Differences in pre-employment screening protocols used and reasons for their use between police and clinical psychologists

Provision of psychological services for police candidates (i.e., employment screening) has become recognized as a subspecialization, called police psychology, in clinical psychology. Individuals who conduct this type of screening may be labeled police psychologists or general clinical psychologists. This study sought to address a gap in the literature by examining the potential differences in protocols used by the two different types of psychologists and the reasons given for why they use them. Theoretical support for this study included Holland's theory of vocational choice and Schmidt and Hunter's theory of test invalidity. Individuals were queried through a questionnaire created specifically for this study from a sample frame of 1392 clinical psychologists from the American Psychological Association's Divisions 12 and 18 and U.S. members of the International Association of Chiefs of Police Psychology section. Among the 181 completed surveys, 77 (43%) conducted police pre-employment screenings. Data were analyzed statistically using frequencies and crosstabs for descriptors. The comparative statistics between the independent (psychologist's label) and dependent variables (items used and reason[s]) included Chi Square and ANOVA. The results indicated no significant differences by label and the protocol(s) used or the reason(s) why. This study provides grounds for positive social change because it supports the need for specialized training for psychologists who screen police candidates, leading to development of a standard for selection of individuals best suited for police work.