Self-Forgiveness and Military Service: Equipping Warriors to Combat Moral Injury

Griffin, Brandon J.; Worthington, Everett L.; Danish, Steven J.; Donovan, John P.; Lavelock, Caroline R.; Shaler, Laurel; Dees, Robert F.; Maguen, Shira; Davis, Don E.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-60573-9_16

Cited by 14 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 41 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This is also in line with Shay's (1991) observations in Vietnam war veterans who felt "being already dead" after morally injurious experiences. In accordance with what has been described as outcomes of moral injury (Griffin et al, 2017;Litz et al, 2009;Molendijk, 2018), participants in our study also suffered from loss of trust and closeness to others, emotional numbness, re-experiencing the morally injurious experiences, and guilt.…”

Section: Participants' Expectations and The Relation To Moral Injurysupporting

confidence: 86%

“…Yet, our results suggest that interventions developed to treat moral injury in veterans, which focus on self-forgiveness and/or acceptance (e.g. Griffin et al, 2019;Griffin et al, 2017), are less likely to apply to refugees and asylum seekers who have experienced immigration detention. Interventions for the latter group should include a focus on restoring the belief in justice and the ability to rebuild trust in others.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Moral Injury Related to Immigration Detention on Nauru: A Qualitative Study

Passardi¹,

Hocking²,

Morina³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Immigration detention is associated with detrimental mental health outcomes but little is known about the underlying psychological processes. Moral injury, the experience of transgression of moral beliefs, may play an important role. Objective: Our aim was to explore refugees’ and asylum seekers’ moral injury appraisals and associated mental health outcomes related to immigration detention on Nauru.Methods: We conducted in-depth interviews with 13 refugees and asylum seekers who had an experience of immigration detention on Nauru and lived in Australia after medical transfer. We used reflexive thematic analysis to develop themes from the data.Results: The participant statement “In my country they torture your body but in Australia they kill your mind.” conveyed key themes in our analysis. We describe 1) how participants’ home country experience and the expectation to get protection led them to seek safety in Australia; 2) how they experienced deprivation, trauma and dehumanisation after arrival, with the Australian government seen as the driving force behind these experiences; and 3) how these experiences led to feeling irreparably damaged.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that moral injury may be one of the mechanisms by which mandatory immigration detention can cause harm. Hence, refugees returned to Australia from offshore detention may benefit from interventions that specifically target moral injury. Our results highlight the potentially deleterious mental health impact of experiencing multiple subtle and substantial transgressions of one’s moral frameworks. Policy makers should incorporate moral injury considerations to prevent damaging refugee mental health.

show abstract

Section: Participants' Expectations and The Relation To Moral Injurysupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Moral Injury Related to Immigration Detention on Nauru: A Qualitative Study

Passardi¹,

Hocking²,

Morina³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Increases in selfforgiveness and compassion may also benefit global self-esteem (Irons & Lad, 2017), which was a salient predictor of lower levels of moral struggles in the current study. Providers should be sensitive to the possibility that general moral struggles of veterans could be tied to specific PMIEs in the context of military experience; thus, we echo others in emphasizing that providers take special care to attend to the moral and spiritual dimension of veterans' concerns from the outset of therapy and explore the potential genesis of moral struggles in the most painful aspects of veterans' military experiences (Carey et al, 2016;Currier, Holland, & Malott, 2015;Griffin et al, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Attributions for the cause of the struggle to the self and the military could be questioned; this might facilitate the process of self-forgiveness for one’s own perceived moral shortcomings (Exline et al, 2017; Fisher & Exline, 2010) and fostering compassionate attitudes toward others in the military who may have contributed to an ongoing moral struggle (Exline et al, 2017). Theoretically, self-forgiveness and compassion have been posited as central for veterans suffering from self-condemnation (Griffin et al, 2017; Worthington & Langberg, 2012). Increases in self-forgiveness and compassion may also benefit global self-esteem (Irons & Lad, 2017), which was a salient predictor of lower levels of moral struggles in the current study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of moral struggles among veterans.

Evans¹,

Pargäment²,

Exline³

et al. 2019

Traumatology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Moral struggles involve internal conflict regarding inconsistencies between one’s higher values and the actions of the self and may include guilt, shame, contempt, disgust, and anger. Previous research in civilian populations revealed several factors that might predispose people to moral struggles. The current study sought to replicate and extend this research in a sample of 178 U.S. veterans (83% male) receiving care at a Veterans Affairs hospital and affiliated outpatient clinics. Regression analyses identified several concurrent predictors of moral struggles: higher religiousness, lower self-esteem, and attributing one’s religious/spiritual struggles to oneself and the military. Moral struggles also showed a modest, positive association with a scale assessing morally injurious events and inner conflicts that arose from such events. Exploratory, longitudinal path analyses showed that, at a 6-month follow-up, lower self-esteem predicted increased moral struggles. Path analyses also showed that increases in religiousness, increases in attribution of one’s religious/spiritual struggles to oneself, and increases in scores on a measure of potentially morally injurious experiences were related to increases in moral struggles. Taken together, these results point to a constellation of religious/spiritual, psychosocial, and military factors that play unique roles in the development and maintenance of moral struggles in a veteran sample.

show abstract

“…It can become, instead, a source of moral paralysis and other psychological and behavioral problems, including the self-punishing behaviors associated with moral injury ( 18 , 22 ). This is often the case among morally injured veterans, who can become locked in patterns of self-hatred, self-condemnation, and self-punishment, perceiving no way out ( 5 , 23 ).…”

Section: How Does Self-forgiveness Begin?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“Opening a Door to a New Life”: The Role of Forgiveness in Healing From Moral Injury

et al. 2018

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

For military veterans struggling with moral injury, forgiveness can become both an animating concern and a potential path to healing. In this perspective piece, we draw on our clinical work and research findings to examine why forgiveness matters to veterans who feel guilt and shame about their actions in war, what type of forgiveness is attainable and meaningful, and what role clinicians can play in facilitating forgiveness. We conclude by reflecting on the potential, as well as the limits and tensions, of forgiveness work in the context of military moral injury.

show abstract

Self-Forgiveness and Military Service: Equipping Warriors to Combat Moral Injury

Cited by 14 publications

References 41 publications

Moral Injury Related to Immigration Detention on Nauru: A Qualitative Study

Moral Injury Related to Immigration Detention on Nauru: A Qualitative Study

Predictors of moral struggles among veterans.

“Opening a Door to a New Life”: The Role of Forgiveness in Healing From Moral Injury

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About