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Sources of moral injury among war veterans: A qualitative evaluation
Author(s) -
Schorr Yonit,
Stein Nathan R.,
Maguen Shira,
Barnes J. Ben,
Bosch Jeane,
Litz Brett T.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.22660
Subject(s) - moral injury , psychology , attribution , moral responsibility , categorization , distress , construct (python library) , qualitative research , social psychology , focus group , moral disengagement , grounded theory , personal construct theory , clinical psychology , law , epistemology , sociology , political science , programming language , philosophy , social science , computer science , anthropology
Abstract Objective Service members deployed to war are at risk for moral injury, but the potential sources of moral injury are poorly understood. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the types of events that veterans perceive as morally injurious and to use those events to develop a categorization scheme for combat‐related morally injurious events. Method Six focus groups with US war veterans were conducted. Results Analysis based on Grounded Theory yielded two categories (and eight subcategories) of events that putatively cause moral injury. The two categories were defined by the focal attribution of responsibility for the event: Personal Responsibility (veteran's reported distress is related to his own behavior) versus Responsibility of Others (veteran's distress is related to actions taken by others). Examples of each type of morally injurious event are provided. Conclusions Implications for the further development of the moral injury construct and treatment are discussed.