Psychology Test, Suits and Minority Applicants
| Date | 01 January 1989 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8906200104 |
| Published date | 01 January 1989 |
| Author | Clyde Ahmad Winters |
| Subject Matter | Article |
CLYDE AHMAD WINTERS
Director Uthman dan Fodio Institute. Chicago. Illinois.
PSYCHOLOGY TEST, SUITS AND
MINORITY APPLICANTS
Today more and more people want to become law enforcement officers
due to the challenge of police work and job security, in urban centres.
Thereare fartoo many applicants for police officerjobs. As a resultpolice
departments are seeking the best persons for the limited number of public
safety positions.
Psychologists have increasingly promoted the psychological
componentas part of the selection process. They claim that they can help
screen out recruits who have emotional problems, that may not be
discovered until the recruits' training has been completed. (poland 1978)
Meir, Farmerand Maxwell (1987), recommended amultifaceted approach
using computer-scoredpsychologicaltests and psychiatricoral interviews.
Thereis no question that psychological testing can help screen-out
poor recruits. These tests should screen-out applicants who are emotionally
unstable, brutalor suffer some form
of
emotional illness. (Meir, Farmer &
Maxwell 1987)
But these tests are subjective and tradically biased for the most part,
and can open a police department to a lawsuit because their prediction rate
is not totally reliable. Meir, Farmer and Maxwell (1987), noted that, "the
selecting in process relies heavily on the ability to predict performance at
a later time. Long-term predictions are highly desired, but not very
reliable".
Police agencies have a social responsibility to psychologically
screen applicants. Courts have called preemployment psychological
testing a responsibility
oflaw
enforcementdepartments when it contributes
to increased protection of citizens and officers, e.g. Bonsignore v. City
of
New York (521 F. Supp. 394, 1981),Conte v. Horcher (Appellate Court of
Ill., June 16,1977), and McKenna v. Fargo (May 25,1978, United States
District Courts,New Jersey. In addition, proper psychological screening
procedures can also protect police agencies from some vicarious liability
suits, e.g., the negligent retention and hiring
of
psychologically unstable
police officers. (Steffel and Rossi 1983).
Psychology testing and evaluation can also have negative effects
on police agencies. Courts have found psychological testing procedures
to be subjective (Flynn and Anderson 1985) and racially biasedin Grizzell
*Clyde Ahmad Winters, Director
of
Anthropology and the Law project
of
Uthman dan
Fodio Institute, 11541 So. Peoria, Chicago. Illinois 60643. He received his Graduate and
Undergraduate degreesfrom the University
of
Illinois-Urbana in Sociology/Anthropology.
He has published numerous articles on the interrelationship
of
anthropology and the law
in human and linguistic behaviour.
22 January 1989
To continue reading
Request your trial