PAPERS Resources

AAR Annual Meeting
San Diego, CA
November 23-26, 2019

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Moral Injury and Recovery in Religion, Society, and Culture Unit

Statement of Purpose: 

The Moral Injury and Recovery in Religion, Society, and Culture Unit engages interdisciplinary study on moral injury, an emerging concept which attempts to engage the impact of making difficult moral choices under extreme conditions, experiencing morally anguishing events or duties, witnessing immoral acts, or behaving in ways that profoundly challenge moral conscience and identity and the values that support them.

In examining how understandings of recovery from moral injury might illuminate post-conflict situations in many areas of the world, this unit will interrogate how educating a wider public about moral injury might challenge the role of religion in supporting war and the militarization of international and intra-national conflicts, the effects of war on combatants in post-conflict societies, and more effective means for social support in recovery from moral injury.

Contributions are welcome engaging:

• Diverse religious, cultural, and social systems and their sacred texts
• Neuroscientific approaches to ritual, moral formation, and the moral emotions
• Proposed methods for recovery, such as ritual, pastoral counseling, spiritual direction, arts, community life, narrative, and interreligious cooperation
• The roles of gender, ethnicity, sexuality, class, race, and other forms of oppression in relation to personal agency and theories of ethics.

Call for Papers: 

For the 2019 AAR Annual Meeting, we invite papers or complete panels on:

● Moral Injury and Social Movements -
Moral Stress and Moral Injury can compel activism and resistance of many forms, which has been particularly visible since the 2016 presidential election. Such engagement can be part of a personal and societal healing process. Yet moral injury and moral stress can also lead to burnout, depression, and suicidal behaviors within activist communities. How can we map the concepts of moral injury within the dynamics of social movements broadly speaking, and/or particular protest events (Baltimore 2015/Black Lives Matter, Standing Rock 2016, Women’s March 2017, People’s Climate March 2017, Veterans for Peace)? How can we better understand movements, direction actions, and activism by applying understandings of moral injury and recovery processes?

● Moral Injury and Military Chaplaincy -
Military chaplains are often the first line of response with moral stress and moral injury in military operations contexts. How can the role and duties of the military chaplain be more effective in responding to moral anguish in the military ranks, building moral resilience, and advising chain of command on morally destructive conditions? How are military chaplains subjected to moral stress and moral injury as care providers?
 (Co-sponsorship with Innovations in Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care Unit and new Unit/group working on Military Service, Religion, and Culture)

● Moral Injury, Arts, and Recovery -
Many therapeutic modalities integrate artistic expression and creation in recovery with moral injury. How can poetry, visual arts, and performance create critical space for truth-speaking, lamentation, and reorientation?
 (Collaboration with Arts, Religion, and Culture (ARC): https://artsreligionculture.org)

Method: 
PAPERS
Process: 
Proposer names are visible to chairs but anonymous to steering committee members
Leadership: 
ChairSteering Committee