ARQ Centre of Expertise for War, Persecution and Violence

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.

Background
Every year, millions of people are affected by humanitarian crises. With a growing population of people affected, the need for coordination and integration of services aiming to improve the effectiveness of mental health and psychosocial support also grows. In this study, we examine how psychological interventions in humanitarian settings globally have been implemented through integration into programming outside of formal healthcare delivery through multisectoral integration.

In this special issue it has become clear that many ex-combatants did not simply reintegrate into society after independence. This article provides an additional perspective to the socio-political frame of contentious politics dominant in the special issue. A key element to explain their difficult ‘reintegration’ and to understand why former fighters challenged the state, is provided by trauma.

Decades after World War II, major commemorations are still organised to collectively remember this war. Aiming for inclusive societies, the perspectives of immigrants with different war experiences are important to be heard in relation to these commemorations.

Research has shown time and time again that war has an impact on the mental well-being of Veterans and their families. But what does that impact look like when a mission is characterized by severe violations of norms and values (in other words, moral injury)? In this study, family members of Dutch Veterans talked about the impact on their lives of a mission gone bad in the former Yugoslavia, 25 years after it happened.

Considerable academic effort has been invested in explaining the causes of, and processes behind moral injury. These efforts are mostly focused on assessment and treatment within a clinical setting. Collective and social factors contributing to moral injury are often overlooked in current literature. This perspective article considers the role of contextual factors associated with moral injury and proposes a framework that describes their relation to individual aspects.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has put various restrictions on grief rituals. Literature suggests that the restrictions on funerals and grief rituals may increase the chance of developing symptoms of prolonged grief (PG). In this study, we explored the possible impact of the pandemic on aspects of the funeral and grief rituals and examined their relationship with PG symptoms.

The concept of moral injury, referring to the psychological impact of having one’s moral expectations and beliefs violated, is gaining a firm place in research on military trauma. Yet, although moral injury has the recognized potential to extend the understanding of trauma beyond the individualizing and pathologizing focus of the clinical realm, most studies nevertheless focus on clinical assessment, diagnosis and treatment.

BACKGROUND
The capacity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to occur with delayed onset has been documented in several systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Neurobiological models of PTSD may provide insight into the mechanisms underlying the progressive increase in PTSD symptoms over time as well as into occasional occurrences of long-delayed PTSD with few prodromal symptoms. 

AIM
To obtain an overview of key concepts explaining and types of evidence supporting neurobiological underpinnings of delayed PTSD. 

This study investigated how children, a post-war generation without direct connection to war, relate to the commemoration of World War II (WWII). Seven group interviews were held among pupils in the Netherlands, aged 9 to 18 (n = 55) and, subsequently, questionnaires
were administered to other pupils (n = 374).