ABSTRACT
In this chapter, Alan Roof recounts the structure and symptoms of many moral injuries. Drawing on his work as a chaplain with veterans of combat, Roof considers the trauma that comes from encounters with children in combat zones. Many warriors have had to make impossible choices that cost children their lives. They silently bear their burdens with repressed guilt, shame, and rage. Roof proposes we can understand their moral injuries as a form of the diabolical: it is a corrupting disconnection from the social structures that give us life and meaning. By tapping an injured person’s willingness to share, therapy teams and caring for others can help people to reconstruct meaning in a world whose evils can shatter one’s sense of moral order. Looking to enduring lessons from religion and other sources of meaning, Roof proposes ways to understand moral injury and paths toward healing.
