Toward a Taxonomy of Moral Injury: Confronting the Harm Caused by Clergy Sexual Abuse

Moral injury signifies an enduring moral anguish experienced as betrayal, shame, confusion, futility, and distrust, entailing intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal dimensions. This essay proposes a taxonomy of moral injury informed by the ripple effects of harm caused by clergy sexual abus...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mescher, Marcus (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Philosophy Documentation Center 2023
In: Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics
Year: 2023, Volume: 43, Issue: 1, Pages: 75-91
RelBib Classification:KDB Roman Catholic Church
NCA Ethics
NCF Sexual ethics
RB Church office; congregation
ZD Psychology
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Summary:Moral injury signifies an enduring moral anguish experienced as betrayal, shame, confusion, futility, and distrust, entailing intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal dimensions. This essay proposes a taxonomy of moral injury informed by the ripple effects of harm caused by clergy sexual abuse and its concealment in the Catholic Church. These five categories distinguish between the moral distress endured by perpetrators and victims as well as bystanders and other implicated subjects, the moral fallout caused by a specific event in comparison to exposure to a toxic environment, and as a spectrum that spans from acute to diffuse symptoms of moral violation. This typology illuminates how moral injury impacts conscience, which means "to know together," indicating that healing moral injury is both a personal and communal endeavor.
ISSN:2326-2176
Contains:Enthalten in: Society of Christian Ethics, Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.5840/jsce202341778