The Spanish cadet in the European military context a comparative analysis of the professional socialisation

The Spanish Cadet in the European Military Context: a Comparative Analysis of the Professional Socialisation GIUSEPPE CAFORIO President of the Research Comittee on Armed forces and conflicts resolution of the International Sociological Association RAFAEL MARTINEZ Universitat de Barcelona WP núm. 244 Institut de Ciències Polítiques i Socials Barcelona, 2005 2 The Institute of Political and Social Sciences (ICPS) is a consortium created in 1988 by the Barcelona Provincial Council and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, the institution to which the ICPS is officially linked for academic purposes. “Working Papers” is one of the collections published by the ICPS, specialising in the publication of work currently being undertaken by social researchers –in the author’s original language– with the aim of facilitating their subsequent scientific debate. Inclusion of work within this collection does not prohibit its future publication by the author, who maintains full rights over the article. The work in question cannot be reproduced without the permission of the author. Publication: Institut de Ciències Polítiques i Socials (ICPS) Mallorca, 244, pral. 08008 Barcelona (España) http://www.icps.es © Giuseppe Caforio; Rafael Martínez Design: Toni Viaplana Printer: a.bís Travessera de les Corts, 251, entr. 4a. 08014 Barcelona ISSN: 1133-8962 DL: B-41.944-05 3 Introduction For several different reasons Spain was absent from the European mainstream of sociological research on the military along the last decade of the past century. This does not mean that sociological research on that institution was not carried out in Spain during that period, but this country did non participate in the cross-national researches on the military that had a good development in Europe in the nineties1. Now we are taking the opportunity offered by the fact that the Instituto Universitario "General Gutierrez Mellado" carried out an empirical research among cadets in military academies in Spain in 1998-2002 (Martínez, 2002), for comparing these data with the (published) findings by a cross national research carried out in military academies of eight European countries in 1995-1996 (Caforio, 1998). Albeit these are two different researches, carried out without any contact between them, several items and variables result comparable and on these items we are centring our paper. We think, in fact, that it is useful, for Europe as well as for Spain, to insert the Spanish cadets attitudes, values, opinions in the complex of the European cadets thoughts, as well as their professional socialisation, also in the view of the present trend toward a common European security policy and armed forces. Following a similar scheme as in the report of the European research (Caforio, 1998), we are dealing, in the following paragraphs, with six areas of comparative research, i.e.: Motivation to become officer, Professional identity, Cadets satisfaction and perceived social image, Cadets political and social orientations, Cadets opinions on the future of armed forces, Sociodemographic analysis. We conclude this paper with a general discussion of the comparison made. Methodological premise Spanish data have been collected by a research team of the Instituto 4 Universitario "General Gutierrez Mellado", chaired by Dr. Rafael Martinez, among students in all Spanish military academies in the year 2000-2001. 2.458 military students were investigated through a questionnaire of 311 questions. For the purposes of the present comparative research, only the sample of students officers was selected, leaving aside students for a NCO career; that sample resulted of 996 units. They consist in five classes of "ESO" (Escala Superior de Oficiales). European data stem from the ERGOMAS research carried out in 1995-1996 and published (Caforio, 1998); the sample is composed by student officers only and it includes 2959 units (however, in the present research only cadets from first to forth year are considered, because not all the investigated countries have a five years course) from eight different countries (see note 1). For the sake of simplicity, we will speak of "European data" to indicate the findings from this eight countries investigation. In order to apply to Spanish data some complex variables used in the European investigation, we created in the Spanish file too a variable defining the professional/occupational dichotomy2, following the same path as in European previous researches (see Caforio & Nuciari, 1994). This dichotomy ranges for the two opposite positions of a very professional type, who emphasises the traditional and specific values of the officer's profession, and of an occupational one, who considers the military profession as any other profession and who is driven more by market reasons than by ethical ones. That variable, useful to define four different typologies of cadets, will be used for cross-analysis of some meaningful variables in the singles areas of research, where significant. The general partition of Spanish cadet according this to variable resulted the following: Profession/occupation Spanish % European % Indifferent 0.5 8.9 Occupational 22.6 28.1 Pragmatic professional 20.5 24.4 Radical professional 56.4 38.7 5 If we compare Spanish results with the European ones, we can realise that Spanish cadets follow the same general trend of the European ones, i.e., a majority of them result radical professionals, but with significant difference in size. Rather different is the distribution among the other typologies of this variable: in fact, the overwhelming majority of radical professional among Spanish cadets, leads to a smaller percentages in the other three typologies, and particularly for the indifferent position, that is nearly absent in the Spanish sample. If we give a look to the trend along the academy years we see that, in the Spanish sample, the radical professional position is diminishing from the first (66.7%) to the fifth year (59.9%) and, on the contrary, occupational and pragmatic professional position are moderately growing up: the first one from 18.9% to 26.0%, the pragmatic professional one from 14.0% to 20.7%. The trend is similar to the average of the European sample, where, however, it is more marked the implementation of the occupational position. Data Analysis Motivations to become officer3 The first reason for joining the officer profession is, for Spanish cadets (Table 1), a desire of a dynamic style of life, a will to look for adventures, to test themselves. The second reason is the job security, a desire of stable job, probably face to a high rate of unemployment . At a certain distance the push of the family tradition and a desire to work in a disciplined organisation follow. The social prestige of the profession gain a low percentage of adhesions. Table 1 Reason for joining % Looking for adventures (dynamic life) 29.6 Job security 21.4 Family tradition 13.4 Working in a disciplined organisation 13.0 Emulate some military personality 6.9 Social prestige 5.0 6 Source: Authors’ elaboration Two significant cross analysis we can carry on at this point. The first one is the crossing of the reasons for joining variables with the professional/ occupational attitude (see note 2). Figure 1 Professional/Occupational positions and motivation to join compared* (Spanish sample) * Indifferent position is not considered because the low percentage of cadets in this position Source: Authors’ elaboration This crossatabulation shows that professional cadets present a rather different set of preferential motivations in respect of the occupational ones (Figure 1); they put in fact greater importance to a dynamic style of life, to the family traditions, to the intention to emulate some military personality. On the contrary, the prevalent motivation for occupational cadets is the job security of the military profession. These findings can be in some way expected, however they confirm that our dichotomy professional/occupational fits the purposes of the very research. The second useful cross-analysis is to check if and how the importance of the above cited motivations changes as far as the cadet lives in the reality of the military academy, i.e. the trend through the academy years. Notwithstanding the fact that these kinds of analysis should require a 0 20 40 60 80 100 occupational pragm.prof. rad. profess. emulate discipline job security prestige adventures traditions 7 diachronic procedure analysing the same cohort of cadets over time, from when they enter the military academy to when they leave, the findings presented here are concerned with different samples taken from different contemporary classes present in the academies. We have some reasons for assuming that this kind of analysis can give us results not very far from a cohort analysis4. Table 2 First Second Third Forth Fifth Reasons for joining year year year year year Looking for adventures (dynamic life) 25.8 30.3 29.8 31.4 31.1 Job security 24.9 18.9 21.1 20.4 21.1 Family tradition 11.9 15.6 11.3 12.8 15.2 Working in a disciplined organisation 11.6 12.1 17.9 10.4 13.2 Emulate some military personality 8.5 5.0 7.6 7.9 5.6 Social prestige 6.0 6.6 2.5 5.8 3.9 Source: Authors’ elaboration Taking account of the different moods that can characterise the different investigated populations (according to the course), we can individuate a slight growing trend of the looking for adventures motivation, as far as the academy time is running; a stronger interest in the security of the military job in the first academy year, in respect of the following years; a declining trust in the social prestige of the military profession. What is it similar and what different in the European data? The set of questions posed to European cadets5 is wider than the Spanish one (but all Spanish questions resulted to be included), therefore we have to consider the percentage of single items with caution. Table 3 Reason for joining %* % Common reasons European data Spanish data Looking for adventures (dynamic life) 7.7 29.6 Job security 3.3 21.4 Family tradition 2.5 13.4 Working in a disciplined organisation 5.5 13.0 Emulate some military personality 2.0 6.9 Social prestige 2.2 5.0 European reasons 8 Interest in the military 8.5 Serving my nation 7.9 Interest in sports and physical activities 7.6 Willing leading men 7.0 Opportunities for education 7.0 Because of military ethics 6.0 *Size of the European percentages is lower than the Spanish ones, because European cadets had the possibility to choose among 19 items, instead of 7 for Spain Source: Authors’ elaboration As you can see from these data, as far as “common reasons” are concerned, the Spanish cadets show more or less the same positions in respect to their European colleagues for the two leading reasons: looking for adventures and because the job security of the military profession (this last with a different sharing). Among the other “common reasons”, we can realise that to work in a disciplined organisation is more important for the European cadets than for the Spanish ones. Another important remark is that for the European cadet the interest in the military matters and the will to play his/her part in serving ones country result the most important reasons for joining as a whole. But what is the trend in such reasons along the academy years for the European cadets? Let we see that trend in comparison with the Spanish one for a couple of items (Figures 2 and 3). Figure 2 Looking for adventures motivation –trend during the academy course Source: Authors’ elaboration Figure 3 Job security motivation –trend during the academy course 4 6 8 10 12 14 1st year 2nd year 3rd year 4th year 5th year Spanish Europe 2:38 3:50 5:02 6:14 7:26 8:38 9:50 1st year 2nd year 3rd year 4th year 5th year Spanish Europe 9 Source: Authors’ elaboration Inside the European sample the search for a dynamic life seems to decrease along the academy years; on the contrary it is growing the importance of the job security. Strongly lowering is the percentage of cadets who give importance to work in a disciplined organisation. The Spanish cadet shows an opposite trend: the importance of looking for adventures is growing along the academy years, and the job security is chosen more by first year cadets then by these ones in the following years. Another interesting comparison can be made crossing the cadets' motivations with their political position. Looking at the data, you can realise that some trends appear to be very similar in both samples, as far as you move from the left to the right side of the political position. Motivations like job security and social promotion are lowering if you move from the left to the right in both samples: on the contrary, the importance given to order and discipline is growing in both enquires along the same path, from left to right. Analysing the other items, you cannot find real contrast between the trends revealed by the political position of cadets . Professional Identity A question asking for the best qualities to be a good officer was present in both questionnaires, but 8 items only were coincident in both them6. Therefore a comparison can be made for general figures only. Dealing with the European sample, we see that leadership is the most often accepted professional identity characteristic essential for a good military officer, supported by 50% or more of the sample, followed by responsibility, expertise, initiative, mental strength. If we consider that professional identity refers to the self-definition of a professional group of either its members or its daily function or both, we can divide these characteristics into three categories, as follows: a. social (leadership, responsibility, co-operativeness, ...) b. individual (expertise, education, self-control, ...) c. military-traditional (patriotism, bravery, discipline, ...) Dealing with this subdivision, we can see that European cadets (EC) 16 we can see that in a set of countries cadets show the same diminishing trend as the Spanish ones: these countries are France, Greece and the Netherlands. In some other countries data show an opposite trend during the academy courses (Czech Republic, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland); while Italian and Lithuanian cadets share the waving trend of the European idealtype. Exactly the same we have to say about the correspondence of the academy education with the needing of the officer profession: the rate of approval of the Spanish cadet become lower and lower year after year, while the EU cadet trend is a waving one again. Table 6 Cadets’ positive opinion on the academy education Country/Course 1st year 2nd year 3rd year 4th year 5th year Europe % 40 44 36 40 / Spain % 66 52 42 36 29 Source: Authors’ elaboration Cadets political and social orientations8 The average for Spanish cadets on the ideological scale is 6.8, and is thus a position on the right9. Given the possibility of a dispersion of values it is more accurate to observe value distribution. Thus we observe that more than half the cadets adopt right-wing or far right positions, more than 2/3 in the case of cadets that are children of military personnel (Table 7). Table 7 Distribution of Spanish ideological preferences Cadets, Youth Military children October Academy of mil. 1997 students* Cadets personnel January/ January/ January/ February January February March February February 2001 2001 2001 2002 2001 2001 Left (1-2) 9.1 3.5 4.7 6.2 5.2 1.5 0.8 (3-4) 25.1 10.8 27.6 24.5 23.7 6.7 3.6 (5-6) 31.5 35.4 31.2 29.6 29.8 30.1 26.0 (7-8) 10.2 32.4 9.7 9.1 9.3 43.2 48.5 Right (9-10) 1.9 11.3 1.6 1.6 1.6 13.5 15.7 17 Dk/Da 22.2 6.4 25.2 29.1 30.2 5.0 4.3 (N) (2423) (2458) (2486) (2498) (2499) (996) (369) Mean 4.64 6.27 4.77 4.70 4.81 6.79 7.06 Dispersion 1.87 2.02 1.69 1.79 1.76 1.78 1.63 (N) (1884) (2300) (1859) (1773) (1738) (946) (353) *Cadets and noncommissioned officer students Source: CIS Study 2257 and “Instituto de la Juventud” October 1997. January 2001 CIS Barometer. Study 2406. February 2001 CIS. Barometer. Study 2409. March 2002 CIS Barometer. Study 2448 Authors’ elaboration. The comparison between Spanish and European cadets in terms of ideological position shows (Table 7) a distance of fifteen points in left values (23.2% European and 6.7 Spanish cadets) and ten points in right values (33.2% as opposed to 43.2%). The European far left tendency is five points higher (7.6% as opposed to against 1.5%). The same happens, here with the figures favoring Spanish cadets, with regard to the center (24.7% as opposed to 30.1%) and the far right (7.6% as opposed to 13.5%). In short, European cadets are right-wing in the majority. The center and the left show similar percentages. Both extremes are equally distant. Country by country the situation is very different. In Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden more than 60% of cadets are on the right. In Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Lithuania the center is in first place (between 50% and 75%). In Poland most cadets are on the left (68%). Spain shows a range very similar to that of Italy. However, in Italy 24.1% choose a far right position while in Spain the figure is only 13.5%. If we look at the Netherlands or Switzerland, cadets who are children of military personnel show an increase in the percentage those espousing right-wing ideology. A similar increase occurs in Spain (Table 7). If we analyze the European data by class structure, percentages for right-wing ideology go up in the lower classes. The Netherlands and Spain do not follow this dynamic, and the left increases in the lower class and the right in higher classes. At the end, checking the data against the professional/occupational position of cadets we observe two types of curve. One with the cusp on the left and a sharp drop just for the far right. This is the model for occupational and pragmatic professional European cadets. 18 The other imaginary curve is adopted for the indifferent and radical professional European and Spanish cadets. It presents a low percentage for left parameters, a high percentage in the center, the cusp and the right and a significant portion on the far right. The great difference is in the occupational and the radical professional Spanish cadets who make up a curve of the second type. Their preferential values are not on the left but on the right. Nevertheless they are the group with the highest percentage for the center. Figure 7 Ideological positions of Spanish, Italian and European cadets 0 10 20 30 40 50 Far left Left Center Right Far right European Spanish Italian Source: Authors’ preparation Another question to compare is their involvement in different social contexts10. The overall results of both studies show the same logic (Table 8). The first place or maximum identification is for contexts of greater proximity. There is bad ranking and a worse identification for more distant spheres. With respect to the three categories analyzed (the city, Europe and the world), in both studies the order is equal. The local sphere is rated above the global. Europe and the world are at the bottom of the scale. By ideology and professional/occupational position there are no variations. But if we look at the impact of academy socialisation we find that as cadets advance in their studies, their involvement in different social contexts (particularly international ones) is reduced. Cadets in their last year at the academy show the greatest disinterest in international affairs. Table 8 Personal identification with different social contexts 19 Spain* Europe Residence city 3.23 Family 1.84 Residence province 4.23 Yourself 2.82 Region 4.04 Country 3.34 European Union 5.40 Armed Forces 3.60 World 5.81 Platoon 3.92 Latin American Community 6.35 Academy Class 4.04 Native city 4.04 Europe 5.53 World 5.99 *The European cadet always put one social context first and one at the end, while the Spanish cadet valued on a scale. So the distance of valuation between the different social contexts offered will be greater in the European study than in the Spanish Source: Authors’ preparation If we analyze interest in politics11 we find that the Spanish and European cadets coincide in percentages for extreme proposal possibilities (Table 9). The central proposals show a similar percentage (79.3% Spanish cadets and 71.6% European cadets) as well. The estimation of politics based on interest or based on attitude is similar. The occupational cadets have the lowest opinion of politics. The radical professionals and the pragmatic professionals have a greater interest in and more pronounced attitude to political affairs. One third of indifferent European cadets state: “I prefer to leave dealing with political affairs to more experienced people”. Equally, one third of indifferent Spanish cadets choose: “do not know/ do not answer”. Table 9 Interest/attitude with regard to political affairs Interest in Spanish European politics cadet cadet Political attitude Very much 9.4 13.2 I consider myself politically committed Fairly 36.0 53.4 I keep up to date, but am not politically committed Not very much 43.3 18.2 I prefer to leave dealing with political affairs to the more experienced people Not at all 10.6 9.1 Political affairs disgust me Dk/Da 0.6 6.1 Do not know, do not answer Source: Authors’ elaboration The socialisation process in the academy process shows divergence. 20 Thus, the Spanish cadets present more interest in politics in their last year at the academy while European cadets in their last year have a greater lack of interest in politics. This goes back to an ideological divergence. The far left Spanish cadets have the greatest interest in politics and centrist cadets show the lowest rate of interest. European cadets that are most politically committed are on the far right, the right and centre; left-wing and far left cadets are those who dislike politics most. Table 10 Confidence in or sympathy for social institutions Institutions European cadet Spanish cadet Civil servants Very much/Fairly 41.4 61.0 Not very much/Not at all 52.7 38.3 Don’t know/don’t answer 5.8 0.7 Teachers/ University Very much/Fairly 72.5 72.2 Not very much/Not at all 25.1 26.9 Don’t know/don’t answer 2.5 0.8 Banks Very much/Fairly 55.0 44.4 Not very much/ Not at all 41.2 54.8 Don’t know/don’t answer 3.8 0.7 Police Very much/Fairly 66.6 84.3 Not very much/ Not at all 31.2 14.7 Don’t know/don’t answer 2.3 0.9 Unions Very much/Fairly 19.4 25.4 Not very much/ Not at all 68.7 72.8 Don’t know/don’t answer 11.7 1.8 Government Very much/Fairly 44.3 58.5 Not very much/ Not at all 51.1 40.3 Don’t know/don’t answer 4.7 1.2 Politicians/Political Parties Very much/Fairly 17.2 29.0 Not very much/Not at all 78.8 70.0 Don’t know/don’t answer 4.0 1.0 Priest/Church Very much/ Fairly 53.7 56.6 Not very much/Not at all 31.8 41.1 Don’t know/don’t answer 14.4 1.3 Judges/Judicial AdministrationVery much/Fairly 86.1 56.2 Not very much/Not at all 26.0 42.9 Don’t know/don’t answer 5.9 0.9 Industrialists Very much/Fairly 46.7 66.1 Not very much/Not at all 43.8 33.1 Don’t know/don’t answer 9.5 0.8 Journalists/Mass Media Very much/Fairly 18.2 48.9 Not very much/Not at all 75.4 50.1 Don’t know/don’t answer 6.3 1.0 21 Source: Authors’ preparation With regard to confidence in or sympathy for social institutions12, Table 10 shows that police, education and the judicial administration receive the highest evaluations from both groups. Mass media, trade unions and political parties get the lowest evaluations. Education and religion find a similarly positive reception in both groups. Police, civil servants and industrialists get a good evaluation too, but they get a higher evaluation from Spanish cadets than from the Europeans (over 20 points). The case of the government is similar, but differences are less extreme. For the Europeans the appreciation for the judicial administration and banks stands out. The latter receive a similar evaluation in European and Spanish studies, but in the data for Spanish cadets this institution is third from the bottom. Also interesting is the case of mass media. Both groups give this institution a low evaluation, but 75% of European cadets give it a bad evaluation, twenty five points above the figure for Spanish cadets. When Weibull analyzed the European results she concluded that “experience of military education does not seem to have any general and observable impact on most officers’ values (…) military academies do not primarily ‘create’ a new value set for the individual, but rather crystallize what is already there…” (1998: 68). With respect to Spanish cadets we can say the same. Socialization in the academy does not make new values, but it reinforces some tendencies course by course. Cadets’ opinion on the future task of Armed Forces13 Looking at the literature on defense produced by the Spanish government since 1996 we can summarize its position on international defense in terms of two ideas. First: “Shared Security and Collective Defense”. This explains Spanish membership in NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and the WEU (Western European Union). Second: NATO, WEU and EU (European Union) are interconnected by the idea “separable but not to be separated”. So it is not surprising that Spanish cadets have a high opinion of the EU and NATO. 91% support European unification, 95% support Spanish 22 participation in WEU, 86% think that the best strategy is a common defense structure for Western European countries and 93% regard Spanish participation in NATO as a good decision. However, 91% say that Europe should be less dependent on the USA in defense. In a comparison between Spanish and European cadets’ opinion on the future task of the Armed Forces (Table 11) we find similarities and divergences. The principal similarity is the consideration that international tasks will be more important in the future, particularly peacekeeping functions. Neither of the two perceive the risk of an external or internal direct threat. So they give maximum importance to activities outside their own borders under the auspices of an international organization and including tasks for aiding civil society. Table 11 Ranking of military tasks by future importance Will be more Will be more Tasks Important (SC)*Important (EC)* % 1º Peacekeeping operations under the UN flag… 79 60 2º Military actions under the supreme command of the UN... 70 47 3º Peacekeeping operations in co-operation with other states 63 61 4º Help in case of civil disasters 54 46 5º Assistance in policing state borders (especially immigration) 51 43 6º International arms-control missions 50 33 7º Fight against organized drug dealing 25 56 8º Protection and defense of the national territory 15 40 9º Internal territorial control 16 52 10º Ceremonial functions (state visits, guard of honor) 5 8 *EC= European cadets; SC= Spanish cadets Source: Authors’ preparation Since Spanish results give a high importance to a peacekeeping tasks (UN, NATO, and WEU) we proposed to the cadets the creation of, “Permanent International Intervention Units” specifically for these special missions. Every cadet would have different possibilities for integration in these units. Only 7% rejected any sort of participation. The global balance is easy: There is a perception of the great importance of international missions. In addition, there is a desire to unify European defense, though without the Spanish armed forces losing their specific identity. 23 The comparison of data on international tasks between European and Spanish cadets, using Caforio y Nuciari (1994) typology, shows (Figure 8) that the Spanish answer is stronger than the European in terms of quantity. Moreover, in the Spanish case it is the pragmatic professional and the occupational cadet who give more future importance to the international tasks. In the European data it is always the radical professionals who stand out. Figure 8 More important tasks for the armed forces in your country in the future 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 UN peacekeeping EC UN military EC Regional peacekeeping EC UN peacekeeping SC UN military SC Regional peacekeeping SC Indifferent occupational pragmatic professional radical professional *EC= European cadets; SC= Spanish cadets Source: Authors’ preparation There also exists a similarity between Spanish and European cadets in the positions of importance attributed to traditional military functions: (i) protection and defense of the national territory14 and (ii) ceremonial functions (state visits, honor guards). The second is the least important for both groups. The differences begin with (i) “the fight against organized drug dealing” and (ii) “internal territorial control” (Table 11). Both are important for European cadets (third and forth place in their ranking), whereas the Spanish put them at the end (eighth and ninth place). However, it is important to note that in Spain there is a quasi-military institution, the “Guardia Civil”, which, like the Italian “Carabinieri”, traditionally works in 24 these fields. It could be that this institution accounts for a number of cadets. By year of academy, the Spanish data show how the first year cadets give more importance to all the functions –an average of five points– than the rest. In fourth and fifth year cadets the percentages decrease. This tendency is broken on the subject of two tasks: (i) Military actions under the supreme command of the UN, NATO or WEU and (ii) Ceremonial functions. In both groups, of all five courses, first year cadets give these tasks the worst evaluation. On the other hand, the fifth year cadets give more future importance than the rest –five points over the average– to “military actions under the supreme command of the UN, NATO or WEU”. The European cadets, less than Spanish cadets, show a decreasing tendency to attribute importance to tasks as they spend more time at the academy. This tendency is not followed in three functions (Ceremonial functions, Assistance in policing national borders and Protection and defense of the national territory) and, as in the Spanish case, it is the last year cadets who are at the top. Unlike data for Spain, the three most important tasks are not the same for all the years at the academy. The first three years cite peacekeeping under the UN flag or in co-operation with other countries as the two most important tasks. Cadets in their last year, however, choose “the protection and defense of the national territory”, the “fight against organized drug dealing” and “the assistance in policing national borders (especially immigration)”. If we analyze the data by ideological bias, we find that right and far right European cadets attribute a high importance to the tasks under an international organization, with other states or for internal territorial control. Left and far left cadets, on the other hand, tend to give priority to the fight against organized drug dealing and the protection and defense of the national territory. Finally, centrist European cadets appear as the ideological group that gives more future importance to help in the event of civil disasters. On the other hand emphasize the answer Spanish homogeneity. All the ideological sectors put activities under the auspices of an international organization or under accord between nations in the first places. Nevertheless, we can observe that evaluations go down from left to 25 right. Without considering the far left group –fifteen cadets– we see that assistance in policing state borders and the protection and defense of the national territory are considered more important by the rightist Spanish cadets. So the comparison between European and Spanish cadets by ideology shows a great diversity: The European leftist cadets give priority to the “protection and defense of the national territory”, a question that is not important in Spain, but is more highly regarded by the Spanish cadets on the right. Sociodemographic data15 The European questionnaire asks: In what sort of environment did you spend most of your childhood up to the age of 14? Whereas the Spanish questionnaire says: What is the population of the town where you have lived most of your life? Both give five graded possibilities. Whereas in Europe there is an equal distribution between urban and rural origins (Sweden or Lithuania are a good example of this configuration) in Spain origin is almost purely urban (80%). By countries (Table 12) the urban Spanish structure is similar to Greece, Italy or France. But even in the more urban countries rural origin remains important (20%, 33.5% and 33.3% respectively) while in Spain it is 8.7%. Poland is the antithesis of Spain in this respect; 65.2% of cadets are of rural origin and only 15.1% come from urban environments. Table 12 Childhood environment % Big city City Suburb Village Small village Spain 63.7 16.5 11.2 6.8 1.9 Denmark 7.3 31.7 34.1 26.8 -- France 22.4 35.6 8.7 11.2 22.1 Greece 38 36 6 14 6 Italy 22.9 40.1 3.5 26.9 6.6 Sweden 11.3 34 8.7 21.5 24.5 Lithuania 18 31.6 3.6 32.4 14.4 Poland 8.1 7.0 19.8 40.3 24.9 Source: Authors’ elaboration 32 education and Russia, South Africa, Military Operations Other MOOTW Sweden, U.S. Than War. A Cross-national Analysis, Gaeta, Artistic Publishing Company, 2001 This list is not exhaustive 2. As for the professional/occupational dichotomy, we identified four attitudes: officers who are indifferent both toward professional and occupational positions; officers who clearly belong to the occupational group; officers who have both professional and occupational characteristics (we called them pragmatic professional), and officers who clearly belong to the very professional group (we called them radical professional). 3. The items that we can compare in both questionnaires on this subject are the following ones: Spanish quest. European quest. P3, P4 D1_1, D1_4, D1_9. D1_10, D1_11, D1_14 As questions are posed according to a different scheme of answering, we have to use the MRGOUP procedure (SPSS PC program) to get an average value from the two answers in the Spanish questionnaire and from the five answers in the European quest. In order to easily compare percentages from two different sets of answers (two answers in the Spanish quest., five answers in the European one), We weighted them, dividing Spanish percentages by two and the European ones by five. This is a strict statistical comparison only. But, widening our exam, we shall consider the all set of raisons to join for Spanish cadets as well as for European cadets. 4. This assumption is not totally aprioristic: at the Army Academy in Italy, both transversal and longitudinal surveys were carried out and later compared. The results were summarized as follows: ‘‘It must be observed that the data of the two classes in their second year at the Academy (174th and 176th) are very similar, and that the trends identified by the transversal survey seem to be confirmed by the longitudinal survey” (Caforio, 1994). 5. When we speak of European cadets, we intend students in the military academies of the countries investigated in our 1996 research (Caforio, 1998), i.e.: Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland. 6. That question was a closed one and 19 items were present in the EU questionnaire and 13 in the Spanish one. 7. The option of “I can’t answer to this question” was not present in the Spanish questionnaire; but, anyway, the number of missing answers was not significant in that one (0,8%). Among the European countries investigated, the highest percentage of the undecided cadets appear in Poland and Lithuania and it seems significant to observe that cadets from these two countries show the lowest level of satisfaction about their choice (Table 3). 8, The items that we can compare in both questionnaires on this subject are the following: 33 Spanish quest. European quest. P146, P166-177, P198, P200, P203, P205 D4, D12, D 13, D 14 9. We are dealing with a ten point scale, where 1 means extreme left and 10 extreme right. 10. The European answers gave nine possibilities for ranking by degree of involvement. The Spanish questionnaire offered five fields for doing an evaluation in terms of personal identification. With the objective of benefiting from comparison we have decided to choose three similar possibilities: the city (place of birth or residence), Europe (European Union or all of Europe) and the world. We worked only with means and for making comparisons we have converted Spanish results to adjust to the European system of measurement. 11. We again work with similar but not identical answers. In the case of Spain we ask about interest in politics. For the European cadets the question was: What is your attitude towards politics? The object of the question is quite different. Nevertheless, checking two questions could give us a comparative outline of political ideas in European and Spanish cadets. We can agree that the cadet who has “a great interest in politics” is someone who would say: “I consider myself politically committed”. And the cadet who has “no interest at all in politics” is someone who might say: “Political affairs disgust me”. In order to make a comparison we decided to check the extreme positions and join the two middle positions. 12. “Confidence” in the European questionnaire, “sympathy” in the Spanish one. 13. The items that we can compare in both questionnaires on this subject are the following: Spanish quest.: European quest. P80- P89 D15_1-D15_10 14. On this point the Greek cadets show a big difference when compared to Spanish and to European cadets (Smokovits, 1998: 148). 15. The items that we can compare in both questionnaires on this subject are the following: Spanish quest.: European quest. P234- P273 D28-D37 Bibliographical references ABRAHAMSSON, B.: Military professionalisation and political power. Beverly Hills, California, SAGE publications, 1972. 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SMOKOVITIS, D.: “Cadets’ professionalization: The case of Greece” in CAFORIO, G. (ed.): The European cadet: professional socialisation in military academies. a crossnational study. Baden-Baden, Nomos, 1998, p. 141-155. WEIBULL, A.: “Cadets’ orientations toward social institutions and social contexts” in CAFORIO, G. (ed.): The European Cadet: Professional Socialisation in Military Academies. A crossnational Study. Baden-Baden, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaf, 1998.