Samantha R. DeCapua is the 2026 recipient of the DC Sociological Society Irene B. Taeuber Graduate Student Paper Award for an MA student. DeCapua is a student at The George Washington University. Her paper is “Housed but Uninhabitable: Housing Instability and its Impacts on Active-Duty Military.” The paper’s abstract reads,

Current research commonly explores experiences of housing instability among veterans, but it fails to address housing instability among active-duty service members. Poor housing quality and housing instability are linked to negative health outcomes, social disruptions, and economic instability. Thus, the current study explores two questions: (1) How do enlisted, active-duty service members experience housing instability and in what forms? (2) What are the personal and professional impacts of housing instability? Qualitative interviews were conducted with ten single active-duty military service members, who resided in barracks. The interviews revealed that service members face poor housing condition and quality, describing their barracks as “moldy,” “depressing,” and reminiscent of “an abandoned asylum.” These living conditions negatively impacted service members’ mental and physical health and work; thus, they sought other locations, such as off-post living and couch-surfing, to sleep, relax, shower and do laundry. These findings highlight the need for military housing reform for junior service members to preserve their well-being, retention and readiness.

Prior to entering her graduate program, DeCapua attended Widener University, where she studied sociology and criminal justice, and commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the US Army. She has served on active duty for nine years, and following graduation, will join the faculty at the United States Military Academy in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership. There she will be teaching courses on families and criminology. Her research interests include the family, violence, welfare, and work. 

DeCapua will be honored at the 2026 DCSS Awards Reception on April 30, 2026. More information about the graduate student paper awards, including a list of previous winners, is available on the DCSS website.