The Crack in Our Souls: Military Veterans’ Perceptions of a Potentially Morally Injurious Peacekeeping Mission

During peacekeeping missions, military personnel may be exposed to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs). Little is known about how these PMIEs and their impact are experienced by peacekeepers themselves. In 1995, the Dutchbat III peacekeeping mission in Srebrenica, Bosnia, was unable to prevent mass ethnic violence and genocide. This study of military veterans of the Dutchbat III mission focused on the question of how they perceived their mission, the societal response to the mission, and its impact 25 years after its completion. The study’s aim was to increase our understanding of what PMIEs and moral injury in veterans of peacekeeping missions entail. The study concerned a secondary analysis of qualitative data on the well-being of Dutchbat III veterans using a moral injury framework. Nineteen interviews were conducted with veterans who experienced different levels of well-being. Data were analyzed with Max Qualitative Data Analysis 2020 using open, axial, and selective coding. Outcomes showed that the Dutchbat III mission was experienced as morally injurious by some veterans, due to an inability to intervene as well as to a feeling of betrayal during and after the mission. Attributions of personal responsibility and negative public portrayal increased vulnerability to negative psychosocial outcomes. Outcomes consisted of moral injury-related emotions such as guilt and shame, grief, anger, and powerlessness, as well as positive moral emotions and moral growth. Preparation for peacekeeping missions, acknowledgment of responsibilities, and support for dealing with PMIEs and public scrutiny may act as a buffer against the development of long-term moral injury outcomes after peacekeeping missions.