In scientific literature, law enforcement work is described as stressful and accompanied by a higher risk of psychological complications. Most at risk are officers working on child abuse and child exploitation cases. The main goal of the work was to identify how the population of Slovene detectives working in the field of youth criminality perceive, cope with, and respond to daily work challenges. I also evaluated the prevalence of secondary traumatization and the level of resilience in the population. I collected the data with a structured interview, Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale, and Resilience Scale for Adults. Twenty criminalists participated – 84 % of the whole population. Results support previous research that both organizational and operational stressors present a significant psychological burden. The most hazardous operational stressor is the material showing sexual abuse of children. Among organizational stressors, most frequent are paperwork and lack of support and understanding in the organization. Most detectives successfully cope with the mentioned challenges. The most used coping strategies are the support of work colleagues, planning of work, and sporting activities. The percentage of those with acute symptoms of secondary traumatic stress is less than 10 %. On the Resilience Scale for Adults, most results are slightly above average, except for subscales of social resources and family cohesion, where the results are slightly below the average of the normative population. This is the first study that focuses only on Slovene detectives that work in the field of youth criminality. The conclusions are congruent with previous research on the subject. Practical implications may be of help for psychologists that work with detectives. Results can also support the development and improvement of already existing preventive and intervention programs in the organization.
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