I was encouraged to note that an organization is looking for ways to maintain a high level of motivation for their child sexual abuse investigators. I think all such organizations need to do this more often. As I discussed in my book, we need highly motivated child sexual abuse investigators so potentially high-risk situations can be investigated more thoroughly and in a timely manner.
Investigating child sexual abuse situations can certainly be extremely stressful. In many situations the likely abuser is someone close to the family – either a family member or a close relative or a friend. That’s what makes it even more stressful. Finding reliable information and following up with family members and friends could be extremely challenging.
It is even more important to maintain high motivation level for child sexual abuse investigators when it comes to a preventive situation – i.e., investigating a situation that could possibly lead to abuse. In these situations it can be very frustrating since there has not yet been a report of an actual abuse. However, we must keep in mind that even one incident of sexual abuse can scar the victim for the rest of his or her life. That is why it is critical that we maintain focus on preventive investigations and provide appropriate training for these investigators for this very critical assignment.