Moral Coping or Simply Uncomplicated Soldiering? How Soldiers Avoid Moral Injury Through Simplification, Justification, Rationalization, and Compartmentalization

Abstract

A substantial number of soldiers develop moral injuries, yet just as many do not. Therefore, it is important to explore the question: How do military service members generally interpret and cope with moral challenges related to their profession? This article analyzes the accounts of 80 (former) soldiers, examining how they perceived their profession and the coping strategies they tend to use in the face of moral challenges. The findings show that they generally did not experience as much moral tension as one might expect. Yet, when they did, they used coping strategies of simplification, justification, and rationalization, including doing good, rules and instructions, reciprocity, numbing, and compartmentalization. This leads to a middle position between the view that military personnel never experience moral challenges and the position that they find violence actually highly problematic, with important implications for research on moral injury, trauma, and soldiers’ experience.