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Compassion Satisfaction 1
The Role of Compassion Satisfaction
Detective Beth Milliard, PhD. Candidate
York Regional Police, Ontario, Canada
Abstract
Police officers risk their lives every day in order to protect the community they serve.
They are also dispatched to a variety of calls for service and are expected to portray many
different roles. It is through these conflicting roles, which include responsibility for dealing with
human suffering and organizational bureaucracies that may put police officers in a state where
they may suffer from compassion fatigue and eventually burnout. However, training, education
on early recognition, emotional control and overall self-care can make the difference between
police officers who suffer from compassion fatigue and those who experience compassion
satisfaction. In this chapter, the author, Beth Milliard, discusses the imperative need for police
officers to develop compassion satisfaction as a primary tool in their self-care repertoire. The
chapter presents both the author’s academic expertise in this area of officer wellness and her
personal experiences as an officer, detective, and peer support team member in a police
organization. Readers are encouraged to find ways to emphasize compassion satisfaction in their
efforts to support police officer wellness.
Keywords: compassion satisfaction, burnout, compassion fatigue, job satisfaction, self-
awareness, gratitude, appreciation, awe, compassion
Compassion Satisfaction 2
The Role of Compassion Satisfaction
There are many different reasons why people choose the policing profession. Some
people are considered Type “A” personalities and therefore adjust well to the command and
control structure of a paramilitary organization. Others are considered adrenaline junkies and
enjoy the rush of high risk situations and the thrill of high speed chases, foot pursuits and
executing search warrants. However, when speaking with officers at a police service in Ontario,
Canada, the majority of people said that they joined the profession because of their desire and
passion to help others. In this chapter, risk factors such as compassion fatigue and burnout will
be discussed and how they have the potential to affect the lives of police officers. Also, the term
compassion satisfaction will be explored as well as strategies police officers can utilize to
enhance their compassion satisfaction which is important in a profession that is exposed to a lot
of negativity.
Police officers risk their lives every day in order to protect the community they serve. As
people are running away from threatening situations, police officers are running towards these
situations in an effort to stop the threat. In addition, they are dispatched to a variety of calls for
service and are expected to portray many different roles. This includes being direct, authoritative
and commanding in one instance and then being compassionate, consoling and empathetic in the
next. It is also important to mention that the context of policing today is very different with
social media and other technological advances. In other words, police officers are not just
exposed to traumatic incidents but they are also faced with a variety of stressors, which if left
unresolved, have the potential to affect one’s mental health.
These role dichotomies and the consistent responsibility of dealing with human suffering
and negative situations make police officers vulnerable to suffer from burnout and/or compassion
Compassion Satisfaction 3
fatigue. Collins and Long (2003) “speculated that compassion satisfaction may fuel people's will
to work and protect against compassion fatigue and burnout” (as cited by Thompson, Amatea, &
Thompson, 2014, p. 61). The opposite of compassion satisfaction is compassion fatigue.
Compassion fatigue is recognized as an indirect, secondary form of trauma exposure that can
lead to post-traumatic stress disorder, work dissatisfaction, depression, burnout, self-criticism
and destructive coping strategies (Radey & Figley, 2007; Cicognani, Pietrantoni, Palestini, &
Prati, 2009 as cited by Tuttle, Stancel, Russo, Koskelainen, & Papazoglou, 2019).
The majority of the studies to date focus on the prevalence of compassion fatigue and
burnout among the policing community with very few studies related to police officers and
compassion satisfaction (e.g., Grant, Lavery, & Decarlo, 2019; Papazoglou & Chopko, 2017;
Turgoose, Glover, Barker, & Maddox, 2017). Most research on compassion satisfaction has
looked at nurses, doctors, and other professionals who work with vulnerable populations such as
children and the elderly (e.g., Bae et al., 2019). Therefore, it is prudent to look to studies among
other professions and the few studies that have been conducted among police officers to explore
the importance of educating police officers on the effects of burnout and compassion fatigue, as
well as the positive aspect of helping others, which can result in compassion satisfaction. At the
same time, police organizations should be exploring the role of self-transcendent emotions and
how it is through these emotions that police officers can remain resilient and healthy throughout
their policing career.
Effects of Good and Bad Stress
There are many studies that speak to the stress associated with police work (e.g.,
Andersen, Papazoglou, Nyman, Koskelainen, & Gustafsberg, 2015; Griffiths, Murphy, & Tatz,
2015; Karaffa et al., 2015). This includes everything from life and death situations to the
Compassion Satisfaction 4
cumulative stress that builds up over the years. The Working Mind First Responders (TWMFR),
which was originally termed Road to Mental Readiness (R2MR) was developed for the Canadian
Military and then tailored for first responder audiences, compares reactive stress and cumulative
stress by using the analogy of a car (The Working Mind First Responders, 2019). Reactive stress
is similar to quickly slamming on the brakes, whereas cumulative stress is the damage caused
over time by routinely hitting the brakes. Both reactive and cumulative types of stress are not
good, however, there are protective and preventative factors that one can implement to decrease
the wear and tear of stress.
Stressors in policing are complex and are not created solely from the nature of the job. Types
of stress in policing can be classified as organizational, operational and personal. Organizational
stressors are anything where decisions are made at a high level that can have a negative effect on
the officer. In the world of policing this can be seen as inflexible supervisors, not getting a
promotion or job position, budget cuts, lack of communication, little to no training opportunities,
unplanned transfer, lack of support from supervisors or co-workers, harassment, bullying and
other bureaucratic decisions.
Operational stressors are stressors that are inherent in the job. These include: high level of
risk and low level of control; shift work; overtime; staffing issues; organizational policies and
procedures; social media; making life or death decisions in a spit second; discretion; levels of
oversight; moral injury and the effects of not being able to help others.
Personal stressors are numerous. Some of these stressors reported by police officers include
family dynamics (sandwich generation, two working parents, and issues with children), financial
strains, physical health issues, and one’s regular commute. Coupled with the organizational and
operational stressors, which can result in missing important time and significant events and
Compassion Satisfaction 5
holidays with family, these personal stressors also contribute to high levels of stress among
police officers
Let’s face it, what police officers hear, see and do on a daily basis is unfathomable for
most. However, having some type of stress (optimal stress) is also important. Craig and Sprang
(2010) explain, “optimal stress, which can produce exhilaration, high motivation, mental
alertness, high energy, and sharp perceptions is the ideal, however, too often the levels of stress
become excessive and threaten to overwhelm the professional’s self-efficacy” (p. 322). This
optimal or good stress is the type of stress that police officers strive for in order to do their job
well. In other words, optimal stress is that heightened awareness to be able to respond to high
risk calls in a proficient and safe way. The concept of an optimal amount of stress arose from the
Yerkes Dodson Law (1908) that indicates that increasing stress is beneficial to performance
until some optimum level is reached, after which performance will decline. This optimal level or
good stress is also described as eustress, which is a term coined by Hens Selye in 1936. In short,
eustress is determined by one’s perception. What might be stressful for someone may not be
stressful for someone else. Think of professional athletes who thrive in competitions; for them,
this is the eustress or that perceived stress that allows them to perform at their optimum levels.
Importantly, there are techniques that police officers can learn to manage their internal levels of
distress and maximize the experience of eustress.
Burnout
In some instances there is confusion when it comes to burnout and compassion fatigue.
The words are sometimes interchanged and used in the same context. Although both represent
an overall exhaustion, they have well-defined meanings. Thompson et al. (2014) explain that
“burnout is defined as a psychological syndrome that develops in response to chronic emotional
Compassion Satisfaction 6
and interpersonal stress and is characterized by three features: emotional exhaustion;
depersonalization (a defense mechanism for caregivers and service providers to gain emotional
distance from clients); and feelings of ineffectiveness or lack of personal accomplishment” (p.
58). Further, strong contributors of burnout in policing can be described as the mental fatigue
police officers experience from job responsibilities and other factors, such as organizational
dysfunction (e.g., Maslach, 2003, p. 189)
The concept of burnout then not only encompasses the emotional exhaustion of helping
others but it also includes other stressors that are in police officers’ lives. Again, it is important
to distinguish that there are different stressors for everyone and not everyone is affected by the
same stress. For example, when looking at stressors faced by a police officer, most outsiders
would infer it is because of what they see on a daily basis and whom they deal with. However,
stress in policing is more than just traumatic events. Stress can include operational,
organizational, personal and/or a combination of one or more.
Another area that should not be ignored when looking at burnout is the effects of moral
injury. The term moral injury originated in the military but is now being used and even seen as
more of a stressor than operational stress injuries. Litz et al. (2009) explain moral injury as “the
impact of perpetrating, failing to prevent, or bearing witness to acts that transgress deeply held
moral beliefs and expectations and violate assumptions and beliefs about right and wrong and
personal goodness” (p. 697, 698). Symptoms of moral injury with police officers after specific
events (officer involved shootings) have resulted in officers feeling shame and guilt for their
actions.
Compassion Satisfaction 7
What is Compassion Fatigue?
In order to understand compassion fatigue, it is prudent to first define compassion.
Stellar et al. (2017), explains that “compassion is a feeling of concern for another’s suffering
accompanied by the motivation to help and is experienced toward a variety of targets ranging
from others who suffer emotionally to those in immediate danger” (p. 202). Compassion is
different from empathy as empathy is the ability to understand what someone is going through
by being able to put yourself in someone’s shoes. The main difference between the two is how
they affect one’s overall well-being. Empathy has the potential to lead to burnout as one feels
the pain of another where compassion is feeling the pain of another but, in a position where they
can help.
According to Burnett & Wahl (2015), compassion fatigue was “first identified by Joinson
(1992) among nurses who exhibited feelings of anger and helplessness or turned off their own
emotions in response to watching their patients suffering from major illnesses or trauma” (p.
318). As the role of a police officer has changed over time to more of a helper role as opposed to
strictly being a crime fighter the chances of getting compassion fatigue increases. Police officers
are now being trained to spend more time listening to their victims and establishing a rapport
instead of just getting the facts. These responsibilities now require officers to be more engaged
in their investigations, which contributes to compassion fatigue or, as Figley (1995) described it,
the “cost of caring.” This comes from dealing with victims of crime and those who have gone
through traumatizing and life altering events. One example is my work with sexual assault
victims who tell their story. In one case, I remember a victim who was reluctant to speak to a
male officer. So, when I volunteered to speak with her privately and she disclosed very intimate
and humiliating details, I got shivers down my back. I convinced her to re-tell her story on video
Compassion Satisfaction 8
but she said she would only do it if I was with her. Through her interview she was physically
sick when she talked about certain details and, being a very new officer I had doubts of my role
but knew that I had to help her. Looking back now, I became aware of the physical signs of
caring and how it took a toll on my emotional and mental state.
The issue with compassion fatigue it that it is typically not explained to police officers at
the beginning of their career as something that can happen to them over time. Unfortunately, in
most cases, compassion fatigue can result in negative feelings towards the job and subsequently
these feelings may result in negative behaviors with co-workers and members of the public.
Grant et al. (2019), “demonstrated that new recruits to policing usually enter the profession
highly committed with visions of making a difference in the world, however, over time, a
cynicism has been shown to set in with many that could be the first signs of compassion fatigue”
(p. 2). These signs of compassion fatigue often get dismissed as the officer having a bad attitude
or a low performance which can result in a performance improvement plan or even Police
Service Act
1
charges.
One interesting study regarding Child and Youth service providers of traumatized
children and adolescents stated that “risk factors for developing compassion fatigue include:
younger age, female gender, greater caseload, higher number of traumatized clients on caseload,
personal history of trauma and occupational stress” (De Figueiredo, Yetwin, Sherer, Radzik, &
Iverson, 2014, p. 287). Although the data were collected from individuals in Child and Youth
Services and the medical profession, the same factors can be applied to those in the policing
1
Police Service Act - is the law governing the conduct of police officers in the province of Ontario, Canada. In
addition to regulating the conduct of police officers, the law also established the Special Investigations Unit, a
civilian oversight agency which conducts independent investigations where police actions have resulted in the death
or injury of a civilian.
Compassion Satisfaction 9
profession. Throughout their careers, police officers are exposed to many different types of
victims, with limited training and education on the effects of these calls.
As an example, police officers are called to horrific situations, traumatic events and
scenes where they are dealing with people of all ages, ethnicities and socio-economic status who
may have just suffered a loss, been injured, or victimized in a number of different ways. It now
may be up to that same officer to have to be responsible for notifying family and/or friends about
the incident and the condition of victim. So police officers not only have to hear and live the
story first hand with the victim, they may have to re-tell the story, which opens them up for
further traumatization. The problem is further exacerbated if the police officer does not have
education or training on the effects of these calls and what they can do to alleviate the effects.
Compassion Satisfaction
As stated above compassion satisfaction gives police officers the fuel to continue in a
profession that is plagued with human suffering. How police officers arrive at feeling
compassion satisfaction is different is for every officer and could be felt at many stages during
one’s career. Usually during the first few years, police officers are preoccupied with just trying
to learn the job. It is when they start to become familiar with their role and begin to understand
the meaning of their work. For example, ways in which an officer can derive compassion
satisfaction is through supporting a victim through a statement, consoling families of deceased
loves ones or saving a child from an online pornography ring. It is through these acts of caring
and compassion they achieve an adrenaline rush or good feeling knowing that they have made a
positive difference in someone’s life. Kulkarni, Bell, Hartman and Herman-Smith (2013) explain
that “providing energy, insight, or strengthened resolve for helping and service, compassion
satisfaction is most commonly seen in heightened performance, positive attitude toward work,
Compassion Satisfaction 10
enhanced value, or greater hope for positive outcomes that resonate among successful social
workers” (p. 115). Therefore, when looking at the effects of compassion satisfaction, it is also
prudent to look at overall job satisfaction. In other words, people tend to thrive in their work
environment when they are generally satisfied with their work and the role they play. For
example, Brady and King (2018) explain that “understanding the underlying mechanisms of job
satisfaction can not only help with officer retention but also boost officer morale and
commitment to their profession by reminding them of aspects that bring them satisfaction” (p.
251).
Of course, this is different for everyone as people’s motivations for work and work ethic
varies. For example, money and promotion may motivate some people, where working in a
supportive environment, having a flexible supervisor and being able to contribute in a
meaningful may be motivational factors for others. Regardless, it is important to further explore
compassion satisfaction in the policing community as a way for officers to deal with negative
aspects of policing. According to Miller, Mire, and Kim (2009), “compassion satisfaction can be
pivotal in helping law enforcement appreciate the value of their services in their communities”
(p. 421). One of the ways this can be fostered in police organizations is consistent feedback
from supervisors regarding officer’s performance. In most organizations, feedback mostly came
in a yearly or bi-yearly performance appraisal. In other words, if there were issues this often
catches the officer off guard.
Further, Ahmad, Islam, and Saleem (2019) addressed the retention of employees and
how to reduce members from leaving the organization. They found that Human Resource
managers and policymakers should “focus on employees’ job satisfaction as it negatively
relates to leave intention. Particular to the public sector, employees’ job satisfaction does
Compassion Satisfaction 11
not depend upon compensation, but career growth and grooming” (Ahmad et al., 2019, p. 9).
They further suggest that one of the ways to retain employees is to provide them with an
environment to learn, encourage the sharing of ideas and promote teamwork. These
opportunities increase an employee’s confidence and allow them to feel valued and to take
pride in their work.
In police organizations, job satisfaction was reported in high functioning units or
teams (Milliard, 2010). For example, at York Regional Police in Ontario, Canada, the Hold-
Up Unit consists of a close-knit group of people who share the same work ethic, drive and
ideas. There is also a high level of trust amongst the group which ultimately helps with
their success and overall job satisfaction.
In policing, job satisfaction was described among officers working in the Internet Child
Exploitation (ICE) Unit (Milliard, 2010). These individuals are considered hard working, goal
driven, passionate and determined to not only saving innocent children but to bring those
responsible to justice. Most times officers selected for these Units know what they have signed
up for and understand that they will be seeing and hearing heinous details of the worst things
being done to children. However, their compassion satisfaction is derived from catching the
“worst people in the world and saving children” (Milliard, 2010).
What Works?
Kobasa (1979) looked at high level executives who worked in stressful situations. She
primarily focused on the hardiness of workers in general when it comes to stress. Hardiness is
defined as a personality style that allows individuals to overcome stress in a proactive and
constructive way through the use of goal setting and personal values to adjust to a new
environment. Fyhn, Fjell and Johnsen (2016) further explain in their research with police
Compassion Satisfaction 12
officers that hardiness is the trait whereby one’s worldview or self-awareness determines how
they will control their own circumstances and stress-related outcomes and that hardy individuals
assign meaning to circumstances that for others may be perceived as stressful. For example,
officers can allow themselves to express their emotions after a traumatic call and take solace in
the fact that they have done their best and that they cannot control the outcome.
In addition to having a hardy personality, police organizations are realizing the benefits of
providing training for police officers to learn techniques to help them through stressful situations
and to improve their resiliency. For example in TWMFR course listed above there are four
strategies to help first responders get through stressful situations which include: goal setting;
visualization; positive self-talk; and, tactical breathing.
These strategies that are promoted on the TWMFR course were adopted from the United
States Navy Seals training that promotes the “Big Four”. In an effort to increase the number of
recruits to successfully get through the Navy Sea, Air, and Land Teams (SEALs) training, the
creators of the program looked to neuroscience. In other words, Navy SEALs are confronted
with life-threatening situations and in order to get through these situations they must learn to
manage their fears. It has “been shown that humans can minimize the time before the fear
stimulus reaches the frontal cortex so that the decision is more conscious. It basically means that
the response from the frontal cortex should be as close as possible to the response from the
amygdala” (Vlad, 2015, para. 11). For police officers, this includes understanding the flight,
fight and freeze response and knowing that there are automatic physiological symptoms that
occur in one’s body during high stress situations. During these high stress situations, our brains
are hijacked and the ability to make rational decisions is sometimes difficult. However,
practicing and applying the “Big Four” can help officers work through these situations.
Compassion Satisfaction 13
The first is goal setting. The idea is that when a person is going through a stressful situation,
they can calm the amygdala by setting goals and focusing on important things in their lives.
Goal setting is also encouraged through the SMART principle – specific, measurable, attainable,
realistic and time – bound. The second is visualization. This includes a mental rehearsal of your
actions in your mind so when a real situation occurs you will be ready. Visualizing stressful
situations in your mind over and over again will help someone when they encounter it for real.
The third is self-talk. Positive self-talk can help override signals to the amygdala. Using
positive cue words such as, “I am going to win”, “I got this”, “I will succeed” can help when
faced with threatening and stressful situations. The fourth is tactical breathing. The idea is to
breath slowly in an effort to reduce the effects of panic and to promote relaxation. The goal is to
use the Big Four in tandem and to practice on a regular basis to be most effective.
In addition to having a hardy personality, looking at the self-transcendent emotions in
relation to stress and resiliency can also explain how people can experience greater compassion
satisfaction. Self-transcendent emotions are a set of positive emotions that “have the capacity to
encourage individuals to transcend their own momentary needs and desires and focus on those of
another” (Stellar et al., 2017, p. 201)
The self-transcendent emotions are important because they have the ability to increase one’s
compassion satisfaction. As police officers, being aware of these emotions is important in a
profession that is plagued with negativity, heartbreak and human suffering. Finding
opportunities to be able to express self-transcendent emotions is important for the promotion of
resiliency in police work, but it is also a reminder that within so much turmoil there are moments
when officers can take satisfaction knowing that they have made a difference in someone’s life.
Compassion Satisfaction 14
Gratitude
One of the ways to encourage self-transcendent emotions in police officers is to first
educate officers on their meaning and their importance. For example, gratitude or a “grateful
disposition is the tendency to acknowledge the positive values, benefits, and experiences in daily
life” (McCanlies, Mnatsakanova, Andrew, Burchfiel, & Violanti, 2014, p. 406). Similarly,
gratitude is associated with positive emotions, satisfaction and optimism (McCanlies et al.,
2014).
Gratitude can be expressed in many ways. However, police officers should be taught about
the importance of gratitude and how it offsets the negative aspects of the policing profession.
Some strategies of gratitude can include “checking your complaints at the door.” In a lot of
situations police officers like to complain about stuff that is really out of their control. This
constant complaining fills one with negative feelings and attitudes. These negative feelings and
attitudes then are often projected onto others. Instead of dwelling on the negative, police officers
should try to focus their energy on what is positive in their life. If there is a specific issue about
which the officer is upset, the focus should be on trying to find solutions to solve the issues,
rather than just complaining about them.
Another strategy of gratitude is to acknowledge positive moments throughout the day.
Officers can write in a journal or on sticky notes to document each, even small, positive moment
and how it made them feel. The positive experiences to keep track of can be as minor as a
“thank you for your service, officer” or a wave from a child or as significant as a victim crying in
an officer’s arms. This gratitude ritual serves to train officers to pay attention to the small
successes even in the midst of a day filled with lots of strife and tragedy.
Compassion Satisfaction 15
Lastly, gratitude can be expressed by recognizing or thanking someone. Although this
small act of gratitude tends to be very sparse in most police organizations as we are quick to
point out faults or to criticize, focusing one’s attention on appreciation is a key strategy to
prevent compassion fatigue. For example, officers can tell co-workers and supervisors that they
appreciated the assistance or guidance on a particular call. They can tell a witness or a victim
that they value and respect their willingness to come forward. And, officers can remember to
thank their spouses, children, and loved ones for their support and sacrifice. These small acts of
gratitude are inexpensive ways to express positive feelings toward others, which benefit both the
officer and the recipient of their gratitude.
Gratitude is often portrayed by police officers who become Peer Support Team members
within their organizations. It is through a traumatic event, a life altering incident, or a mental
health struggle where these officers use their own experiences to help fellow officers. They learn
to view their own struggles through a lens of self-growth and discovery rather than one of self-
stigma or career ending. It is a courageous form of gratitude that they want to share their story in
an effort to help others. A study by McCanlies et al. (2014) found that individuals who scored
high on gratitude scales are also generally satisfied with life, and have greater self-esteem which
is an important indicator of how police officers will cope with a traumatic events. In other
words, higher levels of gratitude have been found to increase the resiliency of police officers
who encounter stressful situations and traumatic incidents.
Appreciation
In addition to gratitude, appreciation is an emotion that can help people see the positive
and not focus so much on the negative. Appreciation has been defined as “acknowledging the
value and meaning of something—an event, a person, a behavior, an object—and feeling a
Compassion Satisfaction 16
positive emotional connection to it” (Adler & Fagley, 2005, p. 81). In my own experiences as a
police officer, appreciation tends to fade as one goes through their career. Whether it is through
cynicism or general dissatisfaction for the job, it is sometimes hard to remember why someone
decided to become a police officer. Instead of appreciating the benefits and opportunities of the
policing profession, police officers tend to get wrapped up in the political bureaucracy whether
this is failing to get promoted, not getting a desired job or the consistent change in organizational
process. As a result, police officers forget to appreciate the positive aspects of their job and in
some cases end up dwelling on the negative. This negative loop can be broken through support
from supervisors, co-workers, family and friends. Being appreciative for what is important in
one’s life can help one get through all of the adverse experiences that come with being a police
officer.
Awe
Being inspired in any position generates positive emotions and overall job satisfaction,
which explains the next self-transcendent emotion called awe. Awe can be explained as the
overwhelming feeling of wonder and admiration. In some cases, a person does not immediately
understand feelings of awe, which can lead to admiration and inspiration. Police officers who
experience awe explained the emotion as what one feels when they remember the reason why
they became a police officer. In other words, police officers recognize and focus on the higher
purpose of their calling and nobility of their profession. Another example of awe is when police
officers see the fruits of their labor and know that they are making a difference. This sense of
awe can be immediate or come years later through communication from a victim who tells the
officer how they changed their life. Knowing this as an officer revitalizes our career decision
and builds our compassion satisfaction.
Compassion Satisfaction 17
Role of the Police Organization
In an effort to increase officer retention and maintain officer wellness, police
organizations are starting to make mental health a priority. One of these ways is to educate
supervisors on the importance of knowing their people. Police supervisors who are trained to
recognize signs and symptoms of when officers may be suffering and to provide supports early
will assist in fostering an environment to promote compassion satisfaction and prevent
compassion fatigue. For example, Andersen and Papazoglou (2015) suggest that teaching police
about the importance of compassion satisfaction can help to shield the officer from compassion
fatigue and to promote officers resilience.
Policing was originally based on a reactive model. A call came in and the police were
dispatched. Through the years, other models of policing were introduced to keep up with
changing societies and social needs. The same is true for the training and education of police
officers. Typically, police training relied on physical fitness and forms of strength and
endurance however, psychological and social supports are just as important. Encouraging
officers to be proactive in maintaining their overall health and to put mechanisms in place to
encourage their mental and physical health throughout their career is just as important as their
physical fitness. Therefore, education on the signs and symptoms of when one’s mental health is
declining and the importance of social and professional supports is also required.
In addition to educating police supervisors, it is also important for mental health professionals
who treat police officers to understand the police culture and the unique stressors faced by police
officers. Although the TWMFR course is mandatory in police services in Ontario, topics such as
burnout and compassion fatigue are rarely discussed.
Compassion Satisfaction 18
Self-Awareness
Self-awareness is the general understanding of one’s personality, emotions, strengths,
weakness, thoughts and beliefs. In the policing profession, it is important to have this self-
awareness as an indicator of a sense of empowerment to know where you want to go in life and
what you want to succeed. There is internal self-awareness in how you see yourself and external
self-awareness in how others see you. Being self-aware is another aspect that can assist officers
to achieve a level of compassion satisfaction. For example, in a study by Wagaman, Geiger,
Shockley and Segal (2015) they found that there is a “relationship between self-awareness and
compassion satisfaction, and that self-awareness training may help to prevent burnout by
increasing compassion satisfaction” (p. 202).
When working with police officers and liaising with psychologists, the biggest issue that
comes up in maintaining good mental health is self-awareness. Unfortunately, the police culture
and the old school mentality regarding mental health or reaching out for help is one of the
biggest barriers in allowing one to be self-aware. Instead, as police officers we make excuses
when we are suffering and in most cases take care of everyone else before we take care of
ourselves. Knowing when we are stressed and taking the time for our own self-care is another
aspect that should be encouraged during police training as recruits and at many intervals in one’s
career. Examples on how to achieve self-awareness as police officers include: writing down
goals and assessing where you are in your life and where you want to go. Also, seeking out
feedback from others regarding your behaviours is important to assess if people see you as you
see yourself.
Compassion Satisfaction 19
Conclusion
Burnout is more closely related to stressors at work where compassion fatigue has been
associated with the amount of time interacting with traumatized clients. Both can be managed
and prevented with the appropriate awareness, education, training and self-care. However,
everyone has a role to play. Policing is a stressful occupation but at the same time a rewarding
one. In order to experience compassion satisfaction, one has to be part of a supportive
environment that allows and encourages growth and for police officers to come forward when
they are affected by aspects of the job. It also includes a deeper understanding of self and
emotions, which are aspects that police officers are not educated about when starting their career.
There is research to suggest that emotions such as gratitude, appreciation and awe are positive
feelings that lessen stress, make people feel good, and can help increase police officers’
resilience. However, similar to the “Big Four,” compassion satisfaction needs to be
acknowledged and practiced in order to achieve its benefits.
One way is to educate police officers on the importance of their role and how they can
positively affect so many lives. It is easy to get lost in the bureaucratic negativity of the police
environment; however, police officers need to be reminded of the reason why they became
police officers in the first place. Conducting research with investigators in the Internet Child
Exploitation Unit, it was clearly evident that one officer who was flourishing and felt
compassion satisfaction had the ability to not internalize the work. Although this sounds easy, it
comes with years of experience and being self-aware. What was also interesting is that there was
also a sense of doubt because he was questioning “why” he was not affected by this type of work
and was actually excelling. In a sense, he almost felt guilty for doing so well. He needed to
understand that yes, some officers may be affected by certain types of police work but, others
Compassion Satisfaction 20
may not and this is OK. So making officers aware that it is fine to achieve this level of
compassion satisfaction, in the face of human suffering, is normal.
When asked about compassion satisfaction in one of my courses, a student and serving police
officer wrote:
Compassion satisfaction is the pleasure and benefit you experience while on the job. As a
first responder, there are several emotions that are encountered throughout any given shift
due to the nature of the work. These emotions range from the negative to the positive and
in no particular order as it depends on the type of calls that you attend to. As a first
responder, there is no greater or more positive experience or emotion than that of helping
another in need and to see the benefit of your actions to reach that result (M. Wise,
personal communication, March 16, 2019).
As a serving police officer, educator and student, I was unfamiliar with compassion
satisfaction but clearly knew about burnout and compassion fatigue. It was not until my role in
the Peer Support Unit that I fully understood and embraced compassion satisfaction. It was
through mandatory mental health training where police officers would come up to me after class
and explained they were not doing well. Being able to peer support them, provide them with
resources for getting help and later learning that these simple steps prevented them from going
off work and actually enjoying their job again was very rewarding. For me compassion
satisfaction was the joy of being able to look after the well-being of our officers and their
families. Knowing that I have had a part in assisting police officers (in my organization and
other police services) to remain healthy at work at the same time assisting those to recover and
return to work from a mental or physical injury has been the greatest reward of my career.
Compassion Satisfaction 21
Compassion Satisfaction 22
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