Fighting for peace within: The existential-relational positions into which we train soldiers and the challenge of their reaggregation into society

Document Type

Journal Article

Role

Author

Published In

The Humanistic Psychologist

Volume

54

Issue

1

First Page

77

Last Page

96

Publication Date

3-2026

Abstract

We train our soldier warriors into a mix of two existential-relational, developmental positions: the contiguous and paranoid-schizoid. Functioning within these positions is adaptive for the task of fighting but not living within peacetime society, where our embrace of the complexities of our moral being-ness is essential for wholesome functioning. Because we do not “untrain” our soldiers with the same commitment of intensity and resources that we apply to training them, our warriors are too often left in a moral in-betweenness which can result in serious psychological issues and greater inclination to do self-harm. While there are programs to address our soldiers’ postfighting problems, they are either reactive rather or far too limited in their scope of assistance. In short, they are inadequate and a shirking of the moral responsibility we have as regular society members to see that untraining or retraining is institutionally prioritized.

Comments

Author's manuscript freely available on their website.

Keywords

Psychological effects of combat, Reintegration challenges for veterans, Military personnel


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