Treating Bruised Badges

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Lucas Rubim ◽  
Felipe Rubim ◽  
Konstantinos Papazoglou ◽  
Daniel M. Blumberg
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Moral Distress ◽  
Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Moral Injury ◽  
Job Dissatisfaction ◽  
Psychological Interventions ◽  
Emotional Difficulties ◽  
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy

Policing may lead officers to physical, psychological, and emotional distress. Nonetheless, there is an additional, albeit less studied, threat to officers' well-being. Moral risks, an umbrella term encompassing two interrelated moral struggles—moral distress and moral injury—exacerbate officers' emotional difficulties, spiritual distress, and job dissatisfaction, as well as increase the likelihood of officer misconduct. However, there are psychological interventions that help to minimize the intensity of the psychological and behavioral problems associated with these moral risks and facilitate officers' recovery from these difficulties. This chapter examines the utilization of cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, and other techniques to treat the moral suffering of law enforcement personnel. It provides practical suggestions for using the strategies of these modalities to increase police officers' well-being.

scholarly journals Adolescents’ Bipolar Experiences and Suicide Risk: Well-Being and Mental Health Difficulties as Mediators

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 3024
Author(s):  
Ascensión Fumero ◽  
Rosario J. Marrero ◽  
Alicia Pérez-Albéniz ◽  
Eduardo Fonseca-Pedrero
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Emotional Difficulties ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Mediation Analyses ◽  
Mental Health Difficulties ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Age Range

Bipolar disorder is usually accompanied by a high suicide risk. The main aim was to identify the risk and protective factors involved in suicide risk in adolescents with bipolar experiences. Of a total of 1506 adolescents, 467 (31%) were included in the group reporting bipolar experiences or symptoms, 214 males (45.8%) and 253 (54.2%) females. The mean age was 16.22 (SD = 1.36), with the age range between 14 and 19. Suicide risk, behavioral and emotional difficulties, prosocial capacities, well-being, and bipolar experiences were assessed through self-report. Mediation analyses, taking gender as a moderator and controlling age as a covariate, were applied to estimate suicide risk. The results indicated that the effect of bipolar experiences on suicide risk is mediated by behavioral and emotional difficulties rather than by prosocial behavior and subjective well-being. Specifically, emotional problems, problems with peers, behavior problems, and difficulties associated with hyperactivity were the most important variables. This relationship was not modulated by gender. However, the indirect effects of some mediators varied according to gender. These results support the development of suicide risk prevention strategies focused on reducing emotional difficulties, behavioral problems, and difficulties in relationships with others.

Critical Challenges to Police Officer Wellness

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooke McQuerrey Tuttle ◽  
Daniel M. Blumberg ◽  
Konstantinos Papazoglou
Keyword(s):  
Stress Management ◽  
Compassion Fatigue ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Emotional Regulation ◽  
Critical Incident ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Moral Injury ◽  
Community Relations ◽  
Police Stress ◽  
Emotional Instability

Police officers face unique challenges in the line of duty that threaten their health and well-being. Officers experience organizational, operational, community-related, and personal stressors ranging from shift work and critical incident response to public pressures related to police-community relations and social media. Exposure to police stress and trauma presents external challenges to wellness which makes officers vulnerable to experiencing compassion fatigue, moral injury, and burnout. Compassion fatigue, resulting from caring for those who suffer, is associated with feelings of anger, anxiety, guilt, hopelessness, and powerlessness. Other symptoms may include emotional instability, diminished self-esteem, self-harm, inability to concentrate, hypervigilance, disorientation, rigidity, apathy, perfectionism, and preoccupation to trauma. Furthermore, moral injury occurs when officers witness or take part in acts that violate their deeply held moral beliefs, which in turn carries implications for psychological and spiritual well-being. The interconnectedness of challenges to officer wellness are detrimental to physical, cognitive, emotional, spiritual, behavioral, and social health. Negative health outcomes include risk for sleep disorders, cardiovascular disease, destructive coping, posttraumatic stress disorder, and suicide. Implications from prior research with police, other frontline professionals, veterans, and military personnel have led to a number of interventions and techniques that can potentially promote wellness and effective stress management for police officers. Training related to stress management and wellness promotion have been found to significantly improve officers’ performance in the line of duty and overall health. This includes viewing wellness as a perishable skill, requiring ongoing practice, updated training, and numerous outside resources (e.g., psychological services, posttrauma intervention, peer support, and chaplaincy). Stress management techniques, gratitude and appreciation letters, mindfulness, and other community-oriented programs are some examples of effective strategies to promote the health of the law enforcement community. Furthermore, compassion satisfaction, emotional intelligence, and emotional regulation play a significant role in helping officers maintain stability in their personal and professional lives while capably serving their communities.

scholarly journals Compromised Conscience: A Scoping Review of Moral Injury Among Firefighters, Paramedics, and Police Officers

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liana M. Lentz ◽  
Lorraine Smith-MacDonald ◽  
David Malloy ◽  
R. Nicholas Carleton ◽  
Suzette Brémault-Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Scoping Review ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Public Safety ◽  
Moral Distress ◽  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Traumatic Event ◽  
Moral Injury ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Public Safety Personnel ◽  
Safety Personnel

BackgroundPublic Safety Personnel (e.g., firefighters, paramedics, and police officers) are routinely exposed to human suffering and need to make quick, morally challenging decisions. Such decisions can affect their psychological wellbeing. Participating in or observing an event or situation that conflicts with personal values can potentially lead to the development of moral injury. Common stressors associated with moral injury include betrayal, inability to prevent death or harm, and ethical dilemmas. Potentially psychologically traumatic event exposures and post-traumatic stress disorder can be comorbid with moral injury; however, moral injury extends beyond fear to include spiritual, cognitive, emotional or existential struggles, which can produce feelings of severe shame, guilt, and anger.ObjectiveThis scoping review was designed to identify the extant empirical research regarding the construct of moral injury, its associated constructs, and how it relates to moral distress in firefighters, paramedics, and police officers.MethodsA systematic literature search of peer-reviewed research was conducted using databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, APA PsychInfo, CINHAL PLUS, Web of Science, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar. Included studies were selected based on the inclusion criteria before being manually extracted and independently screened by two reviewers.ResultsThe initial database search returned 777 articles, 506 of which remained after removal of duplicates. Following review of titles, abstracts, and full texts, 32 studies were included in the current review. Participants in the articles were primarily police officers, with fewer articles focusing on paramedics and firefighters. There were two studies that included mixed populations (i.e., one study with police officers, firefighters, and other emergency service workers; one study with paramedic and firefighter incident commanders). Most studies were qualitative and focused on four topics: values, ethical decision-making, organizational betrayal, and spirituality.ConclusionPublic safety organizations appear to recognize the experience of moral distress or moral injury among public safety personnel that results from disconnects between personal core values, formal and informal organizational values, vocational duties, and expectations. Further research is needed to better understand moral distress or moral injury specific to public safety personnel and inform training and treatment in support of public safety personnel mental health.

scholarly journals Self-care strategies in response to nurses’ moral injury during COVID-19 pandemic

2020 ◽  
pp. 096973302096182
Author(s):  
Fahmida Hossain ◽  
Ariel Clatty
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Moral Distress ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Moral Injury ◽  
Time Constraints ◽  
Healthcare Staff ◽  
Psychological Well Being ◽  
Protective Gear ◽  
Nursing Professionals

These are strange and unprecedented times in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most frontline healthcare professionals have never witnessed anything like this before. As a result, staff may experience numerous and continuous traumatic events, which in many instances, will negatively affect their psychological well-being. Particularly, nurses face extraordinary challenges in response to shifting protocols, triage, shortages of resources, and the astonishing numbers of patients who require care in expedited time constraints. As most healthcare workers are passionate nursing professionals, frustration and often a sense of powerlessness occur when they find themselves unable to provide needed care to their patients. The overwhelming number of deaths, patients isolated and dying alone, and the ever-present fear of being infected and then infecting colleagues, family, friends due to the lack of protective gear or known protocols takes its toll on emotional and psychological well-being. For nurses, the experience of this significant (hopefully once-in-a-lifetime) event can inflict on-going moral injury. Nurses affected by this trauma require education, coping tools, and therapy to help avoid or alleviate the adverse effects on their well-being. Institutions must provide these resources to tend to the well-being of their healthcare staff, during and beyond the pandemic. This article aims to investigate moral distress—considering it as a moral injury—and offer tools and recommendations to support healthcare nurses as they respond to this crisis and its aftermath.

scholarly journals The Effectiveness of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy on Resilience and Psychological Well-Being of Couples Referred to Counseling Centers

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (73) ◽  
pp. 99-121
Author(s):  
ahmad arabzadeh ◽  
mansour sodani ◽  
Mehrangiz shoa kazemi ◽  
masoud shahbazi ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Counseling Centers ◽  
Psychological Well Being

Moral Disability, Moral Injury, and the Flight from Vulnerability

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia L. Warren
Keyword(s):  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Moral Injury ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Moral Reflection ◽  
Moral Value ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Moral Conviction ◽  
Moral Importance

This chapter explores the concept of moral disability, identifying two types. The first type involves disabling conditions that distort one’s process of moral reflection. Examples include the incapacity to consider the long-term future, to feel empathy for others, and to be honest with oneself. A noteworthy example of self-deception is systematically denying one’s own—and humanity’s—vulnerability to the power of others, to accidents, and to having one’s well-being linked to that of others and the eco-system. Acknowledging vulnerability often requires a new sense of self. The second type includes incapacities directly resulting from ‘moral injury’—debilitating, self-inflicted harms when one violates a deeply held moral conviction, even if trying to remain true to another moral value. Examining moral disabilities highlights the moral importance of self-identity. More progress may be made on controversial issues if we discuss who we are, how we connect, and how we can heal.

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