Have You Ever Felt Betrayed By The People You Work With?

Researchers Have Linked That Feeling To Moral Injury

Moral Injury Is Assumed To Belong To Soldiers

It Has Also Been Studied In Police And Paramedics And Firefighters

One Large UK Study Measured Betrayal In Police Officers And Staff

There Betrayal Mattered More Than The Other Kinds Of Moral Injury

THIS NEWSLETTER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. NOTHING IN THIS CONTENT CONSTITUTES MEDICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, OR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. ALWAYS CONSULT A QUALIFIED HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL BEFORE MAKING ANY HEALTH RELATED DECISIONS.

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Moral Injury Research Began With War Veterans

Most Of It Still Focuses On Veterans Especially In America And Canada

In 2021 A Canadian Team Reviewed Studies Of Public Safety Workers

That Means Firefighters And Paramedics And Police Officers

Their Search Returned 777 Articles

That Left 506 After Duplicates Were Removed

After Screening 32 Studies Were Included

Most Were About Police Officers

Fewer Looked At Paramedics And Firefighters

Firefighters Appeared In Only Three

In 19 Of Them The Data Came Mostly From Interviews

The Studies Covered Four Topics

Two Were Values And Ethical Decision Making

The Other Two Were Organizational Betrayal And Spirituality

In One Study US Police Named Times Their Organization Was Unfair

Four Main Events Came Up

Disciplinary Action Was One

Another Was How Citizen Complaints Were Resolved

The Last Two Were Clashes With Supervisors And Blocked Careers

Anger Was The Most Common Reaction At 75 Percent

Officers Became More Skeptical Of Their Organization

They Also Felt It Did Not Support Them

A 2024 Study Surveyed Police Officers And Staff Across The UK

All Of Them Investigated Child Sexual Abuse Material

That Work Often Means Viewing Graphic Images And Videos Of Children

Contact With Victims And Their Families Is Often Part Of It Too

The National Police Chiefs' Council Sent Out The Survey

It First Covered England And Wales Only

Scotland And Northern Ireland Were Added At Police Request

The Final Sample Was 661 People

They Answered A Slightly Adapted Moral Injury Events Scale

It Covered Three Facets Of Moral Injury

One Was Performing Morally Questionable Acts

Another Was Witnessing Others Act Immorally

The Third Was Betrayal

That Meant Colleagues Or Supervisors Or Institutions Failing Morally

The Survey Also Measured Depression And Anxiety And PTSD

Wellbeing Was Recorded As Well

Two Risk Factors Were Viewing The Material And Contact With Victims

A Last Set Of Questions Asked If People Felt Successful And Supported

The Results Suggested Substantially Elevated Depression And Anxiety

183 People Or 27.7 Percent May Have Had Major Depression

160 People Or 24.2 Percent May Have Had Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Only 8.7 Percent Met The Criteria For PTSD Or Complex PTSD

Then The Researchers Compared The Three Facets

Betrayal Was By Far The Strongest Predictor Of Mental Health

Witnessing Others Act Immorally Predicted No Mental Health Measure

Questionable Acts Predicted More PTSD And Lower Wellbeing

That Effect On PTSD Was Much Smaller Than Betrayal's

The Authors Wrote That Betrayal By Colleagues Seemed To Drive Outcomes

Earlier Military And Police Samples Showed A Different Pattern

In Those Samples A Person's Own Wrongs Were The Top PTSD Predictor

Feeling Successful And Supported Predicted Better Outcomes Overall

That Included Less Moral Injury And Less Depression

Its Effect Was More Than Double Either Risk Factor

Self-Blame And Rumination Went With Worse Outcomes

Seeking Social Support Was Linked To Better Ones

The Sample Was Self Selected And May Not Represent All Such Staff

These Data Were Correlational And Cannot Show Cause

The Authors Advised Caution When Comparing It With Other Samples