Police Stress: An Analysis of the Impact on Child Sexual Exploitation Investigators
Abstract
The psychological and physiological effects of work-related stress on law enforcement
causes high morbidity and mortality rates and rates of alcoholism, substance abuse,
domestic violence, and suicide higher than the national average. The purpose of this
explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was to examine whether work-related stress
experienced by child sexual exploitation (CSE) and child sexual abuse (CSA)
investigators differ from that of other duty assigned subgroups. I used Karasek’s job
demands-control model as the theoretical framework for this study. I conducted the study
within a medium sized law enforcement agency in eastern Washington State. The sample
in the quantitative study consisted of 27 law enforcement officers from 17 duty-assigned
subgroups who completed McCreary and Thompson’s Operational Police Stress Survey
(PSQ-Op) and Organizational Police Stress Questionnaire (PSQ-Org). The sample in the
qualitative study consisted of 7 law enforcement officers who answered 5 researcher
developed questions during a telephone interview. Descriptive statistics, a Pearson’s
correlation analysis, and linear regression analysis of the PSQ-Op and PSQ-Org revealed
no significant difference in reported work-related stress experienced within the dutyassigned
subgroups, revealing no correlative difference of stress experienced by CSE and
CSA investigators and the other duty assigned subgroups due to job demands and job
control. Content analysis of the qualitative interviews revealed themes that supported the
finding of the quantitative study. The findings of this study support the need for law
enforcement leaders to take preemptive measures to mitigate the effects of work-related
stress on all law enforcement officers.
Description
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Article
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Keywords
stress, law enforcement, investigation, exploitation cases
Citation
Simmons, D. L. (2018). Police Stress: An Analysis of the Impact on Child Sexual Exploitation Investigators. Walden University.