Psychology Project on Police psychology.

DR. RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, LUCKNOW 2015-16

Psychology-3 (Forensic Psychology)

“Assessing the Potential for Corruption in Police Psychology”

Submitted To: Ms. ISHA YADAV

Submitted By: SHOBHIT S. AWASTHI

Assistant Professor

Roll No.-130

Sec- B

(Psychology)

3rd semester

Dr. RMLNLU Lucknow.

BA.LLB (Hons.)

Signature

Signature

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Acknowledgement I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my subject teacher Ms. Isha Yadav ma’am as well as our Vice Chancellor Prof. Gurdip Singh who gave me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project on the topic “Assessing the Potential for Corruption in Police Psychology” which also helped me in doing a lot of Research and i came to know about so many new things. I am really thankful to them. Secondly i would also like to thank my parents and friends who helped me a lot in finishing this project. I am making this project not only for marks but to also increase my knowledge about the issues of corruption in the light of Forensic Psychology and I hope that project will fulfill the criteria of the department of psychology Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia National law University, Lucknow. Thank You! [Shobhit S. Awasthi]

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Index  Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………………..  Introduction………………………………………………………………………….  Police Psychology: An Overview……………………………………………………  Issue of corruption in general………………………………………………………..  Issue of corruption in Indian Police Department…………………………………….  Issue of corruption in Police Psychology…………………………………………….  Strategies to combat with the police corruption. ……………………………………. 

Mental and Aptitude Testing



Personality Assessment



Police Counseling and On duty Stress Management

 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………  Bibliography………………………………………………………………………….

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Introduction First of all there is an essential need to realize that only police is not the single department that is corrupt and not only are Indian police corrupt. We cannot found a single country of the world without corruption. Perhaps because of the frequent police-society interaction police is being perceived as more corrupt department. Police as a Law enforcing agency is an important institution of that social control which existed in some form or the other in all society in all ages. Police is an integral part of the present day society. A society in the present set up cannot live and progress without an effective, sincere and honest police force. Therefore need of the hour is corruption free police and for this purpose forensic psychology through its branch know as police psychology try to combat with the issue. The application of psychology to law enforcement and public safety is a rapidly growing area increasingly recognized as vital to many aspects of police work and the academic study of policing. However, the field suffers from something of an identity complex. This project work is assessing the issues of corruption in police through police psychology. First of all project work defines what is police psychology through an overview and also highlights the essential trends in police psychology. Secondly it would define the corruption in general meaning there by the main focus of this part of the project work is to show the constituent parts of the corruption. The third and fourth part of this project work “Issue of corruption in police psychology” and “Issue of corruption in Indian Police Department” as name suggest that both parts are intra related to each other because the problems are similar in nature and the remedy is also same but the color is different. And the last but above bottom portion of the project work simply talks about strategies to combat with the police corruption meaning there by this part states the personality measure test and trends of the police psychology which use to testify the police officers for example MMPI-2, IPI etc.

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In conclusion the project work found that the single best predictor of corruption was not a personality measure. Rather, the strongest predictor was post hire misconduct. And also mentions certain suggestions for the betterment. Police Psychology: An Overview In order to know about the police psychology firstly we have to know about the forensic psychology in short. Forensic psychology is defined by the American Board of Forensic Psychology as “the application of the science and profession of psychology to questions and issues relating to law and the legal system. The word “forensic” comes from the Latin word “forensic,” meaning “of the forum,” where the law courts of ancient Rome were held. Today forensic refers to the application of scientific principles and practices to the adversary process where specially knowledgeable scientists play a role. Forensic psychologists may address a variety of topics such as child custody, competency to proceed in trial, evaluating the psychological impact of a personal injury that is being litigated, the validity of claims of child sexual abuse, profiles of criminal offenders, and a long list of other topics in which a psychologist is being asked to answer a psycho legal or investigative question. Police psychology is a separate subspeciality of psychology that has been defined as, “The delivery of psychological services to and on behalf of law enforcement agencies, their executives, and employees . . . The field of police psychology is extremely diverse and involves more than 50 distinct proficiencies . . . . The police psychology proficiencies can be clustered or organized into four distinct domains of practice: (1) assessment related activities, (2) intervention services, (3) operational support, and (4) organizational/management consultation” (Aumiller & Corey, 2007, pp. 66-67). Other psychologists who provide regular clinical services within the context of a police department are probably best described as “clinical psychologists providing services within law enforcement,” and not as a police or forensic psychologists, since they are providing clinical services within a police department, and not engaging in any of the activities that distinguish others as either forensic or police psychologists. 5

Police psychologists are usually doctoral level clinicians who have migrated into a law enforcement position. Most serve as consultants; that is, they have an independent practice and are hired to consult. Because most North American police departments have fewer than 15 total employees, it is not feasible

for

all

departments

to

have

a

police

psychologist as a staff member. When departments have more than 700 sworn officers, many departments hire their own full time psychologist(s). Police psychologists serve in a number of ways. They provide pre-employment screening of applicants (to make sure someone is fit to serve), provide counseling to employees, perform fitness for duty evaluations (to determine if an employee is still capable of performing their duties)

and

often

engage

in

crime

specific

consultation

(E.g.,

consulting

with hostages, profiling), and provide training to employees. At last Police psychology is a subfield of forensic psychology addressing issues specific to police personnel and other public safety workers. Issue of corruption in general “Corruption is an improbity or decay in the decision-making process in which a decision-maker consents to deviate or demands deviation from the criterion which should rule his or her decision-making, in exchange for a reward or for the promise or expectation of a reward, while these motives influencing his or her decision-making cannot be part of the justification of the decision.” - Dr. Petrus van Duyne The simplest definition is: Corruption is the misuse of public power (by elected politician, appointed civil servant or police officers) for private gain. Defining corruption can be a challenge. It takes many forms, and perpetrators are skilled in developing new ways to be corrupt and cover their tracks. Much thought has been devoted to developing different definitions of corruption but, despite its complex nature, most people can recognise a corrupt act when they see it. 6

Corruption may be defined as ‘the abuse of entrusted power for private gain’. This definition captures three elements of corruption. One, corruption occurs in both the public and private sectors (and media and civil society actors are not exempt). Two, it involves abusing power held in a state institution or a private organisation. Three, the bribe-taker (or a third party or, for example, an organisation such as a political party) as well as the bribe-giver benefit, whether it be in terms of money or an undue advantage. Sometimes the ‘advantage’ gained by the bribe-giver may not be ‘undue’ or clear cut but is nonetheless an advantage. For example, in a corrupt society where the right to access public services such as health or education can be only secured by paying an unlawful bribe, those who can afford to pay have an advantage over those who cannot. In such circumstances the bribe-givers’ ‘benefit’ is merely that which is his or her rightful due and bribe-takers receive an advantage for carrying out functions that they are obliged anyway to perform. Corruption is often described as either ‘grand’ or ‘petty’ (petty corruption is also described as ‘administrative’). Grand corruption typically takes place at the top levels of the public sphere and the senior management levels of business, where policies and rules are formulated and executive decisions are made. It also often involves large sums of money (political corruption is another common term that may be used to refer to grand corruption more generally or specifically to the negative influence of money in political campaigns and political parties). Small scale, administrative or petty corruption is the everyday corruption that takes place at the implementation end of politics, where public officials meet the public. Petty corruption is most commonly found as bribery in connection with the implementation of existing laws, rules and regulations, or in abuse of power in daily situations (e.g., the traffic police who takes money every day from taxi drivers in return for not harassing them further). It usually involves modest sums of money in any given exchange. However, endemic petty corruption can result in great costs and can place serious stress on the functioning of state systems, in a way comparable to grand corruption.

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Issue of corruption in Indian Police Department The main purpose of the above discussion on corruption is to create a background knowledge for this work. Now because the topic is related to the police corruption so it’s my self-proclaimed duty to attach our Indian Police department. Police corruption is defined as the “abuse of police authority for personal or organisational gain by a police officer acting officially. It is not an easy concept to understand and it has many complex aspects. But one aspect which stands out is its existence which is spread almost in every part of the world. Corruption can be broken down into two sections, internal and external corruption. With reference to the police department, internal corruption is the illegal acts and agreements within a police department by more than one of the officers and external corruption is the illegal acts and agreements

with

the

public

by

one

or

more

officers

in

a

department.

The most important elements of police corruption are misuse of authority and misuse of personal attainment. Widespread corruption at every level of the administrative department poses as a great obstacle in its working, efficiently and effectively. It inverts the goals of the organisation, that is, it may encourage and create crime rather than deter it. One of the main causes for this is that the police officials have ceased to act as professionals and are politicized to a great extent. They are manipulated by political leaders, who have misused the power of appointments and transfers to patronize weak or corrupt officers for their own selfish purposes at the cost of public interest. These leaders appoint wrong persons for the top jobs as they are willing to carry out the dictates and wishes of their political masters for their own survival. The main areas for their interference are appointments, transfers, rewards, and punishments. General police corruption includes bribery or exchange of money or something of value between the police and the wrong doer. Other police crimes may range from brutality, fake encounters, sexual

harassment,

custodial

crimes,

to

illicit

use

of

weapons.

Despite an attempt to eliminate corruption by ways like increased salaries, upgraded training, 8

incentive for education, and developing policies that focus directly on factors leading to corruption, it still exists. Therefore to eliminate this evil from the system police psychology is trying to do something. Because the person who is acted as police officer is not a alien s/he is also like all of us so for the better understanding of the problem and to solve it I think police psychology is a best tool. In spite of being an emerging field of science police psychology is also changing the face of the old age system. Issue of corruption in Police Psychology On the face of it issue of corruption in police psychology is not different with the issue of corruption in Indian police department. But in fact here the story is different in other words we can say that police psychology talks about the scientific cause of the corruption and also tell us about the solution. The most famous code of corruption in police psychology is The blue wall of silence also blue code and blue shield are terms used in the United States to denote the unwritten rule that exists among police officers not to report on a colleague's errors, misconducts, or crimes. If questioned about an incident of misconduct involving another officer (e.g. during the course of an official inquiry), while following the code, the officer being questioned would claim ignorance of another officer's wrongdoing. Now we know that the above problem is critical in nature so it is a tough task to solve it. But some how police psychology manage to the code:One method of preventing the code from penetrating the police force is exposure. Many states have taken measures in police academies to promote the exposure of the blue code. In most cities, before being admitted into the academy one must pass a criminal background check. Through additional background checks, polygraph testing, and psychological evaluations, certain departments are better able to select individuals who are less likely to condone wrongdoing. In these departments, police are exposed to a basic training curriculum that instructs on ethical behavior; this instruction is reinforced in seminars and classes annually in some cases.

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Several campaigns against the blue code or for making the blue code more visible in the public eye have taken place in the United States. One of the first of these campaigns was the Knapp Commission in New York (officially known as the Commission to Investigate Alleged Police Corruption) which was headed by Mayor John V. Lindsay in 1970. Over 20 years after the Knapp Commission the Mollen Commission was established in 1992 by New York City Mayor David Dinkins to investigate the nature and extent of corruption in the New York City Police Department NYPD, and to recommend changes to improve these procedures. These and other investigations have revealed details of the inner workings of the NYPD. Strategies to combat with the police corruption When we try to work out on strategies to combat against police corruption then the whole problem comes under the one following question; Can a police psychologist assist department in selecting out candidates who are likely to be engaged in corrupt activites? According to the police psychology there is three trends which are important in testing. The First Trend: Mental and Aptitude Testing Mental and Aptitude test, examination that attempts to determine and measure a person’s ability to acquire, through future training, some specific set of skills (intellectual, motor, and so on). The tests assume that people differ in their special abilities and that these differences can be useful in predicting future achievements. In general, intelligence and ability tests have been useful predictors of police academy performance but less valuable for predicting how well a police officer actually performs in the field. Screening of applicants for law enforcement positions, then, should go beyond simply using standardized intelligence testes. A multi assessment procedure involving standardized tests plus other measures and screening procedures should be used.

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The Second Trend: Personality Assessment Personality assessment, the measurement of personal characteristics. Assessment is an end result of gathering information intended to advance psychological theory and research and to increase the probability that wise decisions will be made in applied settings (e.g., in selecting the most promising people from a group of job applicants). The approach taken by the specialist in personality assessment is based on the assumption that much of the observable variability in behaviour from one person to another results from differences in the extent to which individuals possess particular underlying personal characteristics (traits). The assessment specialist seeks to define these traits, to measure them objectively, and to relate them to socially significant aspects of behaviour. The Defense Personnel Security Research Center conducted one of the most extensive studies on ability of personality measures to identify eventual police corruption and misconduct. The few personality inventories that had any success tended to indicate that those officers who engaged in misconduct or corruption during their careers had more of the following characteristics: -difficulty getting along with others, -delinquent histories, -indications of maladjustment, immaturity, irresponsibility, and/or unreliability. Basically, the study found that the single best predictor of corruption was not a personality measure. Rather, the strongest predictor was posthire misconduct. Officers who got into trouble for misconduct early in their careers were most likely to be punished for the later acts of corruption. The Third Trend: Stress Management

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“Stress arises when individuals perceive that they cannot adequately cope with the demands being made on them or with demands being made on them or with threats to their well-being.” Whether police officers actually experienced more stress than persons in other high risk occupations? Nevertheless, there was little doubt that stress played a major role in lives of law enforcement officers at all levels of the organizations. The focus on stress was significant because it moved police psychologists away from their traditional testing functions and into a much larger realm of opportunity and services. Consequently, psychologist began to offer not only stress management but also crisis intervention training, hostage negotiation training, domestic violence workshops, and substance abuse and alcohol treatment. Police work is highly stressful and is one of the few jobs where one continually faces the effects of murders, violence, accidents and serious personal injury. A police officer's twenty-plus years of "peacetime combat" wreaks a heavy toll personally and professionally. No human being, no matter how healthy, well trained, or well adjusted, is immune to the long-term effects of cumulative stress or sudden critical incidents. In the words of one police veteran with 17 years on the department, "Policing is a combination of mind-numbing boredom and mind-blowing terror." Because the nature of policing has changed so drastically in the past decade, many departments have begun to provide psychological services for officers and their families either as an in-house unit or as a contractual arrangement with a private therapist who is not an employee of the department. One barrier that prevents officers from seeking counseling is the perception that the information they share is not confidential. These concerns are valid because in some cases, the information is not confidential. The following information is essential for all officers to protect their rights should they seek the services of a therapist on their own or be ordered by their department. Important Definitions: Confidentiality and Privilege Confidentiality refers to information that is shared with the implicit or explicit promise and expectation that it will not be disclosed to others. 12

Privilege is a legal protection against forced disclosure in legal proceedings that would violate the promise of confidentiality. "Privilege" allows the professional to refuse to answer questions in court and/or to refuse to produce records without fear of a "contempt of court" citation or an adverse instruction to the jury. Professionals who can decline to disclose information provided by their "clients" or "penitents" are priests, lawyers, physicians, and therapists in many states. However, a recent Supreme court decision (June 13, 1996 Jaffee v. Redmond) is particularly important to police officers because it upheld the right of psychotherapists to maintain the confidences of their clients. Moreover, this case involved a police officer in Illinois. Conclusion This is a noble goal to rid our nation’s police organizations of unethical behavior. Although studied and researched, the topic of police corruption, in large part, remains a mystery. Over the past few decades, great strides have occurred in the law enforcement profession. To begin with, many police agencies have avoided hiring candidates who have low ethical standards and have identified those onboard employees early in their careers who might compromise the department’s integrity. In addition, research has discovered new methods of testing candidates for their psychological propensity to act ethically. However, unethical conduct by the nation’s police officers continues to occur in departments large and small. Therefore, First of all, the discussion of ethics as related to law enforcement must begin with a definition of the word integrity. Because it is “the sum of the virtues required to bring about the general goals of protections and service to the public.” Officers must possess to have integrity means prudence, Trust, Courage, Intellectual honesty, Justice, and Responsibility. In short, an ethical police organization “will require the scrupulous adherence to existing policies and standards, the ability to detect an individual or collective pattern of performance which falls short of that expectation, and the courage to deal with those who are responsible for those failures. And for the above target I am sure that police psychology has a vision to keep up the good work with law enforcement agencies in the direction to make integrity and remove unethical issues like corruption.

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Bibliography 

Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice,2006,2(3) by Karen C. Kalmbach, Phillip M.

   

Lyons. Introduction to Forensic Psychology: Research and Application – Bartol and Bartol. Forensic Psychology – R. Bull. Current perspectives in Forensic Psychology and Criminal Justice. Web Resources.

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