Moral Injury and US Army Social Work Officers

Uniformed social work officers, serving as healthcare providers and soldiers, are frequently confronted with the complex and conflicting responsibilities to uphold loyalty, duty, respect, and commitment to their unit’s mission while also upholding their professional and personal values, principles, and duties as social work professionals and servants of humanity. As Army social work officers return home, many carry spiritual and emotional wounds as warriors and healthcare providers. This paper discusses the results of  a qualitative study that examined the occurrence of potential moral injurious events that social work officers experienced during their  deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2007- 2009.  The authors also examine the challenges that these healthcare professionals experienced, resulting in a potential existential crisis that was caused by the wounding of their soul.