Counseling Veterans

Counseling Veterans: The Concept of Moral Injury in Restrepo Student’s Name Institution Course # and Name Professor’s Name Submission Date In the documentary film Restrepo, the issue of killing innocent civilians, as portrayed during Operation Rock Avalanche, depicts moral injury. The soldiers, led by their captain Kearney, carried out an operation in Yaka China, Afghanistan, to subdue the Taliban. The attack led to the death of five innocent people and injured ten women who were not affiliated with the Taliban (Vimeo.com Inc, 2021). The incident affected the mental health of the soldiers and residents. The soldiers were highly disturbed because they could not protect the civilians during the operation. Killing innocent people is against the codes and conduct that the soldiers advocated for. Thus, the situation's aftermath was highly stressful, indicating that the soldiers felt the weight of their actions. The traumatic event led the soldiers to feel guilt since, during actions to protect people, they ended up injuring innocent victims. The residents of Yaka China, were angry and resentful after the incident, which added to the feelings of guilt for the soldiers. Moral injury occurs when one undergoes an event that leads them to transgress their moral beliefs. Research argues that after a stressful event, an individual might experience moral emotions resulting from remorse and guilt (Koenig & Al-Zaben, 2021). When one commits a transgression resulting in conflict and dissonance for their moral beliefs, they experience a moral injury. The soldiers felt grief and shame for violating their moral beliefs on what was right and wrong. Experiencing these feelings for a prolonged period might have negative implica...