The Intergenerational Impacts of Military Service-Related Moral Injury
| dc.contributor.author | Reeves, Kathryn | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-09-10T14:07:29Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-09-10T14:07:29Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025-07 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Moral injury, defined as the psychosocial and spiritual distress resulting from actions or events that transgress deeply held moral beliefs, is increasingly recognized as a risk of employment within the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). While much of the existing literature focuses on the internal experiences of morally injured service members and Veterans, there remains a critical gap in understanding the intergenerational experiences of moral injury in families, particularly children raised in military families. This study explores the retrospective experiences of adult children of CAF Veterans who participants perceived to have incurred a military service-related moral injury. Using a qualitative, phenomenological approach within interpretive and critical paradigms, this research centers the lived experiences of 11 adult participants through semi-structured interviews. Framed by the Family Adjustment and Adaptation Response (FAAR) model, a military-sensitive life course perspective, and a critical ecological lens, the findings reveal the long-term emotional, relational, and identity-based consequences of a parent’s moral injury, as well as adaptive strategies developed in response to moral injury-related family dynamics. The study highlights the need for inclusive policies and support systems that acknowledge moral injury as a family experience. Recommendations are offered for research, policy, and practice aimed at improving the health and well-being of military-connected families. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://ec.msvu.ca/handle/10587/2362 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Mount Saint Vincent University | |
| dc.title | The Intergenerational Impacts of Military Service-Related Moral Injury | |
| dc.type | Thesis |