About the Instructor and this Course
Name: Wendy Haight, PhD
Mini Biography: Gamble-Skogmo Chair in Child Welfare and Youth Policy, School of Social Work, University of Minnesota - College of Education and Human Development.
Website: https://www.cehd.umn.edu/ssw/people/whaight/
" Thank you for your interest in moral injury in child welfare. Through this online learning environment, I’ll be summarizing recent research with professionals, parents and youth involved in child welfare.
Course Background:
This course provides a unique resource for mental health, addictions, social work and child welfare professionals and students. It emerged from a discussion between Prof. Haight, PhD and Dr. Black, MD. For about 20 years, Dr. Black, an inpatient psychiatrist, had been thinking about a common clinical problem: the severe and persistent guilt, shame and loss of meaning experienced by patients after doing something terrible during a manic or psychotic episode. At the same time, Prof Haight was encountering similar issues in child welfare clients and providers. Yet these forms of suffering do not fit well into modern social service and mental health treatment models.
Dr. Black and Prof Haight then encountered the concept of moral injury, and embarked on a program of empirical research now in its 5th year and supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Moral injury refers to the lasting psychological, spiritual and social harm caused by one’s own or another’s actions in a high stakes crisis. The injury comes from the transgression of deeply held moral beliefs and expectations. If unaddressed, moral injury will fester, and the lack of meaning, emotional distress and mistrust can persist for years. Although moral injury was initially applied to combat veterans, it clearly can also occur in other populations experiencing substantial conflicts in values.
In particular, Dr. Black observed that patients struggling with mental illness or addiction often did things out of character when ill, and then suffered from severe guilt when they recovered. Psychiatry focuses on the primary symptoms, not the moral repercussions, so these patients often had no venue for discussion or treatment of their suffering. Prof. Haight observed the wrenching moral conflicts experienced by clients and providers involved in child welfare. Yet outside of the Veteran Administration system treating combat veterans, there is currently little recognition of moral injury. When presenting our recent research, locally, nationally and internationally, we have found that the concept of moral injury resonates strongly with many professionals and students who are eager to learn more.