The Centre for Statecraft & National Security and XCEPT invite you to join this one-hour lunchtime webinar with Dr Fiona McEwen and Dr Craig Larkin

Trauma is often seen as an individual affliction. But what if trauma is an experience that is shaped through people’s relationships with others, and with the state? And what if the combined effect of those experiences in many people can prevent a nation from recovering from conflict?

In this webinar, Dr Fiona McEwen and Dr Craig Larkin discuss the social and relational aspects of trauma in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and South Sudan. They bring moral injury – often a term reserved for military contexts – to the civilian experience of trauma.

Moral injury can arise from a sense of betrayal by leaders and authorities, from witnessing harm one cannot prevent, or from acting against one’s own deeply held moral norms. Understanding it takes us beyond PTSD, towards the collective and social dimensions of trauma. In this webinar, they will discuss what this means for addressing trauma for individuals and for communities.

About the Speakers:

Dr Fiona McEwen is the Co-Principal Investigator and Survey and Interventions Director for XCEPT. Her background is in developmental psychology, mental health, and neuroscience. Her research focuses on mental health in war-affected and displaced populations, including evaluation of psychological interventions, and how culture and the context of displacement impact assessment, treatment, and prognosis of mental health problems.

Dr Craig Larkin is a Research Lead on Memory and Conflict on XCEPT. He is a Reader in Middle East Politics and Peace and Conflict Studies and Director of the Centre for the Study of Divided Societies. He is also Co-Convenor of the War Studies MA Programme.

To register to attend, please click here.