The idea of \"moral injury\" pioneers a different way of conceptualizing traumatic stress. Moral injury moves beyond assuming the homogeneity of the life-threat, fear-based model of traumatic stress to consider both more broadly and deeply the consequences of perpetrating, failing to prevent, bearing witness to, or learning about traumatic acts that transgress one's moral beliefs. This thesis interrogates the viability and usefulness of the psychological concept of moral injury from the perspectives of psychology, history, and science and technology studies. It traces researchers' efforts to establish the scientific validity and status of the phenomenon, including the ways that researchers' reliance upon scientific methods and positivist epistemology has hindered the usefulness of the moral injury concept. Beyond the complications engendered by scientific scrutiny, the culture-specific therapeutics developed to target and alleviate moral injury demonstrate how a model encompassing science, culture, and spirituality/religion can produce better world making for individuals suffering from moral distress. Moral injury provides a heterogeneous conceptualization of trauma and a deeper understanding of cultural dynamics in both experiences and interpretations of mental distress. The scientific and therapeutic work on moral injury, though focused largely on veterans of war, opens the way for reappraising traumas arising from other life experiences.
"},{"label":"Degree","value":["Bachelor of Arts with Departmental Honors"]},{"label":"Author-supplied Keywords","value":["Moral injury","Traumatic stress","Clinical psychology"]},{"label":"Administrative Note","value":"Drupal Node ID: 24038