As part of a series on moral injury in HSCC (see Davies, 2023; Part 1), this Part 2 will propose that the current conceptions of moral injury (MI) may be inadequate, and that there is a need to recognize a distinct conceptualization of “spiritual damage”. Just as MI was, and still is, sometimes mistakenly and unhelpfully conflated with some criteria of post-traumatic stress disorder, it may also be a mistake to conflate spiritual damage with “spirituality injury” under the MI paradigm. The breadth and depth of spirituality and its basis in a divine, mysterious creator, or God(s), are such that their scope may extend beyond impacts that can be accounted for in terms of medicine, psychology and, in some respects, morality. As such, this article argues that the current discussion on spirituality within the MI framework may need to be revised to account for “spiritual damage” more comprehensively. It is suggested that a new approach to this area of MI is necessary to acknowledge the fundamentally important role of spirituality in a MI context, but also to expand the horizon to include spiritual damage that occurs before, during and after traumatic, difficult or horrific events. Further, deeper consideration needs to be given to encompassing both the institutional and personal aspects of religion and spirituality, and how damage in these areas can both wound and injure an individual’s spiritual schema, while also providing the potential for spiritual growth. This study will consider five areas, in particular, that require deeper consideration: (i) spirituality and science; (ii) a relationship with the divine; (iii) the use of spiritual tools; (iv) the recognition of spirituality as more than just an “aftermath” issue; and (v) spiritual growth.
{"title":"Spiritual Wounds and Injuries (Part 2)","authors":"Murray J Davies","doi":"10.1558/hscc.25399","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/hscc.25399","url":null,"abstract":"As part of a series on moral injury in HSCC (see Davies, 2023; Part 1), this Part 2 will propose that the current conceptions of moral injury (MI) may be inadequate, and that there is a need to recognize a distinct conceptualization of “spiritual damage”. Just as MI was, and still is, sometimes mistakenly and unhelpfully conflated with some criteria of post-traumatic stress disorder, it may also be a mistake to conflate spiritual damage with “spirituality injury” under the MI paradigm. The breadth and depth of spirituality and its basis in a divine, mysterious creator, or God(s), are such that their scope may extend beyond impacts that can be accounted for in terms of medicine, psychology and, in some respects, morality. As such, this article argues that the current discussion on spirituality within the MI framework may need to be revised to account for “spiritual damage” more comprehensively. It is suggested that a new approach to this area of MI is necessary to acknowledge the fundamentally important role of spirituality in a MI context, but also to expand the horizon to include spiritual damage that occurs before, during and after traumatic, difficult or horrific events. Further, deeper consideration needs to be given to encompassing both the institutional and personal aspects of religion and spirituality, and how damage in these areas can both wound and injure an individual’s spiritual schema, while also providing the potential for spiritual growth. This study will consider five areas, in particular, that require deeper consideration: (i) spirituality and science; (ii) a relationship with the divine; (iii) the use of spiritual tools; (iv) the recognition of spirituality as more than just an “aftermath” issue; and (v) spiritual growth.","PeriodicalId":37483,"journal":{"name":"Health and Social Care Chaplaincy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136155877","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Moral injury (MI) has become a significant area of study and debate with regard to veterans’ mental health and general well-being. Due to the nature and intensity of coalition operations in Iraq and Afghanistan over a prolonged period, MI has become one of the “signature wounds” of these conflicts. Spiritual damage is a critical aspect of the MI paradigm. For some people, exposure to complex and demanding environments and situations creates threats to their spiritual understanding and belief systems. These threats may be expressed through doubt about their beliefs surrounding the concept of an omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent divine creator. Such doubt, uncertainty and distress can negatively affect an individual’s overall mental health and well-being. This article seeks to achieve two objectives. The first is to introduce some of the history, language and concepts regarding MI, in order to enable spiritual care practitioners to participate in this crucial area of veterans’ health and well-being. This participation may include, but is not limited to, definitional research, language analysis, treatment and management. This study also serves as a starting point for a deeper discussion on whether spiritual damage is best described in a MI context, or whether a deeper analysis is needed independent of MI syndrome.
{"title":"Spiritual Wounds and Injuries (Part 1)","authors":"M. Davies","doi":"10.1558/hscc.23758","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/hscc.23758","url":null,"abstract":"Moral injury (MI) has become a significant area of study and debate with regard to veterans’ mental health and general well-being. Due to the nature and intensity of coalition operations in Iraq and Afghanistan over a prolonged period, MI has become one of the “signature wounds” of these conflicts. Spiritual damage is a critical aspect of the MI paradigm. For some people, exposure to complex and demanding environments and situations creates threats to their spiritual understanding and belief systems. These threats may be expressed through doubt about their beliefs surrounding the concept of an omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent divine creator. Such doubt, uncertainty and distress can negatively affect an individual’s overall mental health and well-being. This article seeks to achieve two objectives. The first is to introduce some of the history, language and concepts regarding MI, in order to enable spiritual care practitioners to participate in this crucial area of veterans’ health and well-being. This participation may include, but is not limited to, definitional research, language analysis, treatment and management. This study also serves as a starting point for a deeper discussion on whether spiritual damage is best described in a MI context, or whether a deeper analysis is needed independent of MI syndrome.","PeriodicalId":37483,"journal":{"name":"Health and Social Care Chaplaincy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43864959","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Runcorn, D. (2018). The Language of Tears: Their Gift, Mystery and Meaning","authors":"M. Newitt","doi":"10.1558/hscc.24432","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/hscc.24432","url":null,"abstract":"Runcorn, D. (2018). The Language of Tears: Their Gift, Mystery and Meaning. Norwich: Canterbury Press, 144 pp. (pbk). ISBN: 9781786220912.","PeriodicalId":37483,"journal":{"name":"Health and Social Care Chaplaincy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44517814","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lee, L. J. (2018). Moral Injury Reconciliation: A Practitioner’s Guide for Treating Moral Injury, PTSD, Grief, and Military Sexual Trauma Through Spiritual Formation Strategies. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 224pp. (pbk). ISBN: 9781785927577.
{"title":"Lee, L. J. (2018). Moral Injury Reconciliation: A Practitioner’s Guide for Treating Moral Injury, PTSD, Grief, and Military Sexual Trauma Through Spiritual Formation Strategies","authors":"Tim Mercer","doi":"10.1558/hscc.24431","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/hscc.24431","url":null,"abstract":"Lee, L. J. (2018). Moral Injury Reconciliation: A Practitioner’s Guide for Treating Moral Injury, PTSD, Grief, and Military Sexual Trauma Through Spiritual Formation Strategies. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 224pp. (pbk). ISBN: 9781785927577.","PeriodicalId":37483,"journal":{"name":"Health and Social Care Chaplaincy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45847495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
End of life care is a holistic approach to the provision of treatment and support for dying patients and families. It focuses on four dimensions: the physical, social, psychological and spiritual. In relation to the latter dimension, healthcare professionals are joined by spiritual care specialists, namely, chaplains. Even though great strides have been made towards holistic provision, chaplains remain marginalized. This article focuses on one essential yet often overlooked tool utilized by chaplains in spiritual care, and it showcases the fundamental importance of the practice in holistic end of life delivery, using Hong Kong chaplaincy as a case study: conversation as a bridging tool. Specifically, I focus on three distinctive aspects: conversation to overcome the challenges created by the chaplain’s role ambiguity, conversation to bridge cultural and linguistic limitations, and conversation to address death anxieties through narrational encounters, including conversations about dreams. Despite the value of conversation in end of life care, this article illustrates that the wider hospital care team has a strong negative perception of chaplains’ use of conversation, contributing to the marginalized status of chaplains.
{"title":"Conversation as a Bridging Tool in End of Life Spiritual Care","authors":"Caroline Yih","doi":"10.1558/hscc.20932","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/hscc.20932","url":null,"abstract":"End of life care is a holistic approach to the provision of treatment and support for dying patients and families. It focuses on four dimensions: the physical, social, psychological and spiritual. In relation to the latter dimension, healthcare professionals are joined by spiritual care specialists, namely, chaplains. Even though great strides have been made towards holistic provision, chaplains remain marginalized. This article focuses on one essential yet often overlooked tool utilized by chaplains in spiritual care, and it showcases the fundamental importance of the practice in holistic end of life delivery, using Hong Kong chaplaincy as a case study: conversation as a bridging tool. Specifically, I focus on three distinctive aspects: conversation to overcome the challenges created by the chaplain’s role ambiguity, conversation to bridge cultural and linguistic limitations, and conversation to address death anxieties through narrational encounters, including conversations about dreams. Despite the value of conversation in end of life care, this article illustrates that the wider hospital care team has a strong negative perception of chaplains’ use of conversation, contributing to the marginalized status of chaplains.","PeriodicalId":37483,"journal":{"name":"Health and Social Care Chaplaincy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43095499","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Carson, T. (Ed.) (2019). Neither Here nor There: The Many Voices of Liminality","authors":"Tony Kyriakides","doi":"10.1558/hscc.23343","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/hscc.23343","url":null,"abstract":"Carson, T. (Ed.) (2019). Neither Here nor There: The Many Voices of LiminalityCambridge: Lutterworth Press, 244 pp. (pbk). ISBN: 9780718895433","PeriodicalId":37483,"journal":{"name":"Health and Social Care Chaplaincy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49191602","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Clare, H. (2021). Heavy Light: A Journey through Madness, Mania & Healing","authors":"Viv Henderson","doi":"10.1558/hscc.22949","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/hscc.22949","url":null,"abstract":"Clare, H. (2021). Heavy Light: A Journey through Madness, Mania & Healing. London: Chatto & Windus, 336 pp. (hbk). ISBN: 9781784743529.","PeriodicalId":37483,"journal":{"name":"Health and Social Care Chaplaincy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47352804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Büssing, A. (Ed.) (2021). Spiritual Needs in Research and Practice: The Spiritual Needs Questionnaire as a Global Resource for Health and Social Care. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, xxxii + 486 pp. (hbk). ISBN: 9783030701383.
{"title":"Büssing, A. (Ed.) (2021). Spiritual Needs in Research and Practice: The Spiritual Needs Questionnaire as a Global Resource for Health and Social Care","authors":"S. Nolan","doi":"10.1558/hscc.22948","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/hscc.22948","url":null,"abstract":"Büssing, A. (Ed.) (2021). Spiritual Needs in Research and Practice: The Spiritual Needs Questionnaire as a Global Resource for Health and Social Care. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, xxxii + 486 pp. (hbk). ISBN: 9783030701383.","PeriodicalId":37483,"journal":{"name":"Health and Social Care Chaplaincy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41361601","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Four topic areas are covered in this issue of Health and Social Care Chaplaincy: (i) healthcare chaplaincy, spiritual care and disability, (ii) COVID-19, (iii) deuterocanonical considerations of the “Angel Raphael” and (iv) the artwork of Rembrandt.
{"title":"Editorial","authors":"Lindsay. B. Carey","doi":"10.1558/hscc.23005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/hscc.23005","url":null,"abstract":"Four topic areas are covered in this issue of Health and Social Care Chaplaincy: (i) healthcare chaplaincy, spiritual care and disability, (ii) COVID-19, (iii) deuterocanonical considerations of the “Angel Raphael” and (iv) the artwork of Rembrandt.","PeriodicalId":37483,"journal":{"name":"Health and Social Care Chaplaincy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48330735","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Peery, B. (2021). Outcome Oriented Chaplaincy: Perceptive, Intentional, and Effective Caring","authors":"R. Nolan","doi":"10.1558/hscc.23006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/hscc.23006","url":null,"abstract":"Peery, B. (2021). Outcome Oriented Chaplaincy: Perceptive, Intentional, and Effective Caring. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 128pp. (pbk). ISBN: 9781785926822.","PeriodicalId":37483,"journal":{"name":"Health and Social Care Chaplaincy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41871468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}