University of Sussex
Browse
Accounting and pensions.pdf (253.41 kB)

The purgatorial shadows of war: accounting, blame and shell shock pensions, 1914–1923

Download (253.41 kB)
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 05:33 authored by Frances Miley, Andrew Read
This research is a qualitative analysis of the role of accounting in British disablement pensions awarded to men who sustained shell shock during their Army service in the First World War. It suggests that accounting classification of shell shock for pension determination purposes supported a view of shell shock which made men with shell shock scapegoats of a system that was often unsupportive. Accounting classification contributed to the lack of support by distancing pension decision-makers from the moral consequences of pension determinations. This was able to occur because the British government used accounting classification as part of a mechanism to avoid blame for its pension determination choices. This research contributes to an ongoing debate about the role of government by suggesting that the functions of government provide opportunities for accounting to simultaneously serve a neutral role as mere inscription while being a social and moral construct.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Accounting History

ISSN

1032-3732

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Issue

1

Volume

22

Page range

5-28

Department affiliated with

  • Business and Management Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2017-03-27

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2017-03-27

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2017-03-27

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC