Can People Experience Posttraumatic Growth After Committing Violent Acts?

The concept of posttraumatic growth refers to the positive psychological changes that some people experience as a result of their struggle with highly stressful and often traumatic circumstances. Research into posttraumatic growth has typically focused on survivors of violent victimization or other uncontrollable and tragic circumstances. However, emerging research into service members in the armed forces has shown that posttraumatic growth can also occur in this population. We synthesize existing research to propose a preliminary model outlining the psychosocial processes that may facilitate posttraumatic growth among people who have perpetrated acts of violence. We end by discussing some of the important questions that future theoretical and empirical work will need to address.