Delinquent but not too delinquent? Join the military!

[MillCreek]

http://www.popsci.com/article/science/military-attracts-youths-who-are-delinquent-not-too-delinquent

Even more female delinquents join.

[Hawkmoon]

In particular, for delinquents, enlistment may be seen as an indicator of desistance from criminal activities and the assumption of adult roles. Even though other markers of the transition to adulthood are available, such as marriage or employment in the civilian labor force, military service may be more attractive to delinquents. The military is an environment in which aggression and violence often associated with delinquency can be channeled into legitimate forms.

Yeah, that ... or it may be a way for gang-bangers to get a lot of free training in how to be more effective head breakers.

When I was in the Army during the high point of the Vietnam unpleasantness, we had a few guys who were delinquents. Back then, the courts actually gave them an ultimatum -- enlist or go to jail. So they enlisted -- and they were totally worthless sacks of excrement. "Assumption of adult roles" -- HAH!

[Bigjake]

Yeah, that ... or it may be a way for gang-bangers to get a lot of free training in how to be more effective head breakers.

When I was in the Army during the high point of the Vietnam unpleasantness, we had a few guys who were delinquents. Back then, the courts actually gave them an ultimatum -- enlist or go to jail. So they enlisted -- and they were totally worthless sacks of excrement. "Assumption of adult roles" -- HAH!

The more things change,  the more they stay the same.  Shitbags are still shitbags.

[vaskidmark]

I dunno.  Seems I'm hearing more & more that the .mil is weeding out brushes with the law - even too many speeding tickets that do not get you reckless driving charges will get you told Uncle Sam does not want you.

At one time the .mil was seen as a way to "make a man out of him" - but amazingly that did not translate to the boot camps for delinquients.  The "I want to grow up" factor being absent, you just turn out physically fit individuals who have absorbed X amount of combat arms training (the gangbanger comments above).

As noted, a lot of the "jail or military" folks were not wortyh the effort to put them on point through a minefield.  Every once in a while you ran into someone who wanted to turn their life around and put some serious effort into it.  But imho they could have done that by joining the Salvation Army or the local fire/rescue squad or getting a job at a quick-oil-change place or even asking if the customer wanted fries with their order (flipping burgers being an even higher-level skill).

The grey-haired old farts who keep coming up with the notion of the .mil being a way to improve on the quality of citizen did not forget that - they never bother to consider it.  And all those researchers who say military service is a way of "deselecting" delinquient behavior seem to completely disregard the rigid discipline of the military (or at least what is suppposed to be that rigid discipline).  Kind of hard to keep being delinquient when your DI/DS keeps literally running your ass ragged every time you screw up.  Keep it up and you get to experience military jail on the way to being thrown out also reduces your opportunities for delinquiency while in the .mil.

Why are these researchers not conducting longitudinal studies of those who do not make it through basic training and are returned to civilian life?  Wonder how much "deselecting" carries over?

stay safe.

[Fitz]

I dunno.  Seems I'm hearing more & more that the .mil is weeding out brushes with the law - even too many speeding tickets that do not get you reckless driving charges will get you told Uncle Sam does not want you.

At one time the .mil was seen as a way to "make a man out of him" - but amazingly that did not translate to the boot camps for delinquients.  The "I want to grow up" factor being absent, you just turn out physically fit individuals who have absorbed X amount of combat arms training (the gangbanger comments above).

As noted, a lot of the "jail or military" folks were not wortyh the effort to put them on point through a minefield.  Every once in a while you ran into someone who wanted to turn their life around and put some serious effort into it.  But imho they could have done that by joining the Salvation Army or the local fire/rescue squad or getting a job at a quick-oil-change place or even asking if the customer wanted fries with their order (flipping burgers being an even higher-level skill).

The grey-haired old farts who keep coming up with the notion of the .mil being a way to improve on the quality of citizen did not forget that - they never bother to consider it.  And all those researchers who say military service is a way of "deselecting" delinquient behavior seem to completely disregard the rigid discipline of the military (or at least what is suppposed to be that rigid discipline).  Kind of hard to keep being delinquient when your DI/DS keeps literally running your ass ragged every time you screw up.  Keep it up and you get to experience military jail on the way to being thrown out also reduces your opportunities for delinquiency while in the .mil.

Why are these researchers not conducting longitudinal studies of those who do not make it through basic training and are returned to civilian life?  Wonder how much "deselecting" carries over?

stay safe.

ALl of this


These days, we get lots of delinquents APPLYING... we turn most away unless there's a REAL compelling reason to let them in.

[Firethorn]

These days, we get lots of delinquents APPLYING... we turn most away unless there's a REAL compelling reason to let them in.

Reminds me of a scare article: 'ARMY FELONY WAIVERS UP 70%!!!'.  Yeah, from 3 to 5 some years ago.

I think the enlistment thing came up because it was a good way to get rid of a pain in the butt no-gooder for 4-6 years without having to pay for jail/prison, and even if they got kicked out there was a good chance that they wouldn't come back.

The 'make a man out of you' was a way to justify it to others.

[vaskidmark]

"Make a man out of you" was, based on the very small number of people I knew who either did straighten up and fly right after selecting Door #1, a path they seemed to be searching for anyway.  Those that did not were the sort of folk you wanted to be sure there was a war for them to participate in and that they would be assigned as ground pounders.

A story kept going around about a certain 0311 who was supposed to have been a serious delinquient having "found his home" in combat.  Or was that Robert Mitchum, Steve McQueen (the ones I can recall right now), or about half a zillion characters dreamed up by scriptwriters?

stay safe.