Police Moral Injury, Compassion Fatigue, and Compassion Satisfaction: A Brief Report

• Main Authors: Brooke McQuerrey Tuttle, Karolina Stancel, Charles Russo, Mari Koskelainen, Konstantinos Papazoglou
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Charles Sturt University 2019-04-01
• Series: Salus Journal
• Subjects: moral injury; compassion satisfaction; compassion fatigue; law enforcement; police stress; Trauma
• Online Access: http://www.salusjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2019/04/Tuttle_Salus_Journal_Volume_7_Number_1_2019_pp_42-57.pdf

Police compassion fatigue, or the emotional cost of caring associated with police work, can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder, work dissatisfaction, depression, burnout, self-criticism and destructive coping strategies. Similarly, officers may experience moral injury in the line of duty when they witness or become involved in acts that transgress their moral beliefs. The strains of compassion fatigue and moral injury may negatively influence police compassion satisfaction, or the positive feelings and benefits experienced because of caring for others. The purpose of this study was to examine the contributions of compassion fatigue and moral injury on police compassion satisfaction among a sample of police officers from the National Police of Finland (n=454). Results indicated that greater levels of compassion fatigue and moral injury were significantly associated with low levels of compassion satisfaction. Clinical and practical ideas are offered, with the aim of minimizing the effects of compassion fatigue and moral injury while promoting compassion satisfaction for law enforcement officers.