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Moral injury, PTSD and narrative identity among Danish military veterans

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  • Williams, Lars

Abstract

In recent years, the concept of moral injury has been embraced in debates on military trauma and commonly refers to the psychological impact of having one's moral expectations and beliefs violated. While many studies on moral injury point to the damage to personal identity as central to morally injurious experiences, a more fully developed concept of identity and specification of how precisely morally injurious experiences can damage individual identity is left under-examined. Drawing on 35 qualitative interviews with Danish military veterans between 2023 and 24, this article addresses the particular ways that morally injurious experiences are damaging to identity. By examining the veterans' experiences from the Balkans and Afghanistan and by way of narrative theories of identity, the article shows two different processes of identity transformation related to morally injurious experiences: first, how morally injurious events in military conflicts may damage a sense of identity, and secondly how new identities may become reshaped through engagement in new kinds of social practice engendering new narrative identities. This argument contributes to debates on moral injury in the context of military trauma, and specifically to inquiries into identity transformations in relation to morally injurious/traumatic experiences.

Suggested Citation

  • Williams, Lars, 2026. "Moral injury, PTSD and narrative identity among Danish military veterans," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 403(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:403:y:2026:i:c:s0277953626004806
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2026.119404
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