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This mixed methods research examines moral injury experienced by emerging adults with histories of child welfare involvement. Moral injury is the psychological, social, and spiritual harm resulting from experiences that transgress a person’s core moral beliefs and expectations. Moral injury can include intense negative emotions that may persist for years and compromise well-being. If unaddressed, the guilt, shame, rage, distrust and existential crises associated with moral injury may persist for years undermining well-being (Litz et al., 2009; Shay, 1994).
Particular sociocultural-historical contexts shape moral expectations, understandings, and responses to the violation of moral assumptions. Yet relatively little research has addressed how the experience of moral injury are shaped within various sociocultural- historical contexts.
Existing research indicates that moral injury may be experienced by individuals within public child welfare systems (Haight et al., 2017 a,b,c). These injuries result from child maltreatment, the failure of adults to protect children, and disrespect towards individuals as members of particular BIPOC communities. Our research question is: What are the physical, social and cultural contexts of moral injury for children and adolescents involved in the child welfare system?
Methods
Twenty-eight emerging adults between the ages of 18-26 with child welfare histories in four mid-western states were recruited using snowball sampling. Participants were Indigenous, African American, Latinx, Roma, and white. They completed a modified version of the Moral Injury Events Scale (MIES) (Nash, et al., 2013), and then participated in individual, semi-structured, audio recorded, life story interviews elaborating their responses to the MIES. Each participant’s MIES was scored. Interviews were transcribed verbatim. Research team members read and re-read each transcript, and developed a coding system using analytic induction (Schwandt, 2014). Two researchers then independently coded all transcripts, resolving disagreements through discussions. Peer debriefing and member checking enhanced the credibility of our interpretation (Lincoln & Guba, 1985).
Results
MIES scores indicated that all emerging adults reported exposure to morally injurious events occurring during childhood and adolescence. Interviews revealed that these events occurred across physical, social, and cultural contexts of child welfare involvement. Most participants (85%) identified their out-of-home placements as the primary site of their moral injuries. Birth homes (43%) and social service settings (29%) also were identified as sites of moral injuries. Participants described substitute caregivers (61%), child welfare professionals (61%), and birth parents (61%) as perpetrators of morally injurious events. The moral injuries they described reflect some unique vulnerabilities of BIPOC children within the child welfare system, primarily due to experiences of racism and colorism.
Implications
The pervasiveness of morally injurious events experienced by emerging adults across the physical, social and cultural contexts of their child welfare involvement point to a need for system reform, specifically, the prioritization of children’s social and emotional safety alongside of their physical safety. Many of the moral injuries experienced by emerging adults were perpetrated by child welfare professionals and foster caregivers. System reform is necessary to ensure that children’s involvement in the child welfare system does not add additional burdens of moral injury as they grow and navigate adulthood.