Date of Award
5-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
College/School
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department/Program
Psychology
Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair
Christopher M. King
Committee Member
Milton Fuentes
Committee Member
Elenice DeSouza Oliviera
Committee Member
Nicole Rafanello
Committee Member
Casey Stewart
Abstract
With the changing demographics of the United States (US), police and public safety (PPS) psychologists are examining a more diverse PPS candidate pool. While previous research has found questionable culturally competent practices in specialties like forensic psychology practice, little is known about such practices among PPS assessment psychologists—the very specialist who screen prospective employees for public safety positions, like police officers, firefighters, and dispatchers. Accordingly, the current study investigated diversity, multicultural competence, bias, and debiasing strategies among PPS psychologists. A set of exploratory aims investigated the convergent validity of the Modern Racism Scale (MRS), an ad-hoc measure of attitudes toward racial and ethnic diversity (Racial and Ethnic Attitudes Scale [REAS]), and the Race Implicit Association Test (Race IAT) with several scales on the most commonly administered objective psychological measures in PPEs. Using a non-experimental observational design, PPS psychologists (N = 89 after removal of cases with extensive missing data) were recruited from PPS psychology practice organizations and the PPS specialty community to examine their demographic diversity, multiculturally competent practices, bias correction strategies, and their assessment strategies for detecting elevated risk for bias and prejudice in PPS candidates. Participants completed an ad-hoc omnibus questionnaire about these aspects of multiculturalism, bias, and prejudice. The study hypotheses are as follows. Hypothesis 1: Demographic characteristics of the sample of PPS psychologists would not significantly differ from that observed in prior research with forensic psychologists and the US psychologist workforce. Hypothesis 2: Endorsement rates of multiculturally competent practices would not significantly differ between PPS psychologists and rates from prior research with forensic psychologists. Hypothesis 3: PPS psychologists who endorsed more multicultural practices would also endorse more effective debiasing strategies. Hypothesis 4: Endorsement rates of debiasing strategies that are considered unsubstantiated would not significantly differ between PPS psychologists and rates from prior research with forensic psychologists. Hypothesis 5: PPS psychologists who endorsed participation in formal cultural competence training would endorse significantly more multiculturally competent practices. Hypothesis 6: PPS psychologists who did not report examining a diverse candidate pool would endorse use of significantly fewer techniques for assessing elevated risk of bias and prejudice in PPS candidates. An additional exploratory aspect of this study involved recruitment of police officer candidates (N = 12) to investigate the convergent validity of the MRS and REAS with several scales from the California Psychological Inventory (CPI), Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-3 (MMPI-3), and Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI). The inclusion of the Race IAT for exploratory analyses was considered but ultimately abandoned due to low completion rates (n = 3). The results from the primary study aims and analyses showed that demographic characteristics of PPS psychologists closely resembled those of forensic psychologists and the broader psychology workforce, particularly in terms of race and ethnicity. One difference found was that PPS psychologists were generally older than both forensic psychologists and the overall psychology workforce. There was also a lower percentage of women in the PPS sample compared to the overall psychology workforce and no representation from other gender identities. Efforts to increase diversity within the specialty field may benefit from recruiting and retaining trainees and early career professionals from minority racial and ethnic groups and a broader gender spectrum. In addition, PPS psychologists endorsed multiculturally competent practices at a significantly lower level compared to forensic psychologists. Notably, participants tended to rate their own multicultural competence as average to above average, yet they demonstrated comparatively less utilization of multiculturally competent practices, particularly in areas such as attention to culture-specific communication styles and familiarity with psychometric strengths and limitations in diverse populations. These findings suggest a need for further training and support in multicultural competence within PPS psychologists to address potential gaps in practice. Additionally, the study found a significant and positive relationship between the endorsement of multiculturally competent practices and effective debiasing strategies among PPS psychologists. However, while PPS psychologists generally recognized the susceptibility of human judgements—including their own—to cultural bias, the correlation between this awareness and engagement in multiculturally competent practices or effective debiasing strategies was not significant. This finding highlights the importance of exploring the mechanisms underlying multicultural competence (e.g., awareness) and debiasing strategies further and emphasizes the need for more research exploring the factors influencing the utilization of debiasing strategies. The study also found that PPS psychologists endorsed significantly lower levels of unsupported debiasing strategies than forensic psychologists, such as the utility of accepting referrals only in which cultural bias is unlikely and attending to word choice in reports to edit out value-laden language. However, PPS psychologists still endorsed strategies such as continuous introspection and controlling existing bias, despite evidence suggesting the ineffectiveness of such techniques. Furthermore, the current study found no significant relationship between the number of cultural competence trainings attended and endorsement of multiculturally competent practices. This suggests a need to reconsider cultural competence training and explore factors beyond quantity and content that may influence multicultural competence. Lastly, the study examined methods used by PPS psychologists for assessing bias in PPS examinees. The study findings indicated that PPS psychologists use, as bias assessment techniques, psychological interview questions, scales on objective personality testing, and supplemental collateral information. The study findings also highlight the lack of empirically validated tools for measuring cultural bias risk in PPS examinees—a critical deficit in research and practice, and a major gap for future research to fill. Additionally, while differences in assessment methods were found between those with relatively diverse and non-diverse examinee pools, respectively, future research is needed to replicate this finding because the analysis was limited by the fact that not all participants lent data for it. As for the exploratory phase of the study, despite a small sample size (n = 12), a significant positive association was observed between PPS examinees’ attitudes toward African Americans (as measured by the MRS) and racial and ethnic diversity (as measured by the REAS) in the US. While generally endorsing positive attitudes towards African Americans and support for racial and ethnic diversity, examinees exhibited ambivalence regarding certain issues on the MRS and REAS, such as understanding the anger of black people and the impact of racial and ethnic minorities on the unity and safety of society within the US. Among these measures of racial and ethnic attitudes and potential bias risk indicators among police officer candidates, and various scales from the CPI, MMPI-3, and PAI, there were significant associations between MRS total scores and PAI scales related to dominance, aggression, and warmth. No significant associations were found between REAS scores and CPI, MMPI-3, or PAI scores. However, power analyses suggests that the statistical analyses run in this phase were substantially underpowered and therefore the results form an inadequate basis for making any reliable conclusions at this point on the matter of linkage between objective measures commonly used in PPS assessment and other measures of attitudes regarding race, ethnicity, diversity, and equity. Relatedly, the initial exploratory intention to examine the Race IAT among PPS examinees had to be abandoned due to too few participants completing this measure. In summary, the study findings provide insights into the demographics of PPS psychologists, highlighting the lack of diversity—particularly in terms of race and ethnicity but also in terms of gender diversity. This has a priori implications for multicultural competence. The findings underscore the importance of understanding the demographic makeup of PPS psychologists and developing and evaluating targeted strategies to enhance multicultural competence and debiasing strategies among PPS evaluators. The findings show a good degree of commonality between PPS psychology and other areas of psychological practice in terms of demographics and multiculturally competent practices. Accordingly, future PPS research into the potential impacts of training background, work settings, and local policies and practices can look to the field of professional psychology more broadly for ideas toward ongoing development and progress on this front. Additionally, the study results suggested a need for more research and development around valid measures for assessing biases and prejudice in PPS candidates to enhance evaluation practices in PPS assessment and promote multiculturalism within the PPS workforce. Addressing these future research needs will be crucial for ensuring legitimate and accurate evaluations in PPS contexts and lending to the mission of inclusivity and equity in PPS agencies. This, in turn, should translate to more constitutional policing and the advancement of civil rights and society.
File Format
Recommended Citation
Gonzalez, Kenny, "Multicultural Competency in Police and Public Safety Evaluations" (2024). Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects. 1470.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd/1470