RT Article
T1 Secondary Trauma and Parenting Practices in Internet Crimes against Children Task Force Investigators
JF American journal of criminal justice
VO 45
IS 6
SP 1080
OP 1099
A1 Stewart, Jonathan
A2 Witte, Tricia H.
LA English
YR 2020
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1764206312
AB Investigating cases of child pornography requires daily exposure to sexually explicit material involving children and may have negative implications on the mental well-being of those in this line of work. This study aimed to identify whether secondary traumatic stress symptoms were associated with participants’ parenting behaviors and concerns about their own children’s use of the internet. Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force workers ( n = 212) completed online questionnaires measuring work exposure to sexually explicit material, secondary traumatic stress symptoms, and parenting behaviors. Professionals in this field reported a wide range of secondary trauma symptoms, and their parenting behaviors were both directly and indirectly (via secondary trauma) affected by prolonged exposure to sexually explicit material involving children. Internet monitoring behaviors were more prevalent for parents of younger children, and mothers’ parenting behaviors were more strongly associated with secondary trauma symptoms than were fathers. Results have implications for mental health and parenting services for professionals in this field.
K1 Internet crimes against children
K1 Child abuse investigators
K1 Parenting
K1 SECONDARY traumatic stress
DO 10.1007/s12103-020-09530-8