ABSTRACT
Chapter 1, the Introduction, presents the book’s overall focus and aims: to advance the empirical and theoretical understanding of moral, political and societal dimensions of moral injury in soldiers and veterans. In doing so, the book contributes to an interdisciplinary conceptualization of moral injury and to theory on trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder – PTSD – in general, as well as to practical interventions to address and prevent moral distress. This chapter begins by sketching the story of a veteran struggling with guilt and anger, after which it introduces the nascent concept of moral injury. It explains how this book will examine moral dimensions of moral injury and the role of political practices and public perceptions in military experiences of moral injury, in order to come to a better understanding of the phenomenon. The chapter closes by discussing some ethical quandaries that arose during the research for the book, and presenting the notions of transference and countertransference as a partial answer to these quandaries.
