Monday, January 27, 2020

Preventing Youth Offending through Social Work

Preventing Youth Offending through Social Work Introduction to Social Work. David Gower and Jackie Plenty. S134487 The area I have chosen to discuss is Youth Offending and intend to look at options that will help prevent re-offending and how we, as Social Workers, work as part of a team within Youth Offending. I intend to look at what areas of society are more likely to offend or re-offend. A young offender is defined as someone under 18 years of age who has committed an offence. The legal age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales, is ten years old, therefore anyone under the age of 10 cannot be held responsible for their actions. Anyone aged between 10 and 14 years old is presumed to understand the difference between right and wrong, so they can be convicted of a criminal offence if found guilty. Teenagers between 14 and 17 years old are fully responsible for any crimes they commit, but they are sentenced differently in relation to adults. Young offenders are assessed by the (1) Youth Justice System (YJS). There are a number of risk factors which may make a young person more likely to become involved in committing crime or anti-social behaviour. Whilst not exhaustive these include a lack of education, poor family relationships, having family members or peers who have offended, and misuse of substances. The YJS aim to tackle these problems (www.yjb.gov.uk) According to the Children Act 1989, the childs welfare shall be the courts paramount consideration. Therefore why do we lock so many children up, but allow terrorist to walk free under a control order? (Part 1 Welfare of the child) In the United Kingdom we lock up more children than any other country in Europe. 90% of young offenders put in prison will reoffend within two years of release. The UKs (2) Youth Justice Board spends 70% of its budget on custody, 5% on preventive methods; leaving just 25% for restorative and other methods. The age of criminal responsibility in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 10 years old. In Scotland its eight. Interviews with young offenders revealed litanies of jailed mothers, abuse at home, street living, and failed foster care. Almost all such children are excluded from school, and other attempts to divert them are laughable: youth clubs with a pool table, one TV and one PlayStation to fight over. (radio-youth justice)   The Crime and Disorder Act was legislated in 1998 for the first time. Working together as part of the new Multi-agency (3) Youth Offending Team under section 39(5) a Youth Offending Team (YOT) would now consist of a Social worker, a police officer, a probation officer, a nominated person from the education department a nominated person from the health authority. Working as part of a YOT involves being a member of possibly the most diverse and wide ranging multi-agency team within Social Care. Under the (4)GSCC code of practice Social workers have 6 standards (5)that need to be maintained within Social Care settings ensuring that you can build up a relationship with your client and their carers, whilst using this we also need to take into account the National Occupational Standards and use these to provide a benchmark within our practice. Within Youth Justice the National Standards are set by the Home Secretary and issued by the YJB. The Standards provide a benchmark to measure good practice whilst working with children and young people who offend, as well as their families and victims. Social work has little to contribute and little wish to contribute to the effectiveness of prisons if one takes the view that their primary purpose is to punish and humiliate their inmates. If, on the other hand, prisoners are there as a punishment, not for additional punishment, Social Work has an important role, prison based Social Workers can play a vital part in helping prisoners maintain contact with communities, preparing them for constructive activities after their release, and providing opportunities for reflection on their offending and planning for a better life. Social Work is based upon a belief in dignity and worth of all human beings, and in individuals ability to change. (Williams cited in) The role of social work may be more effective if partnered with a service user using a Care Control system, thus avoiding more custodial sentences. The service user would be well aware they had narrowly avoided a custodial sentence and would be guided by the Social Worker if they do not conform to the agreement that they could end up back in court and eventually back to Prison. Having a basic understanding of the Human Development as well as a good knowledge of Social Work Codes of Practice will help us to understand the service users role within society. We need to help empower the service user into making the right decision for them, by giving them the means and help to do it. By treating them with dignity and respect at a level they can understand without them feeling inferior or pressurised to make a decision by the Social Worker. Within this we can offer help with past problems they have suffered using (6)S.W.O.T. analysis, counselling, curfews, boundaries, mentoring, restorati ve work, talking to parents and working with multiple agencies to ensure the service user gets the service and support they need. Helping the service user to promote positive change and help reduce risk. A service user is a term used to emphasis a professional relationship. Service user involvement is putting the people who use our services in control of the lives offering support they may need, to help them overcome their issues and empowering them to lead more fulfilling lives. The anti-social behaviour orders were introduced by Tony Blair in 1998 and by 2005 55 per cent were being breached (cited in article-1228445 Daily Mail) is this because the courts and the police are making the (7)ASBOs unrealistic , Setting out for the Young person to fail and break the order, so they can then go back to court to get the young person of the streets. Working as professionals within the Multiagency setting of YOT we should be looking for opportunities to empower the young person into meeting realistic targets and not setting ASBOs which we know they will be unable to comply with for various reasons. Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) State Parties recognise the right of every child alleged as, accused of, or recognised as having infringed the penal law to be treated in a manner consistent with the promotion of the childs sense of dignity and self worth.(Youth Justice and Social Work ) Piaget distinguished three stages in childrens awareness to rules by playing   games, 1st ages up to 4-5, rules not really understood,2nd stage 4-5 up to 9-10, rules were seen to be coming for a higher authority (e.g. adults, god, town council) 3rd stage 9-10 onwards rules could be mutually changed by others. (cited Understanding childrens development) Many young people who become involved in violence and crime have experienced this type of behaviour from a parent or a peer, if they have learnt that this is the accepted way of dealing with a problem and have seen or experienced this kind of abuse they may have little self esteem and perceive this to be the correct way of dealing with an issue. As discussed by Paiget about children learning and understanding rules, if a child is taught the wrong moral standings by an adult in stage 2, it could lead to them following the wrong path in life. Using this theory we can benchmark where a child should be. There was a drop in the number of children entering the justice system for the first time in 2007/08. Numbers of first time entrants aged 10 to 17 entering the Youth Justice System in England and Wales were around 87,400, a fall of about 7 per cent on the previous year. Slightly more than 2,700 of children in this age group were in custody in England and Wales in December 2008, including around 500 children aged 15 and under. The majority of young offenders in custody were boys (94 per cent). More than four-fifths (86 per cent) of young offenders were held in Young Offenders Institutions, 8 per cent were in Secure Training Centres and 6 per cent were in Secure Childrens Homes. Around 51,000 children aged 10 to 17 were found guilty of indictable offences in 2007 and a further 75,000 were cautioned. Of those found guilty of an indictable offence, more than a third (36 per cent) were found guilty of theft and handling stolen goods and around 14 per cent were found guilty of violence against the person. Boys aged 15 to 17 accounted for 69 per cent of all children found guilty of indictable offences in 2007 including theft and handling stolen goods (11,200 offenders), violence against the person (5,500 offenders), drug offences (4,600 offenders) and burglary (4,500 offenders). (Source: Home Office, Ministry of Justice, Youth Justice Board ) In Order to help prevent this from happening the government launched a program called Youth Inclusion program (8)(YIP) which was established in 2000, and tailor-made programmes for 8 to 17-year-olds, who are identified as being at high risk of involvement in offending or anti-social behaviour. Whilst the programs are run for the identified children, YIPs are also open to other young people in the local area. The programme operates in110 of the most deprived/high crime estates in England and Wales. YIPs aim to reduce youth crime and anti-social behaviour in neighbourhoods where they work. Young people on the YIP are identified through a number of different agencies including youth offending teams (YOTs), police, social services, local education authorities or schools, and other local agencies. YIP receives a grant each year from the Youth Justice Board annually via its Youth Offending Team and is required to find the same amount of funding via Local Agencies. (Cited YJB/Prevention YIPS) Working in genuine partnership with other agencies and being able to access more information will enable the social worker to assess the service users needs quicker and have a detailed history of the client, which will help everyone involved within the multiagency partnership. Most referrals will come via a common assessment form (9) CAF which is used to highlight the areas each individual agency feels the service user is at risk and working within the comprehensive framework for assessment. An independent national evaluation of the first three years of YIPs found that: arrest rates for the 50 young people considered to be most at risk of crime in each YIP had been reduced by 65% of those who had offended before joining the programme, 73% were arrested for fewer offences after engaging with a YIP of those who had not offended previously but who were at risk, 74% did not go on to be arrested after engaging with a YIP. (Cited YJB/Prevention YIPS) Even though these results prove YIP to be an effective project it struggles for the necessary funding. If YIP had more readily available funding there would be more opportunity to intervene early with the affected children.   Earlier invention would help to refocus the energies of children. This could mean that eventually that we can have early intervention programmes running in all areas where children are more at risk and this could potentially prevent my children becoming involved in crime. The evidence shows that intervening early with the most challenging families in this country works. Ed Balls MP, Childrens Secretary (cited Children Young People Now) The conflict between Social work ethics and the legal systems is arguably more distinct in the practice of youth justice than any area within the Social work field. Positive, constructive achievement through social work intervention for a young person will encourage the young person to take responsibility for their actions and empower them to reflect their options whilst making decisions. For a young person, age discrimination and labeling often occur, which could give the young person an attitude and make them feel quite defensive, paranoid sometimes. I think Society possibly needs to change its way of thinking, our New Labour government has passed over 900 new laws since coming to power. This has had an effect on how we view children and young people, 20 years ago we had 339 children in prison, today we have over 3000, does this mean that children have become 10 times more dangerous?. I dont believe that children and young people have really changed as much as statistics say, I believe it is because we have too many laws and because some people live in such a dysfunctional manner, that they prefer to be in prison as they are warm, safe, can get qualifications, they have friends and they get 3 meals day and it is a routine for them, whereas living within a family that is dysfunctional could mean living with violence, drug or alcohol abuse and not having their basic needs met on a regular basis. Everything that happens within a service users life is logical to them. A positivist believes that crime is not chosen but caused largely by factors beyond the offenders control. In essence, the belief is that offenders simply cant help themselves, certain genetic, psychological or environmental factors have influenced their behavior and the existence of these factors means that offenders are almost pre-programmed to become criminals. This is one of the great contradictions of the positivist approach to crime is its focus on reformation and rehabilitation. (Taylor et. Al. (1973) cited in Youth Justice and Social Work Appendix YJS- Youth Justice System YJB Youth Justice Board YOT- Youth Offending Team GSCC General Social Care Council GSCC-   6 Standards S.W.O.T Strength, Weakness, Opportunities Threats. ASBO- Anti Social Behaviour   Order YIP- Youth Inclusion Program CAF- Common Assessment Form General Social Care Council Standards: Code of practice. As a social care worker, you must protect the rights and promote the interests of service users and carers. As a social care worker, you must strive to establish and maintain the trust and confidence of service users and carers. As a social care worker, you must promote the independence of service users while protecting them as far as possible from danger or harm. As a social care worker, you must respect the rights of service users while seeking to ensure that their behaviour does not harm themselves or other people. As a social care worker, you must uphold public trust and confidence in social care services. As a social care worker, you must be accountable for the quality of your work and take responsibility for maintaining and improving your knowledge and skills. Referencing http://www.yjb.gov.uk/en-gb/yjs/Prevention/ http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/feb/15/radio-youthjustice Oxford: Blackwell. Davies, M. (2000) The Blackwell Companion To Social Work,Oxford: Blackwell. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1228445/We-rein-ASBOs-Tories-plan-instant-penalties-control-yobs.htm Dugmore, P. and Pickford, J. (2006) Youth Justice and Social Work,Exeter: Learning Matters. Smith, P.K. and Cowie, H. (1996)   Understanding Childrens Development (2nd ed.),  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Oxford: Blackwell. Page 198 Source: Home Office, Ministry of Justice, Youth Justice Board http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=2200) http://www.yjb.gov.uk/en-gb/yjs/Prevention/YIP/ Ed Balls quote (Children Young People Now) 3-9.12.09 Dugmore, P. and Pickford, J. (2006)  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Youth Justice and Social Work,  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Exeter: Learning Matters. Page 49 Taylor

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Ambulatory Care and the Mental Health Services

Adults with serious mental illness and children who have serious emotional problems are part of the mission for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). SAMHSA (substance abuse and mental health services administration’s center for mental health services, according to their principles provides a national leadership forum that â€Å"improves quality and availability of treatment for the mentally ill, especially adults with serious illness and children with emotional disturbances.† They promote managed care systems in order to carry this out. This paper will compare the principles of this system with those of the IOM. SAMHSA promotes two major principles in care and those include quality of care and consumer participation and rights.In quality of care is included the need to treat all patients with respect and dignity, basing all decisions and treatments on best practice, developing delivery and data collection systems, ensuring that services are tailored to individual needs, established verification processes for credentials, providing a way for providers to resolve disputes, ensure a continuum of care, ensure a wrap around for children, and incorporate targeted prevention activities. Further, they have a set of principles which involve consumer rights and protection.Plan members should be involved in discerning care, respect should be shown for choice of service, necessary legal and ethical rights, education for all consumers, families, and supporting consumer rights, and ensuring confidentiality. Comparison with IOM In comparing this to the supportive beliefs of the IOM, the primary goals are quality of care and improvement if not doing away with the inequities of care in this country as well as the ideal of seamless service. These are very important factors in moving care from the treatment of illness to the prevention of illness.Allowing for a continuum of care as well as a stable base of care is important as well as the need to be able to have testing done that might provide prevention for diseases such as colon cancer. Mental health and community care is also strong in the quality principles that they have applied (IOM. edu). In fact many of the principles of the two areas are well matched. It appears that some of these principles will be seen in the new healthcare also, as it includes prevention as part of the mandatory insurance rules.For example, many people were unable to have a colonoscopy because of the cost or the copay that will not longer be so as preventative has no cost or copay if you have insurance. Treating Veterans with PTSD The new IOM as well as the SAMHSAC have principles that dictate treatment based on need, respect, and dignity. The new principles in both cases address serious mental illness which would certainly include PTSD. Veterans with mental illness are presently one of the disparity groups and these groups are the ones tha t the IOM is attempting to bring to attention at this time.This can only help this group of people. Conclusion The mental health issues in this country, among other very difficult health issues have been on the back burner for some time. With the advent of the new health program and support by these two agencies, there is hope that there will be improvement in this care. SLP Articles The articles chosen were Prevention best Medicine and Health Centers to get 250 million in grants. These two articles seemed to be collaborative articles in solving the same issues.Prevention best medicine by Emily Bregel (2010), states that there has been a history of delay in preventative care in the US. This is caused because of the expense of the tests, not covered by insurance or those that have costly co-pay. Under the new healthcare reform law, health insurance plans that begin on or after Sept. 23 must cover recommended preventive services and cannot charge patients co-payments or deductibles. T his causes a shift in the type of care that is given from coverage for illness to coverage for prevention of illness.Many of the larger insurance companies were interviewed and it was felt by most that this would not be a large difference in cost for them as it will decrease costs in the end. This whole change will be better quality care for the patient. Health Center to get $250 million in grants by Fears (2010) reviews the newer grants that are available for building community clinics in an effort to boost service. Of course, health centers across the country are lining up to get a piece of this money.Many of which got quite a large grant last time it was offered and because of growth need granted money again. The funding is available under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and is meant to establish medical homes for patients that at this time do not have them. These health centers have been the safety net for the uninsured to provide comprehensive medical care as wel l as pharmacy, mental health, substance abuse treatment, and dental care. This is a part of the continuum of care as well as a place to use the new prevention funds to stave off chronic illness.References Bregel, E. (2010). Prevention best medicine. Health. Fears D. (2010). Health Centers to get $250 million in grants to build clinics, boost services. Washington Post. Principles for Systems of Managed Care. National Mental Health Information Center, (2010) available at http://mentalhealth. samhsa. gov/ NLM Gateway. (2005). The evidence and recommendations of IOM report for achieving the 6 aims of quality in rural America. Academy Health22 (3876)

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Adolescence Paper Essay

Adolescence is a period of socialization where children develop relationships outside of the family.   These relationships further fuel or enhance their perceptions of the world, their bonding with surrounding society members and their view of human interactions.   In an environment where there is a distant mother or absent father, where the child is found to have problems acting socially normal with other people, the person is defined as a deviant.   Not everyone who has been subjected to the above findings will go on to become a self-mutilator, but these types of adolescent girls are or have been defined by these terms. It becomes apparent then, that early childhood development is essential to creating an identity and furthermore to creating a sound human being who is not prone to acts of aggression.   In the theme of this paper, the concept of transgenderism will be discussed.   Although the theory of socialization is a very strong indicator of moral values and actions, it does not indicate sexual disposition.   The theories of biology are more aptly considered to be the reason for sexual persuasion, and in the argument for this paper, transgenderism will be proven to be biological, not psychological, or sociological. See more:  Capital budgeting essay The purpose in the role of a transgendered person is in the definition of identity.   It is any person’s right to discover their true self and to present that self to society.   The problem that society has with a transgendered person is that society is often times eluded by this identity.   Anything or anyone who defies definition, that cannot be exactly categorized, becomes a ‘problem’ in society.   However, where the discussion of this paper is concerned such a ‘problem’ is beyond its scope, thus, the issue of identity and the rejection of that identity by society will be discussed. First, a transgendered person is a person who defies a specific gender role.   Men are conditioned by society to not be a sissy, to be superior and tough.   As Tucker-Ladd states in his book Psychological Self-Help, â€Å"And, what makes a woman a â€Å"great catch?† What makes women sexy? A pretty face and a great body! Women compete on the basis of their looks. This may interfere with women’s motivation to achieve and be successful. Oprah recently asked young people which they would rather be: attractive or intelligent? An amazing percentage said attractive. What counts in this culture is how attractive you are, especially if you are a woman.† (2000). Thus, it would seem that a transgendered person would have the benefits of either gender, but this is not the case. Going back to the idea of identity, a transgendered person is both genders.   This does not however classify that person as a hermaphrodite which is being born with both sexes functional sexual organs.   A transgendered person has attributes of either sex, as their biological make-up pertaining to psychological contexts designs behavior.   Often times such an individual is a man who has, or who desires to be female, or vice versa. Although society has many sexual deviants in its subcultures, a transgendered person is not a transsexual, which is a specified gender dressing in the other gender’s clothes.   Instead, a transgendered identity pertains to defying or including to a smaller extent the gender assigned to them at birth.   Thus, the dualistic nature and the confusion of this, is the make-up of the transgender definition. Therefore, by the above stated definition of a transgendered person, they should be considered social deviants inasmuch as society fails to define this subculture.   The thesis of this paper rests upon the fact that a transgendered person does not choose that they are transgendered but instead, their psychological make-up adheres to one sex’s societal role definition more than the biological make-up.   Thus, although transgender is a defiance of biology, it is also a deviance of societal norms, as Sandy Stone states, Transgender is a term whose exact meaning is still in dispute, and I consider that a very healthy sign. The most widely accepted definition is that transgender includes everything not covered by our culture’s narrow terms â€Å"man† and â€Å"woman†. A partial list of persons who might include themselves in such a definition includes transsexuals (pre, post, and no-op); transvestites; cross dressers; persons with ambiguous genitalia; persons who have chosen to perform ambiguous social genders; and persons who have chosen to perform no gender at all (Stone, paragraph One). Against this idea that transgendered people are transgender due to psychology is the fact that often times the transgender definition includes (as stated by Stone) other social deviants whose identity is not guided by psychology but biology such as ambiguous genitals, or the people who choose a certain lifestyle.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The argument of this paper is that choice is not a factor in determining transgendered people.   Instead, it is inherent in them, and is not under the guise of socialization, or biology.   The concept of choice is one which defies the rules of constructed psychology.   Along the same lines that a schizophrenic cannot choose their dementia or a serial killer their disposition to kill, so does the definition of a transgendered person escape choice. Thus, although Stone’s definition of a transgendered person is inclusive, it should not be so inclusive as to apply to these various subgroups of social deviants.   There is a difference between a transgendered person and a transsexual, transvestite, etc.   While some have to do with choice (transsexual), others have to do with complete changing of their sex (as in a transsexual).   A transgendered person is biologically one sex, and yet performs attitudes, functions, reactions and thoughts according to social definitions of the other gender’s role.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although culture has implications on the role of gender, the technicalities of which cannot be aptly portrayed in this essay.  Ã‚   It is however in this scope of this essay to mention that while biology caters to the transsexual, psychology is the format by which a transgendered person obtains their social role.   Although some contest to the fact of biology being a main component in transgender identity as Stone states, Social constructivists believe that both sex and gender arise in social interaction and have no existence independent of social interaction; i.e., they are not grounded in â€Å"nature†, the meaning of which is itself socially determined. The â€Å"constructedness† of sex and gender is made invisible by the normal workings of social life, so that they appear natural rather than artificial. Recent constructivist theory also points out that the idea of two absolute chromosomal sexes is also a social construction. Recall the film Alien 3, in which the inhabitants of the prison colony are all double-Y chromosomal; thus although they possess many of the secondary sexual characteristics of males, genetically they are not male, nor are they any other category for which we currently have a socially understood name (Stone, paragraph Six). The fact remains that a transgender person is born with appropriate body functions, and their chemical make-up is no different than other person’s with the same gender.   Therefore the reliance on psychology, not the function of sociology and the socialization of gender through cultural awareness, but the psychological components which determine if a person is a genius, serial killer, etc. are the same for finding the reason behind transgendered people. Work Cited Stone, S.   Transgender.   Online.   Accessed:   May 11, 2007.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   < http://sandystone.com/trans.html> Tucker-Ladd, Clayton, E.   Psychological Self-Help.   2000.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Friday, January 3, 2020

Pre-Employment Screening - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 871 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2019/02/15 Category Career Essay Level High school Tags: Employment Essay Did you like this example? The 1968 report presented by National Advisory Commission, on Civil Disorders during the summer of 1967, to the president of the United States highlighted the existence of individuals within the police department whose actions exhibited prejudice. The commission faulted the evaluation procedure for law enforcement candidates only required their knowledge of grammar and mathematics. Therefore, the commission suggested the employment of psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals to be used in screening applicants, together with the already used, to address the issue of personality related issues. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Pre-Employment Screening" essay for you Create order In 1969, the first police psychologist was hired in Los Angeles (Mark, 2014). This paper investigates the current acceptable standards of psychological evaluations; and, how they are used to improve the efficiency of screening applicants for law enforcement agencies. Standards for Pre-Employment Screening The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) provided the psychological guidelines for pre-employment used by law enforcement and public safety agencies. The directive consisted of various instructions which must be met for the evaluation to be deemed valid. The first, required by the IACP, is for the applicant to complete a disclosure form. The second requirement, of the IACP standard for evaluation, is for the examiner to be qualified (Murphy, 1972). The IACP states the psychological evaluation process should be conducted by a licensed psychologist with a doctorate degree or a registered mental health professional (where required by the law). The psychologist is expected to follow all the standard procedures for the evaluation process; as required by the IACP. Additionally, another requirement, in the standard guidelines provided by the IACP, involves having the applicants’ background information. To elaborate, all applicants should provide his or her background information. Afterwards, a thorough screening should be carried out to assess the validity of the provided data. Some examples of the requested background information include: school history, background, financial records, legal issues, health records, previous employment history, and history of substance use (Murphy, 1972). Furthermore, there should be a live interview as well as a polygraph test should be conducted to gauge the response of the applicants to various questions posed. The final requirement of the IACP standard procedure deals with follow-up activities. To explain, applicants who are successful should be subjected to follow up observation to establish whether their condition is, sufficiently, stable. Per the Georgia Department of Public Safety website, the requirements for the pre-employment screening is pretty much the same as the conditions stipulated in the guidelines of the IACP (â€Å"Hiring Process,† n.d.). Not to mention, the use of the polygraph test during the evaluation process, and the interview should last for up to an hour (Mitchell, 2016). This requirement enables problematic characteristics, the candidates may try to conceal, to be uncovered. Despite the fact, both, the state level and the IACP requirement are useful in pre-employment screening. Unfortunately, some may believe there are still vital areas that are not addressed. Evidently, racial discrimination and homophobia are matters which affect the world; let alone states (Mitchell, 2016). Therefore, when performing a pre-employment evaluation for police applicants, there should be more parameters that gauge the candidates’ opinion on race and gay rights. Especially, on the issue of race which has negatively affected the image of the police. Primary Aim of Pre-Employment Screening The main aim of conducting a pre-employment screening is to evaluate three significant aspects of the applicant. First, whether the applicant meets the required standards stipulated, by the laws, to occupy the given position. Secondly, the objective is to assess the mental and emotional conditions of the applicant that may adversely affect their ability to efficiently perform job requirements (Mark, 2014). Finally, the primary objective of the pre-employment screening is to gauge whether the applicant is resilient enough to withstand the psychological demands the job may place on him or her (Mark, 2014). Ethical Implication and Legal Aspects of Pre-Employment Screening The main ethical implication, in conducting this procedure, is to show the dedication of the police department to build the confidence it has lost among the people it is mandated to serve. Therefore, thorough screening of the applicant, to be recruited by the department, shows how the law enforcement agencies take work ethics seriously. The legal aspect of pre-employment screening is it minimizes the amount of cases involving law enforcement departments defending itself against legal suits filed on the ground of incompetence and bias. For many years, different police departments, across the United States, have been subject of lawsuits questioning their ability to serve and protect. However, if there is consistency in the implementation the results of this procedure will change the status quo. Conclusion In conclusion, the use of pre-employment screening for potential candidates of law enforcement agencies is aimed at improving competence. Not to mention three major parties will benefit from this process. These parties are the following: the police officer being recruited, the law enforcement department, and the community. As a result, this procedure will recruit more competent officers which, in turn, will paint a right image, to the community, of the officers and the department (Mitchell, 2016). In addition, the community, will enjoy the improved quality of services produced by the more competent officers. In general, the impact of pre-employment screening will mean a decrease in the amount of cases involving police harassment and misconduct.