Moral injury
Moral injury
A moral injury is an injury to an individual's moral and personality, maybe holistic conscience and values resulting from an act of perceived moral transgression on the part of themselves or others. It produces profound feelings of guilt or shame, moral disorientation, and societal alienation. In some cases it may cause a sense of betrayal and anger toward colleagues, commanders, the organization,
"The experience of moral injury can lend itself to potential, prophetic insights into the effects of one’s culture on the wider world. Instead of seeing moral injury as a disorder in need of clinical treatment, it can be the basis of a religiously informed social ethic empowering veterans to engage the broader social conditions and policies that lead to war in the first place."
"Moral injury results when soldiers violate their core moral beliefs, and in evaluating their behavior negatively, they feel they no longer live in a reliable, meaningful world and can no longer be regarded as decent human beings."
"What does leadership malpractice add to the elements visible in betrayal of whats right by the self in a high-stakes situation? Primarily, it destroys the capacity for social trust in the mental and social worlds of the service member or veteran. I regard this as a kind of wound contamination in the mind, preventing healing and leaking toxins. When the capacity for trust is destroyed, its place is filled by the active expectancy of harm, exploitation, or humiliation."
