Date of Award
2008
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Psychology
Abstract
The current research was qualitative in nature, exploring the experience of having killed in combat from a constructivist and phenomenological framework. The researcher used semi-structured interviews to examine the lived experiences of U.S. soldiers who have killed in combat and how those experiences relate to fundamental assumptions such as benevolence of the world, meaningfulness of the world, and inherent self worth as proposed by Janoff-Bulman. Participants were four men and one woman who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The researcher identified thematic networks of the evolving self, the self in relation to others, and the impermanence of the environment as the framework for understanding the experiences of soldiers who have killed in combat, as participants identified alterations in the domains of self, others, and the world subsequent to their combat experiences.
Recommended Citation
Mcdonner, Jennifer, "Killing In Combat And World Assumptions" (2008). All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1017.
https://scholars.indianastate.edu/etds/1017