Emotional Impacts

Moral Injury is the unprecedented traumatic life events that refer to perpetrating, failing to prevent, or bearing witness to actions that “transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations”(Litz et al., 2009, p.1).

Often times those morally injured alter their beliefs that the world is a safe, compassionate place and that people are trustworthy.

Events that may cause moral injury include death related situations, killings, handling/uncovering body parts, severely wounded victims that the individual is unable to help.

Individuals suffering from moral injury may experience guilt, frustration, sense of rejection, difficulty forgiving, self-harm, inability to feel pleasure, and shame.

It is argued that moral injury leads to compassion fatigue and PTSD.

Compassion Fatigue is referred to as the emotional cost of caring as a result of police work (Figley, 1995). Also recognized as an indirect, secondary form of trauma exposure that can lead to other impacts, PTSD, work dissatisfaction, depression, burnout, self-criticism and destructive coping strategies (Bride, Radey, & Figley, 2007; Cicognani, Pietrantoni, Palestini, & Prati, 2009).

Officers witnessing a fellow Officer being shot in the line of duty have compassion fatigue.