The Power of Weakness: Review of the book by Mark Neville and Jamie Hacker Hughes “Battle Against Stigma”

Abstract

Reviews the book, Battle Against Stigma by Mark Neville and Jamie Hacker Hughes (2014). This book, by M. Neville and J. H. Hughes is a two-volume tome, which is far from typical study of the psychological effects of combat on the participants. Several factors make this work a highly original one. The first is that it is a collaboration by specialists from very different fields. The first volume features selected photographs by Neville taken in 2010 in the Afghan province of Helmand. Panoramic pictures from the field of battle are accompanied by a short, succinct commentary that illuminates the psychological aspect of war. The second volume, written by Hughes, describes how the specific conditions of this conflict-fought thousands of miles away in a foreign land can greatly affect the mental state and psychological wellbeing of those serving in the military. The second factor that makes the work unique is the diversity of those who gave their testimony. The third factor is that the book analyses a problem that is particularly acute for veterans of active service with the armed forces of many English-speaking nations. The book tells us how modern warfare has a high potential to inflict psychological trauma on the participants. The book is useful to practitioners, psychologists, researchers, teachers, military, clinical, extreme psychology, and other professionals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)