Laura Marije Mudde ^* Carmen Schuhmann Gaby Jacobs

• University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht, Netherlands

As research into moral injury of veterans is expanding rapidly, there is also increasing attention for the role of military chaplains (MCs) in supporting veterans with moral injury. However, research into how veterans experience the support of military chaplains remains scarce. This article presents a study from the Netherlands, involving 12 veterans. Using a longitudinal qualitative approach, we explored how the one-on-one conversations with MCs unfold over time. Our study shows that three types of moral questions underly experiences of moral injury: questions concerning mission-related actions, questions about the good life, and doubts about the ethical conduct of the military apparatus. Veterans experience conversations with MCs as an opportunity to exchange thoughts and perspectives concerning their ongoing moral struggles. They highly value that MCs do not follow a fixed agenda but instead attune to their current struggles. The study thus raises questions about the centrality of the morally injurious events in the chaplaincy interventions that are described in the literature. It suggests that supporting veterans in dealing with questions about the good life and about the conduct of the military may be just as or even more important as reflecting on morally injurious events. Moreover, our study highlights the importance of engaging with seemingly mundane, everyday issues when addressing the moral dimensions of veterans' struggles. This counters the focus on grand concepts like "forgiveness," "acceptance," "reconciliation," "restitution" and "vindication" which are usually emphasized in the literature about chaplaincy in the context of moral injury. The study shows that it is through reflection on the everyday that these larger concepts gain relevance and meaning within veterans' lives. We also found that sometimes MCs may help veterans by pointing out that they have done their penance. We propose to view the engagement between veterans and MCs as a process of experiential moral learning as this avoids rigid treatment protocols and emphasizes the importance of attuning to the individual's moral framework. Moreover, this perspective also resonates with the view of moral injury as providing insight into and challenging societal values and practices.