Between Moral Injury and Moral Agency: Exploring Treatment for Men with Histories of Military Sexual Trauma
This Research Article deploys the frameworks of moral injury and moral agency to explore the experiences of veteran men who completed group therapy for military sexual trauma (MST). The article analyses ethnographically how veteran men with MST experience psychological growth via a replenishment of...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Edinburgh Library
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Medicine Anthropology Theory |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.medanthrotheory.org/article/view/6876 |
| _version_ | 1797838334795448320 |
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| author | Jonathan Yahalom Sheila Frankfurt Alison B. Hamilton |
| author_facet | Jonathan Yahalom Sheila Frankfurt Alison B. Hamilton |
| author_sort | Jonathan Yahalom |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This Research Article deploys the frameworks of moral injury and moral agency to explore the experiences of veteran men who completed group therapy for military sexual trauma (MST). The article analyses ethnographically how veteran men with MST experience psychological growth via a replenishment of their sense of moral agency, thereby blending psychological theory about moral injury with anthropological theory about moral agency. It highlights how broader cultural experience can intersect and contribute to shame around MST, then depicts the ways that veterans recovered from a life characterised by pervasive shame, isolation, and compromised identity—psychological signs of moral injury—and made gains toward a life characterised by greater self-acceptance, an ability to tell one’s own story, and intimacy with others—signs of moral agency. In so doing, the article highlights the social and moral dimensions that can constitute psychological injury, and the way that addressing these dimensions can promote moral agency and thus mental health recovery. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T15:40:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cb82d04d6b4641da80bcb02cdcfb717a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-691X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T15:40:14Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | University of Edinburgh Library |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Medicine Anthropology Theory |
| spelling | doaj.art-cb82d04d6b4641da80bcb02cdcfb717a2023-04-27T12:52:56ZengUniversity of Edinburgh LibraryMedicine Anthropology Theory2405-691X2023-04-0110112110.17157/mat.10.1.68766876Between Moral Injury and Moral Agency: Exploring Treatment for Men with Histories of Military Sexual TraumaJonathan YahalomSheila FrankfurtAlison B. HamiltonThis Research Article deploys the frameworks of moral injury and moral agency to explore the experiences of veteran men who completed group therapy for military sexual trauma (MST). The article analyses ethnographically how veteran men with MST experience psychological growth via a replenishment of their sense of moral agency, thereby blending psychological theory about moral injury with anthropological theory about moral agency. It highlights how broader cultural experience can intersect and contribute to shame around MST, then depicts the ways that veterans recovered from a life characterised by pervasive shame, isolation, and compromised identity—psychological signs of moral injury—and made gains toward a life characterised by greater self-acceptance, an ability to tell one’s own story, and intimacy with others—signs of moral agency. In so doing, the article highlights the social and moral dimensions that can constitute psychological injury, and the way that addressing these dimensions can promote moral agency and thus mental health recovery.http://www.medanthrotheory.org/article/view/6876moral injurymoral agencymilitary sexual traumaveteran menpsychological anthropology |
| spellingShingle | Jonathan Yahalom Sheila Frankfurt Alison B. Hamilton Between Moral Injury and Moral Agency: Exploring Treatment for Men with Histories of Military Sexual Trauma Medicine Anthropology Theory moral injury moral agency military sexual trauma veteran men psychological anthropology |
| title | Between Moral Injury and Moral Agency: Exploring Treatment for Men with Histories of Military Sexual Trauma |
| title_full | Between Moral Injury and Moral Agency: Exploring Treatment for Men with Histories of Military Sexual Trauma |
| title_fullStr | Between Moral Injury and Moral Agency: Exploring Treatment for Men with Histories of Military Sexual Trauma |
| title_full_unstemmed | Between Moral Injury and Moral Agency: Exploring Treatment for Men with Histories of Military Sexual Trauma |
| title_short | Between Moral Injury and Moral Agency: Exploring Treatment for Men with Histories of Military Sexual Trauma |
| title_sort | between moral injury and moral agency exploring treatment for men with histories of military sexual trauma |
| topic | moral injury moral agency military sexual trauma veteran men psychological anthropology |
| url | http://www.medanthrotheory.org/article/view/6876 |
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