NCJ Number
158339
Date Published
1995
Length
86 pages
Annotation
The National Police Research Unit in Australia has been asked to develop a national psychological screening process for police applicant selection, and this report examines the use of psychological tests.
Abstract
When developing a psychological screening process, program objectives need to be established and a decision must be made on whether psychological tests should be eliminate or select applicants. The police organization must be able to screen out applicants who will make ineffective or undesirable police officers and to screen in applicants with the best chance of success. Having established screening process objectives, criteria against which applicants will be measured have to be identified. The nature of the job in question must be analyzed in terms of job tasks and skills, abilities, knowledge, and other characteristics required to perform the job. When an entry-level position has been analyzed, psychological tests must be chosen to measure characteristics necessary to perform the job successfully, as identified in the job analysis. Personality tests can be used to screen out applicants with psychopathological disorders, while general ability tests can be effective predictors of police training and job performance. Situational tests are also good predictors of police performance. Psychological tests should not discriminate against police applicants on the basis of factors such as gender and ethnicity that are not relevant to the work. 336 references