The senior clinical group of Behaviordata, Inc. has
30 years of experience in working with law enforcement, fire
departments, and emergency service agencies, and has direct,
frontline experience that few clinical groups have. In fact,
Diana Sullivan Everstine has been commended for bravery under
fire. Behaviordata provides the following services:
EVALUATION SERVICES
A separate clinical group within Behaviordata provides evaluation
services:
- Pre-employment psychological screening
- Screening for specialized units based on Behaviordata
Inc.’s Behavior Analysis System.
FITNESS-FOR-DUTY EVALUATIONS
- Comprehensive psychological and psychiatric fitness-for-duty
evaluations.
CONSULTATION SERVICES
- Organizational assessment
- Organizational development
OVERVIEW:
Because of its many years of experience in pre-employment
screening for law enforcement, Behaviordata,
Inc. has developed the capability to identify
critical factors of personality that will fit
successfully into jobs in those agencies. This pre-employment screening is critical for police officers, fire fighters, security guards, especially nuclear security guards, and other emergency personnel. These
critical factors are analyzed by means of a complex
statistical formula to determine whether or not
a given applicant matches the personality type
of employees who have proven themselves to be
successful on the job, versus those proven to
be unsuccessful. These factors have, so far, been
identified for Sheriff’s
Deputies, Police Officers, Correctional Officers,
and Security Guards. Research has shown this method
to be both valid and reliable. The findings of
this research have been incorporated into the
Behavior Analysis System (BAS) of Behaviordata,
Inc., which is proprietary, i.e., no other corporation
can analyze data with these methods.
Why Psychological Evaluation?
Pre-employment psychological screening is a
legally-required addition to the existing selection
process for security guards for the following
reasons:
1. It saves the agency money by helping
to screen out those who do not have the appropriate
psychological characteristics to perform essential
elements of the job. One psychological disability
suit or early-disability settlement would cost
more than an entire year’s psychological screening
program; it would be devastating to the organization.
2. It helps the morale of current employees by
assuring them that the people who are hired by
the agency are psychologically well-suited to
the job.
3. It reassures the military and the
public that every possible step has been taken
to ensure that the civilian security guards are
mentally healthy and mentally equipped to perform
the job.
4. It gives the military additional legal
protection against cases of alleged negligent
retention. These are instances in which an employee’s
mental state, stability, or aptitude may be called
into question because of his or her actions on
the job.
5. It assists the contracting agency
in preventing unnecessary workers’ compensation
claims by screening out applicants who are prone
to psychosomatic stress disorders, or who do not
have the personality characteristics that are
needed to handle the stresses inherent in the
work.
Pre-Screening and the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA):
Behaviordata’s pre-screening is supported by clinical
research utilizing diagnostic categories from
the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual: IV of the
American Psychiatric Association. Because Behaviordata
utilizes these validated diagnostic criteria,
applied to past and current behavior as well as
psychological test results, we can determine whether
an applicant has a psychological or behavioral
problem that would preclude him or her from being
able to perform the essential elements of the
job. Hence, screening recommendations by Behaviordata
will not be subject to challenge based upon ADA
criteria. To date, some of Behaviordata’s
recommendations have been reviewed, but none has
been successfully challenged.
Pre-Screening and POST Standards:
Behaviordata’s pre-screening process is based
solidly on clinical research on applicants. This
process successfully screens out applicants who
have psychological conditions or patterns of behavior
that would preclude them from the position. The
Director of Behaviordata is in contact with POST,
and has taught pre-employment and psychological
screening in Post-certified Advanced Officer classes
for the past fifteen years.
Skills Analysis:
Behaviordata’s extensive experience in providing
psychological screening is based on an occupational
skills analysis of each position for which a recommendation
is sought. To create a skills profile, the Behaviordata
staff works with the contracting agency to determine
those skills that make up the fundamental elements
of required performance in the position, as well
as the philosophy of the department. Next, the
staff analyzes each necessary skill in terms of
what psychological qualities are essential in
performing them, as well as what psychological
and/or behavioral problems would prevent required
performance. This analysis also takes into consideration
whether or not the employer could make any modifications
in the work environment or offer special training
to accommodate an applicant’s psychological needs,
so that he or she could perform as required. For
example, if a position required the employee to
be able to observe, record, and report behavior
of others accurately, and an applicant suffers
from a paranoid disorder or has a history of paranoid
behavior, this condition would clearly preclude
the person from being able to perform the essential
elements of the job. And, because research indicates
that the condition can be a chronic one not amenable
to treatment, job counseling or training would
not be effective in enabling the applicant to
carry out the duties of the position. Hence, the
job environment could not be modified to accommodate
this disability. This analysis of essential elements
ensures that he agency cannot be challenged by
an applicant.
Validation:
Behaviordata has the technical and computer
capability to conduct whatever kind of specialized
validation or demographic study is requested by
an agency. Our validation research methods have
been demonstrated to be accurate and reliable.
Our validation study of pre-screening procedures
used by our client organizations involved studying
candidates who were hired by these organizations
and later were released, terminated, disciplined,
or described as poor employees; this group of
poor employees was contrasted with a group of
employees who were described by the organization
as good or excellent. The pre-screen process was
found to be totally free of any cultural or gender bias. Its accuracy
rate would meet court standards. The study was
replicated successfully, adding further validation
to the process.
Negative Impact:
Behaviordata will maintain a database of its
findings to ensure that there will be no negative
impact. The pre-screening procedures have been
reviewed by outside evaluators as well, who found
no negative impact.
Tests Administered:
(Gun-carrying)
California Psychological Inventory™ (CPI™)
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2™ (MMPI-2™)
(Non-gun-carrying)
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory-2™ (MMPI-2™)
CPI™:
This is an objective, scientifically-proven
test that measures social adaptation and interaction
in social situations. It has been in use for more
than twenty years, as documented by at least 3,000
published studies. It tests for the following
dimensions of normal personality and social interaction:
leadership ability, ability to delay gratification
for future or higher goals, comfort in social
groups, poise, self-confidence, spontaneity, self-esteem,
good health care behavior, social responsibility,
possibility of anti-social behavior, self-control,
social tolerance and flexibility, conventional
social thinking, need for structure, and capacities
for independent thought, insight, and sensitivity.
MMPI-2™:
This is an objective test to diagnose psychiatric
disorders and negative character traits. It was
first developed in 1940. Objective validation
is established by more than 8,000 published research
studies on the original version (MMPI) of this
test. The recent revision (MMPI-2™)
has also been proven valid by research. This test
has a long history of acceptance, and meets the
Kelly-Frye Test for use in court cases. The scoring
system that is utilized by Behaviordata makes
available the newest MMPI-2™ scales of measurement.
Most states require this test for gun-bearing
positions.
Random Re-evaluating:
Because security personnel may have access to
every part of a military base, they could pose
a potential security or terrorist threat to the
base. A very real threat to the security of any
base is that an employee who has access to vital
sites on the base may be “turned” by
an outside, hostile group. To counter this potential
threat, Behaviordata proposes random re-screening
by means of the MMPI-2™. This random
re-screening can be done at yearly, two-year,
or four-year intervals.
The re-evaluation process would proceed as follows.
Security guards would be be randomly required
to re-take the MMPI-2™. The test would
be scored and compared with the guard’s original
results. This analysis would utilize the Behaviordata
differential analysis system. This system is exclusive
to Behaviordata: no other test scoring system
has the capacity to compare and analyze changes
in test results over time.
If any significant changes in critical factors
are found, the following steps will be taken:
- The contractor and the base command will
be notified
- Recommendations will be made concerning further
evaluation, which may include interviewing,
etc.
The random re-evaluation process will, by
itself, benefit the base; if applicants know
that they will be monitored in this way, people
who have an intent to compromise base security
will be less likely to apply; further, those
who may be approached by hostile groups will
be not as easily compromised because they
know they will be monitored.
Behaviordata’s Consulting Resources:
Behaviordata’s principals and senior staff
members have 30 years of experience in fields
such as:
- Threat Assessment
- Hostage Negotiation
- Psychological Profiling
- Training:
- Interviewing Skills
- High-profile Security and Executive
Protection
- Crisis and Threat Management (What
to do until the SWAT or Hostage Team arrives)
- Internal Affairs Investigations
Training Onsite Interviewers:
Behaviordata will create a training program
to enable personnel to conduct interviews from
a psychological perspective; the program will
be provided via interactive video and will probably
take one day in each instance. A four-hour session
will address security-specific issues and how
to get information from the applicant about
these issues. A second four-hour session will
be directed at the psychological issues that
must be addressed in an interview to ensure
that the applicant does not pose a threat to
the base. The base personnel will also be trained
in how to utilize the Behaviordata Structured
Clinical Interview instrument.
Internal Affairs Investigations:
Behaviordata can provide the organization
with a neutral, unbiased Internal Affair Investigation.
Trained investigators, who can respond to an
Internal Affairs issue within 24 hours, are
retired police chiefs and law enforcement officers
who have extensive experience in this field.
Our investigators can respond to the scene,
or supervise your staff on the scene, to ensure
that the investigation is conducted in a manner
that cannot be challenged
or questioned.
