When the personal is academic: thoughts on navigating emotions in research on moral injury (original) (raw)

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal

PurposeHow should researchers navigate and interpret the moral emotions evoked in them in research on trauma? In this reflective essay, the authors discuss their experience as researchers on moral injury (MI) in veterans and police personnel in the Netherlands. Stories of MI usually do not allow for a clear-cut categorization of the affected person as a victim or perpetrator. This ambivalence, in fact, is explicitly part of the concept of MI. It means however that researchers face complicated psychological, ethical and methodological challenges during research on MI.Design/methodology/approachThe authors contemplate these challenges by describing two empirical cases demonstrating the particular moral challenges that emerge in MI research. Drawing from literature on qualitative research and emotions, the authors distil different perspectives on the role of moral emotions in research.FindingsReflecting on the ambivalent and difficult emotions the authors experienced as researchers whe...

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