Exploring how UK Military Veterans Make Sense of Moral Injury
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Qualitative Exploration of How UK Military Veterans Make Sense of Their Experiences Following a Group Intervention for Moral Injury
IRAS ID
273068
Contact name
Jasmine Peris
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Surrey
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 29 days
Research summary
Moral Injury is a term used to describe the psychological impact of perpetrating or bearing witness to events that transgress one’s moral code. This includes acts that one perceives to be inhumane, cruel, depraved, or violent, bringing about pain suffering, or death to others” (morally injurious acts). Given the nature of modern warfare, witnessing or being part of morally injurious acts is increasingly likely. Literature suggests these acts are different to the more fear-based events that may cause Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in military veterans. The psychological consequence of morally injurious events is feelings of guilt, shame, depression, self-harm, self-condemnation, anger and mistrust. The armed forces covenant suggests military veterans receive priority treatment for service-related conditions, yet research has highlighted that UK mental health services and clinicians lack understanding or moral injury. Additionally, there are no UK guidelines for the treatment of moral injury which makes it challenging for services to offer veterans the support they are promised. Literature suggests that in order for research for the treatment of moral injury to progress, a better theoretical understanding of moral injury is required. Therefore, the current study will explore how UK military veterans understand and conceptualise the concept of moral injury through individual in-depth interviews. Participants will be UK military veterans recruited from a specialist NHS veteran mental health service. Participants will have already been screened by the service for the presence of moral injury related to time spent in the military and will have completed a group intervention for moral injury. Interview transcriptions will be analysed using thematic analysis.
REC name
South Central - Berkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/SC/0053
Date of REC Opinion
21 Feb 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion