Social media and the military prison
Talkbacks influence soldier's perception on military prison rehabilitation program
Keywords:
social media, internet forum, talkbacks, military prison, military and societyAbstract
Background: Social media plays an essential role in maintaining human connection and accumulation of knowledge. Researchers have reported the use of talkbacks in that context, yet no previous research has investigated talkbacks in military and military prison contexts.
Purpose: The current study examines how Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers perceive the Israeli military rehabilitation program in an open internet forum framework and how it influences their decision-making about entering the military prison.
Methods: To this end, 373 different talkbacks in 34 different discussions carried out during the past decade on the subject were sampled. Qualitative and quantitative content analysis was conducted, from which a central theme was derived.
Results: Findings show that those talkbacks lead soldiers to incarceration in a military prison, and the rehabilitation program emerged as a tool that soldiers could use to achieve their personal goals.
Conclusions: The research conclusions refer to the importance of transferring formal information regarding the operation of the rehabilitation program between IDF and its soldiers, for these will not seek and find incorrect information on social media.
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