Complex Moral Injury: Shattered Moral Assumptions

• Published in: Journal of religion and health 2022-04, Vol.61 (2), p.1022-1050
• Main Author: Fleming, Wesley H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aging; Clergy; Clinical Psychology; Humans; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Military Personnel; Moral injury; Morals; Original Paper; Post-traumatic growth; Public Health; Religious Studies; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - therapy; United States; Veterans
• ISSN: 0022-4197; 1573-6571
• DOI: 10.1007/s10943-022-01542-4

An infographic model of moral injury (MI) is introduced in this conceptual paper that distinguishes the development of a worldview discrepancy-induced genus of MI, called complex moral injury (C-MI), from a standard expression of moral injury (S-MI), clearly delineated as perpetration-focused and a violation of moral belief in the contemporary view. It builds upon a previous essay that examined the potential of paradoxical circumstance (e.g., clashes of value, competing moral expectations, and moral paradox) to inflict MI among military personnel during wartime (Fleming in J Relig Health 60(5):3012–3033, 2021). Accordingly, it heeds Litz et al.’s recommendation to expand the research of MI beyond the effects of perpetration and investigate the impact of morally injurious events that shake one’s core moral beliefs about the world and self (Litz et al. in Clin Psychol Rev 29(8):695–706, 2009). A review of definitional, scale, and qualitative studies shows evidence of a nuanced and complex form of MI that presents as moral disorientation and is a response to a disruption and subsequent failure of foundational moral beliefs to adequately appraise ethical problems and inform moral identity. Interrelations between MI, assumptive world, and meaning theories suggest the mechanism of C-MI and potential therapies. Case studies from a Veterans Administration hospital in the United States and a walk through the diagram will help illustrate the model. Clinical implications of a definition that includes morally injurious events that shatter fundamental moral assumptions are discussed. The role of chaplains in facilitating acceptance and meaning-making processes is recommended for C-MI recovery. Acknowledging the model’s need for empirical support, a plausible scale is discussed for future research.