David Smith
David has been a British Army Chaplain since 2002. He has completed multiple operational tours (Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Northern Ireland) and has been working in military training environments since 2012, where he taught military ethics.
Areas of Expertise
- Moral philosophy
- Military ethics
- Theology
Qualifications
- PgDip Education, Birmingham City University
- PGCE, University of Southampton
- Master's in Theology, University of Southampton
- Bachelor's in Divinity, King's College London
Memberships
- College of Healthcare Chaplains
Teaching
- Military Ethics, Defence School of Healthcare Education
Research
Moral Injury - Conscience Ambushed?
Moral Injury is an emerging phenomenon that manifests as "a sense of shame suffered by veterans who have witnessed or perpetrated an act in combat that transgressed their deeply held moral beliefs" (Bica et al, 2016). Initially identified as an expression of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the understanding of Moral Injury is in the process of breaking away from a medical paradigm (treated by drugs and talking-therapies) and evolving into an Holistic model encompassing a multi-disciplinary approach to its understanding.
David's interest in Moral Injury arises from his role in teaching military ethics to soldiers in training and from his operational experience, where he has experienced first-hand the ways in which military training has an influence on an actor's behaviour in the battle space. This particular provenance gives David a unique perspective as an "insider" researcher that, he hopes, will generate rich and glowing data.
In particular, he is interested in researching the effect of Moral Injury on an individual's moral conscience (the sense or consciousness of the moral goodness or blameworthiness of one's own conduct, intentions, or character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2019)) and whether there may be an effect on the ability to form moral judgements on returning to civic society as a civilian. This aspect of the phenomenon is under-researched and David hopes that his research may contribute to the development of an holistic model of Moral Injury. David plans to generate data using a combination of semi-structured and self-interviews, analysing the data using a Reflexive Thematic Analysis approach (Braun and Clarke, 2013) within Pierre Bourdieu's conceptual framework of Field and its various actors (Bourdieu, 1984).
David hopes that his research will be of interest to the design and delivery of Military Ethical teaching and to deepen awareness not only of the effect of combat exposure on UK veterans - but also to other public service workers who may experience similar moral shame during the course of their duties (such as NHS workers / Police).