Yesterday, one of our blogger followers posted a great question: "What kind of psychological screening do au pair agencies use?" Kate writes that her niece is looking for an au pair and she read our blog about the Swiss au pair who took inappropriate photos of the family's 5 year old daughter. One photo was determined to be pornographic, yet no charges were made and the au pair was free to return home. However, the family, who hosted the au pair from Cultural Care, claims their daughter is now psychologically damaged and they are suing the agency for over 5 million dollars. See the entire post "Host Family Sues Au Pair Agency..."
I can understand Kate's concern - parents worry "Will my au pair be of sound mind?" "Does she have mental health issues, like depression, anxiety or an eating disorder?" Parents should know how effective these tests are in pinpointing mental health problems.
First, let's take a look at the issue of psychological screening. If the agency has been designated by the Department of State, then yes, the agency is required to do both a criminal background check and a psychological screening.
The tests the agencies use vary - there is no one test required by the Department of State. All the tests vary along types (some are personality tests, some are cultural adaptabililty inventories) and validity. There are no statistics available to the consumer regarding the results of the psychological scores, for example, how many au pairs pass; how many fail; how many are accepted if they have marginal results and what are the criteria by which the agency accepts or rejects an au pair using these methods? Therein lies the problem - where is the reliability of a U.S. government sanctioned test that has passed muster?
Secondly, not all tests can rule out all mental health issues. Can these psychological profiles flag a potential child abuser? In the case of the Swiss au pair, who took at least one pornographic photo of the child touching her genitals and posted it on a website in Sweden, did the test she apparently "passed" screen for Pedophilia? Who is looking at these tests? Who reads the results and consults with the agencies regarding potential red flags? What are the person's qualifications interpreting test results?
Pedophilia is defined as a psychological disorder in which an adult has a sexual desire only for children. A feature of this disorder is recurrent sexual urges and fantasies about children that leads to child sexual abuse, including child pornography. Most pedophiles take excessive photographs of children and they can be of a sexual nature, or show nudity.
We typically think of males as pedophiles but research indicates that female pedophiles preying on children in their care is much higher than previously thought. Over 6% of pedophiles are women (Natalie O'Brien, NEWS.com.au, & The Australian, March 7, 2006). The study also indicated that female predators were less likely to be charged and prosecuted for crimes against children compared to male predators.
The study noted that female pedophiles typically abuse girls, at twice the rate they abused boys. Male childcare workers and male au pairs face much more discrimination and scrutiny compared to their female counterparts. Au pair agencies and childcare workers clearly should be screening both sexes for potential child abuse!
The good news is that the majority of au pairs coming into the government regulated agencies are not child abusers and the incidence of reported cases are low.
We will continue to discuss this disturbing and timely topic and report related incidents in the news as they unfold. Please send us your comments and thoughts regarding this topic.
We will be posting an article on aupairclearinghouse.com on childcare workers/au pairs and child abuse and how to recognize a pedophile.
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