange between military, society, and the state. Its base is the military's duality: like other large public institutions delivering services and its uniqueness in holding the monopoly over the use of legitimate organized state violence. The covenant is a form of relational (not transactional) contract based on trust between, and a long-term orientation of, partners; it both orders and displays these relations thereby offering both prescriptions for action and discursive means to legitimate them. The covenant can be used as an analytical (not normative) concept for theoretical development in three areas: social change and society-military ties, processual aspects of agreements between individuals and groups and the armed forces, and links between society-military ties and the social contract and social cohesion. We use the case of Estonia to illustrate the theoretical potential of the military covenant.
Previous studies have shown a connection between parental family characteristics, young adults' life plans and their actual family life events. However, less is known about parental family influence in the context of the latesocialist period and rapid social, economic and political change. We use data from the longitudinal survey Paths of a generation in Estonia to look at the life plans and actual life events of the students graduating from secondary schools during the Soviet period in 1983. We compare the life plans of leaving home and starting a family made during the Soviet regime to the same life events actually occurring in 1986-2005. The analyses show that only the girls from families with divorced parents plan to start their independent lives earlier than girls from families with both biological parents. On the other hand, in the plans for family formation (marriage and birth of the first child) there are no major differences between these groups. In the actual life events of girls, however, we see the influence of parental dissolution. Girls from divorced families do not plan to create a family earlier than others, but in reality they do so. The result suggests that the parental family has an important role in shaping girls' lives in the context of the late socialist period and societal change. Boys' life plans seem to be more influenced by their educational choices than by the parental family.
