Abstract
In the past 20 years, military psychology in Switzerland has experienced a significant upturn. The psychological-pedagogical service has established itself as a resource for recruits with integration problems. In addition, it provides related advice to those supervising these recruits, carries out workshops on stress management, and ensures psychological care after severe incidents. It is also a typical organizational unit of the Swiss Armed Forces since it generally consists of militia soldiers who put their civilian skills and knowledge into service. With the development of the psychological section of the recruitment centers, an unfulfilled proposal from the 1920s was finally completed. The psychological tests were developed specifically for the needs of the Swiss Armed Forces. They make a valuable contribution to the decision about military aptitude and to the allocation of each recruit to an appropriate branch of service. Teaching and research in military psychology take place in the respective department at Military Academy at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich MILAK. Against the backdrop of the structure, the mission and the challenges of the Swiss Armed Forces as well as of relevant experiences in this field a holistic model of military psychology has been developed. This model provides orientation for research projects, which should lead to a better understanding of its elements and interactions, and serves as a solid basis for practice-oriented lectures, and adequate advice for military leaders on all levels. Today more than ever, military psychology contributes to a more effective use of the human potential for the Swiss Armed Forces.
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Notes
- 1.
MILAK is the acronym for the “Military Academy at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (in German, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule or ETH Zürich)”.
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Annen, H., Nakkas, C., Gehring, T.M. (2017). “What If?” the Swiss Armed Forces’ Approach to Military Psychology. In: Bowles, S., Bartone, P. (eds) Handbook of Military Psychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66192-6_35
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