Guilt and Shame As a Result of Violating Beliefs: “Moral Injury”

Abstract

This study on moral injury, which has a content as old as the history of humanity, is believed to contribute significantly to the relevant literature. Despite the limited number of sources in the literature on the subject, which are mostly related to veterans with war experience or limited to the field of religious psychology, this study is expected to fill the gap and provide valuable insights. The study attempted to clarify the distinction between moral injury, which involves a psychological injury caused by a dilemma, and post-traumatic stress disorder, which shares similar features with moral injury and arises after experiencing a traumatic event. As part of this study, psychotherapy approaches within the scope of interventions for the symptoms of moral injury were also included and the issue was tried to be addressed from a mental health perspective. In this context, “mindfulness-oriented meditation”, “self- compassion”, “spiritually-oriented counseling”, and “work focused on forgiving oneself and others”, whose effectiveness has been tested, are included. The issue of moral injury was addressed with psychology- spirituality dimensions; the scope of the study was further expanded with intervention-treatment titles. This study summarizes moral injury’s conceptual framework and focuses on interventions and treatment approaches. As a result, the concept of moral injury was addressed holistically and contributed to the conceptual framework.