Approved For Release 2001/0g/()7^: pi^-RDP96-007^(gQ4eO
PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT AS
A TOOL IN DISRUPTION OF DRUG TRAFFIC
Problem
One attempt
to
reduce the
''drug problem"
is
to
disrupt or destroy the
drug delivery system somewhere between
the point of origin and
the consumer
in the United States
thus making
the hard drugs less available to
the user.
Hopefully
this
intervention would assist in
the alleviation of the drug problem,
although, of course,
it might not lead
to
its elimination.
The purpose of this
proposal is
to offer
a tool which might help
in
the, disruption process.
Background
.
,
Psychological assessment of individuals
or groups
is
a
technique
that has
been practiced by psychologists and psychiatrists
for
a number of years.
It
generally calls
for
the administration of a
several of psychological tests and
face-to-face interviews.
The technique
is used for
a variety of purposes,
ranging
from the placement of people
in appropriate vocational positions
to
the treatment of people
for
a variety of neurotic symptoms.
,
In certain situations
it
is not possible
for
the assessors
to have
direct access
to
the individual to be assessed.
To handle these situations,
techniques have been developed to
indirectly evaluate individuals or sub-
cultural groups.
The indirect approach
is more difficult and probably less
reliable but has been used successful.ly
in several instances.
It requires
considerable information about
the individuals
to be assessed such
as
interviews with people who know them,
observations of their behavior
under
a variety of situations,
their physical attributes,
etc.
The accuracy
of the personality picture then dravm
is obviously correlated with the
quality of this
matericil.
Approved For Release 2001/03/07
: CIA-RDP96-00787R000400040007-9
P^PfOved For Rel^e 2001/03/07
: CIA-RDP96-007^000400040007-9
Indirect assessment
is generally used
to determine how an individual
will behave
in
a
face-to-face situation or how he will function in
a variety
of circumstances.
For instance:
how will he interact with his peers,
subordinates or superiors?
How wil3. he react under different environment
either cultural or psychological?
How will he behave under stress?
What
are his
strengths
and weaknesses?
The Application of Indirect Assessment
to
the Hard Drug Disruption Process
One means of disrupting the channels of drug flow
is
to deal with
the
key individuals
involved
in that channel.
The technique of indirect assessment
will be helpful if
(1)
individuals
in the organizations responsible for
the
transporting or processing of drugs
are. known j
and
, (2)
if the
circumsta.nccs
in which these individuals operate
is observable or has been observed.
Assessment from data on these people either on hand in the law enforce-
ment community or specifically gathered
for indirect assessment purposes could
be used
to better understand how key staff members of these organizations
behave
in particular circumstances.
Such questions
could
then be addressed
as "how might they be manipulated
if their strengths and weaknesses are
known"
and "What kinds of approaches might be made
to these individuals who
are under pressure from the law enforcement community?"
The indirect assessment procedures
to be utilized are based
for
interpretation on a psychological assessment system tried and tested over
a
25-year period.
The data bank contains assessments
and profiles on
a wide
variety of subcultural groups both
U.S.
and
foreign.
The data bank includes
profiles of criminals,
drug addicts,
actors, political elites, military.
Approved For Release 2001/03/07
: CIA-RDP96-00787R000400040007-9
P^BRTOved For Rel^e 2001/03/07
: CIA-RDP96-007^§^000400040007-9
business
executives,
and many other "types.”
The system does not depend
on specialized knowledge on such questionable concepts as
the "military
mind" or
the "criminal profile."
Most behavioral scientists reject
stereotypes
as
a psychologically meaningful categorization of behavior,
rather the system recognizes
the influence
of- environmental stress
through
stimulus
impingement,
society’s influence on the
individual,
through its
schools, neighborhoods, peer groups,
etc.
Thus,
though there may be
clusters of similar behaviors related to
a particular occupation or sub-
cultural group,
this system permits
flexibility
in interpretation of these
groups
in an ever changing psychological environment.
The assessors participating in this study have had experience ranging
over most of the subcultural profiles mentioned above and have access
to
appropriate profile data banks
for any statistical or comparative analyses.
All individuals
do not react the same
to similar stimuli nor do
they
perceive
a stimulus
in the same way.
By better understanding
the needs and
motivations of various members of drug-flow organizations, more alternatives
for disrupting this
traffic may become obvious.
A better understanding of
the individuals
and groups operating the drug traffic channels will provide
law enforcement personnel with potentially better predictions of how various
strategies might put more effective pressure on distribution procedures
and
alternative routes of traffic.
In addition,
a study of the types of individuals
associated with these drug organizations may reveal comraunality of behavior
and. psychological sets, which could
then be used more generally
in the
interdiction of this
traffic.
Approved For Release 2001/03/07
: CIA-RDP96-00787R000400040007-9
P^pproved For Relate 2001/03/07
: CIA-RDP96-007^iR000400040007-9
Products
From This
Study
This study would lead
to
(1)
assessments
of key individuals
in the
drug traffic organizations;
(2)
a better picture of the general behavior
and motivations of the drug trafficker
btrfrav-iro-r;
(3) potential vulnerabilities
of the group and
the key individuals
for exploitation by law enforcement
personnel.
Required Assistance and Research Contribution
In order to be effective in psychological assessment of the drug
traffic culture and individuals,
the law enforcement community must have
or be able
to collect sufficiently good quality information about individuals
and subgroups
Involved.
It may be
a considerable amount of unanalyzed infor-
mation or data now exists
that has not been appropriately exploited.
Studies
of files now
in existence would be helpful to
the assessors.
It may be that
certain information gathering would he required
to fill the gaps
on
individuals
or groups.
The assessors should bring to
the law enforcement community skills
in
the assessment process,
vigorous systematic analysis of available data,
and
skill in producing reports which would highlight approaches of vulnerabilities
to
the system and to
the key individuals.
The study should
thus result in
another tool to prevent the hard drugs
from reaching the
U.S.
or allied
markets.
Approved For Release 2001/03/07
: CIA-RDP96-00787R000400040007-9