Can Using a Smartphone Application Improve the Ability of Law Enforcement Officers to Recognize Commercially Sexually Exploited Children and Report Them to Child Welfare Authorities?
Abstract
The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a crime of abuse
that is frequently unrecognized because mandated reporters may be unfamiliar
with the indicators. Commercially sexually exploited minors participate in sex acts
in exchange for money, goods, or services. At least 200,000 American children are
believed to be victims of this crime each year (County Welfare Director
Association of California, 2015). Victims often go undiscovered and experience
significant health issues. A public health model is used to explain the context of
victimization and the need for interdisciplinary collaboration to discover victims
and connect them with needed services. A randomized controlled study with a pretest and post-test design was used to determine if a smartphone application (app)
could be used by law enforcement officers, who frequently encounter these
victims in their work, as an electronic decision pathway. One hundred and three
subjects from five police agencies were surveyed in a classroom setting. The
results showed that the difference between the pre-test and post-test scores was
significant (p < 0.001) in the intervention group and that the use of an app may be
beneficial to identifying victims and promoting interdisciplinary collaboration.
Future direction includes adaptation of the app for use by other disciplines such as
health care professionals and educators.
Description
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Article
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Keywords
CSEC, exploitation, domestic minor sex trafficking, law enforcement, reporting, technology
Citation
Goldman, S. (2018). Can Using a Smartphone Application Improve the Ability of Law Enforcement Officers to Recognize Commercially Sexually Exploited Children and Report Them to Child Welfare Authorities?.