Moral Injury: Unseen Wounds in an Age of Barbarism

by Tom Frame

With an increasing number of Australian military personnel being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, this collection of insightful essays examines the unseen wounds sustained by Australian personnel deployed to armed conflict, peacekeeping missions, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief for the first time. Top historians including Peter Stanley, Jeffrey Grey, Tom Frame, David Horner and Peter Rees examine the moral injury sustained by Australian personnel since 1990. Wile there are no easy answers or simple solutions, the contributors shed light on which existing approaches are misguided and the specific research, analysis and multi-disciplinary approaches needed to gain a better sense of moral injury, an unseen wound of Australia’s military personnel.

320 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Shreedevi Gurumurty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of essays from ex-soldiers, military historians,chaplains and psychologists examines the unseen wounds sustained by Australians deployed to armed conflict, peacekeeping missions, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.While many psychical injuries heal, there is growing awareness that unseen wounds affecting the mind and the spirit are often the deepest and the most lasting.This book, the first Australian examination of moral injury, shows there are no easy answers and no simple solutions.It suggests where existing approaches are misguided, and how a multi-disciplinary approach is needed to gain a better sense of moral injury.Moral injury refers to an injury to an individual's moral conscience and values resulting from an act of perceived moral transgression,which produces profound emotional guilt and shame, and in some cases a profound sense of betrayal and anger.The concept of moral injury emphasizes the psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual aspects of trauma.Distinct from psychopathology,moral injury is a normal human response to an abnormal traumatic event.It is important to note that,despite the identification of moral traumas among both veterans and healthcare professionals, research has remained oddly independent between these two groups, and as such, the terminology is not uniform.Ethical and moral challenges are inherent to warfare. Soldiers in the line of duty may witness catastrophic suffering and severe cruelty, causing their fundamental beliefs about humanity and their worldview to be shaken.The concept of moral injury has more recently also been discovered among police,and likely exists among other first responders and even lawyers and veterinarians.Service members who are deployed into war zones are usually exposed to death, injury, and violence.PTSD includes 4 symptom clusters, including intrusion, avoidance, and negative mood and thoughts, and changes in arousal and reactivity.Psychological risk factors which make an individual more prone to moral injury include neuroticism and shame-proneness. Protective factors include self-esteem, forgiving supports, and belief in the just-world hypothesis.

[Jmg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent collection of essays for reference and research purposes - just war theory, moral injury, ethics in war and the civil-military relationship in war. Tom Frame has compiled another excellent book into a complex and universally important subject. Recommended for national security, defence and public leadership professionals.