Association of Authoritarianism, Compassion Fatigue, and Compassion Satisfaction among Police Officers in North America: An Exploration

Judith P. Andersen

University of Toronto, Canada

Konstantinos Papazoglou

Ontario Correctional Institute, Canada

Peter Collins

University of Toronto, Canada

Abstract:

The aims of this study were to first examine the rates of compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and burnout among North American officers. Second, we examined factors (e.g., authoritarian attitudes, years of service) that were associated with compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and burnout. Of the total participants (n=1,351), 23% reported high or extreme compassion fatigue and 31.7% of reported high or extreme compassion satisfaction. Compassion fatigue was positively correlated with burnout and negatively correlated with compassion satisfaction. Compassion fatigue was positively correlated with authoritarian attitudes. Results from a moderation analysis revealed that the relationship between compassion fatigue and burnout is not dependent on authoritarian attitudes

Keyword:

Authoritarian attitudes, Burnout, Compassion fatigue, Compassion satisfaction, Police.