Brown et al. Justice Policy Journal, Spring 2016 Moral Injury as a Collateral Damage Artifact of War in American Society: Serving in war to serving time in jail and prison William B. Brown,1 Robert Stanulis2 and Gerrad McElroy3 Justice Policy Journal ! Volume 13, Number 1 (Spring) © Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice 2016 ! www.cjcj.org/jpj Abstract Within a period of what seems to be a perpetual war there are factors that have been previously referred to as the invisible wounds of war. Those wounds include Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Moral Injury. We begin this article with a brief overview of the extensive period of American military involvement, followed by a section that exposes some of the experiences of veterans who have been to war. Moral injury is then addressed, differentiating between social and institutional morality, and the problems many veterans encounter in the aftermath of serving in a war zone and experiencing the actual horrors that only war can produce. Following a comprehensive explanation of Posttraumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injury, we begin the explanation of how these hidden injuries of war attribute to veterans becoming entangled in criminal justice. Ultimately, it is the intention of the authors to advance cultural competency regarding the psychological, neurological, and moral dilemmas veterans, who become entangled in the criminal justice system, are often confronted with. 1 Western Oregon University 2 Forensic Psychologist, State of Oregon 3 Western Oregon University Corresponding Author:
[email protected]. Moral Injury 1 America claims innocence and goodness as fundamental traits. We believe that our young men and women should be able to go to war, get the job done, and return home blameless as well.