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A Brief History of Personality Assessment in Police Psychology: 1916–2008

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Abstract

Since the 1960s, the application of psychological services and research to law enforcement settings (known as “police psychology”) evolved from being practically nonexistent to almost universal in a relatively short period of time (Scrivner 2006). Currently, psychologists provide a variety of services to law enforcement agencies, including performing evaluations for pre-employment selection, “fitness-for-duty” evaluations (FFDE), and counseling/treatment for psychologically troubled officers and first responders. The extensive use of personality assessment instruments in police psychology is not surprising given the fact psychologists have traditionally concerned themselves with issues of psychological measurement and test construction. In the contemporary practice of police psychology, assessment using personality measures is essential, being utilized in all of the abovementioned evaluations, in addition to other occasional applications (Weiss et al. 2008). This article provides a brief history of personality assessment in police and public safety psychology as it developed from 1916 to 2008.

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Acknowledgements

Added Acknowledgement to the original source as requested by Charles C Thomas in October 30, 2017 permission letter: From Peter A. Weiss, Personality Assessment in Police Psychology: A Twenty-First Century Perspective, First Edition, 2010, Chapter 1 on pp. 5–29. Courtesy of Charles C Thomas Publisher, Ltd., Springfield, Illinois.

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  1. Vancouver, USA

    Peter A. Weiss

  2. University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT, USA

    Peter A. Weiss

  3. Inwald Research, Inc, P.O. Box 73, Cleverdale, NY, 12820, USA

    Robin Inwald

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Correspondence to Peter A. Weiss.

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Reprinting with minor changes (dates qualified to specify this historical review from 1916 to 2008) From Charles C Thomas, initial Publisher, and Eric Hickey, Editor (see attached permission form from Charles C Thomas Publisher, Ltd./invoice—no charges assessed for reprinting the chapter.

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Weiss, P.A., Inwald, R. A Brief History of Personality Assessment in Police Psychology: 1916–2008. J Police Crim Psych 33, 189–200 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-018-9272-2

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