Identifying and Managing Stress in Child Pornography and Child Exploitation Investigators

Abstract

In the last decade, law enforcement personnel have increasingly been tasked to police the internet in an effort to staunch the production and distribution of child pornography and to investigate computer-facilitated child exploitation. These investigative personnel have encountered a range of assignment-specific challenges and strains as a result of their involvement in this taxing and novel investigative activity. In some cases, the cumulative effects of these strains, together with repeated exposure to highly disturbing images of abused children, have resulted in stress reactions that have commanded the attention of police managers and police psychologists alike. The present article is intended to provide an overview of the stresses unique to child exploitation and pornography investigations, common reactions to these stressors, procedural safeguards to mitigate the impact of this high-risk assignment, and two model programs designed to meet the needs of the current generation of “cyber cops”.