Using the good cop/bad cop profile with the MMPI-2

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) has been widely used in a variety of ways to screen candidates for law enforcement positions. This study extends the use of the MMPI Good Cop/Bad Cop (GC/BC) profile (Blau, Super, & Brady, 1993) to the MMPI-2. The MMPI-2 profiles of 39 veteran police officers were used to predict their performance (No Apparent Problems, Borderline, or Serious Problems Possible), and these predictions were compared with supervisors’ ratings of the officers’ actual performance. The MMPI-2 predictions were accurate for 46% of the officers, a rate that was significantly better than chance (p=.024). Based on the current data, the best selection outcome would be obtained by accepting officers whose MMPI-2 profiles place them in the No Apparent Problems or Borderline groups, and rejecting officers whose profiles suggest Serious Problems Possible. This could be accomplished simply by rejecting any officer who obtained a score above 65T on any of the clinical scales. This selection strategy would have resulted in the acceptance of 22 officers, 19 of whom were highly rated by their supervisors, and the rejection of 17 officers, 11 of whom were rated as borderline or poorer by their supervisors. It would also result in the erroneous rejection of 6 officers who were highly rated by supervisors. AUTHOR NOTE: An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1994 annual meeting of the Society for Police and Criminal Psychology, in Roswell, New Mexico. The authors wish to thank Jim Herndon, Ph.D., for this comments on this study.     

Convenient and Inconvenient Truths in Family Law: Preventing Scholar‐Advocacy Bias in the Use of Social Science Research for Public Policy

This is the second of two articles on the risks of advocacy bias in the reporting of research findings when boundaries are blurred between social science research and advocacy in the pursuit of public policy. In the first article we identify common ways in which social science researchers and reviewers of research—wittingly or unwittingly—can become advocates for ideological positions and social policies at the expense of being balanced reporters of research evidence. The first article discusses the difference between truth in social science and truth in law and identifies a range of scholar‐advocacy strategies that bias research evidence, illustrated by recent debates about overnight parenting of infants and toddlers. In this second article we show how biased research evidence by scholar advocates results in increased confusion and controversy that diminishes the credibility of all parties and stalemates progress in the field, using a case illustration of intimate partner violence in family court. We also show how adherence to scientific methods prevents the misuse of research and suggest a number of collaborative, integrative measures that can help transcend the adversarial stalemate. In a look to the future we consider some unbiased, standardized ways of assessing the strength and generalizability of research evidence.     

The effectiveness of psychological profiles

Although psychological profiling of unknown offenders is becoming a popular media topic, there has been little research on the effectiveness of these profiles. In this study, surveys were sent to 95 police departments in the United States, asking participants to indicate if they use psychological profiles to solve crimes. The survey also asked whether the profile was helpful, and in what sense it was helpful. The results from this sample indicate that profiles are used mainly in cases of rape and homicide, and that police officers view profiles as an effective tool to guide interrogations of a suspect and to guide the criminal investigation but not necessarily to identify the suspect.     

FOSTERING RESILIENCE IN THE AFTERMATH OF DIVORCE: The Role of Evidence-Based Programs for Children

The negative impact of divorce is a concern with far-reaching ramifications for children's well-being. This article reviews divorce-related risks and protective factors that provide an empirical guide for the content of effective programs for children. The promising potential of child-focused interventions is highlighted, including examples of programs with evidence of effectiveness. The Children of Divorce Intervention Program is described in greater detail as an example of a preventive program with six controlled studies documenting multiple benefits to children, including reductions in anxiety, behavior problems, somatic symptoms, and increases in their healthy adjustment at home and at school. A vision for future research and practice is discussed, including best practices for adapting children's programs to court-connected services and a paradigm shift involving systematic preventive outreach to all separating parents with minor children, before difficulties become rooted and chronic.     

Predicting aggression in police officers using the MMPI-2

This study attempted to determine if any of four MMPI-2 scales formulated to measure various forms of hostility or aggression is useful in predicting aggressive behavior among police officers. In our analysis of 80 officers from two police departments, we found that some scales predicted supervisor ratings of officer performance in one of the departments but not in the second department. In one department, officers with higher ANG scores or HOS scores, or lower O-H scores, were judged by supervisors to be more assertive. Officers from the same department with higher HO scores or lower O-H scores received moire justified citizen complaints. We discuss the importance of predicting aggression in police officers, the difficulty of making this prediction using MMPI-2 scores, and differences between the two departments that might have impacted the outcome of this research. Authors' Note: Communications should be addressed to the authors at James Madison University, School of Psychology, MSC 7401, Harrisonburg VA 22807.     

ASSISTING CHILDREN THROUGH TRANSITION:Helping Parents Protect Their Children From the Toxic Effects of Ongoing Conflict in the Aftermath of Divorce

The negative effects of prolonged interparental conflict on children are well documented. This article describes a preventive intervention designed to help separating parents to (a) reduce the stress of a breakup on their children and (b) learn skills for protecting them from the toxic effects of ongoing conflict. Assisting Children through Transition-(A.C.T.) For the Children is based on a risk and resilience model emphasizing skills training and effective parenting practices. Post-program results from 609 participants indicate that the majority of male and female participants reported an increased awareness of the deleterious effects of interparental conflict on children and learned skills for protecting children from ongoing conflict. Most participants reported firm intentions to continue to use skills for reducing conflict with a former spouse and to support their children's healthy relationship with both parents. Study limitations, directions for future research, and implications for legal and mental health practitioners are discussed.