Barracks and Deviance: Associations Between Organisational and Socio-Demographic Factors and Violent Tendencies Among Conscripts
Purpose:
Although international research has examined links between military service, social control, peer influence, and deviant behaviour, less is known about violence in compulsory military settings apart from Western volunteerforce contexts. To address this gap, the study considers violent tendencies among Iranian conscripts in mandatory basic combat training and the extent to which socio-demographic background and barracks conditions are associated with violence as a security-relevant institutional harm.
Design/Methods/Approach:
Drawing on social bond theory and differential association theory, the study investigates both pre-service socialisation factors and in-service organisational conditions. Applying cluster random sampling, data were collected in 2025 through structured Likert-scale questionnaires from 541 conscripts. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to test whether organisational predictors explained additional variance in violence as a security-relevant institutional harm after accounting for socio-demographic factors.
Findings:
Socio-demographic predictors explained most of the variance in violent tendencies. Deviant peer affiliation was the strongest positive correlate, while parental attachment was protective. Among barracks-related variables, only relations with fellow conscripts were significantly and inversely associated with violence. Organisational factors added a small, albeit statistically significant amount of explanatory power beyond socio-demographic predictors.
Originality/Value:
The study contributes evidence from an underrepresented Global South conscription context and extends international research on military deviance by showing that violence in mandatory service is primarily shaped by pre-service peer and family bonds, whereas the social climate of a recruit’s immediate barracks holds additional, yet more limited explanatory value. In compulsory military settings, peer networks, family attachment, and informal social control are revealed to be important in violence prevention.
UDC: 355.13:316.624-057.36
Keywords: Mandatory military service, military barracks, institutional violence, organisational factors, barracks social climate