Cleared DoD Employees at Risk - Report 2 A Study of Barriers to Seeking Help

Abstract

The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports (0704-0188), 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. 1.REPORT PERSEREC examined the relationship between DoD security policy and federally mandated employee assistance programs (EAPs) for civilians and counseling/referral services for military personnel to identify any barriers for cleared DoD employees to using these programs. The study, based largely on interviews, but also on focus-group information and on a review of policy documents and other literature, found that policy is in place to help cleared individuals with personal problems get access to the counseling and treatment they need. However, research showed that cleared employees, civilian or military, often remain suspicious that their attendance at such programs will result in clearance revocation. Thus, some consult counseling programs outside the federal system, eschewing the very programs that the government has set up to help them. Report 1, designed for the policymaker, makes various recommendations for augmenting policy guidance, and for enhancing security education programs to underscore the fact that people can get help without putting their security status in danger. Report 2 documents the research and presents findings and conclusions; it also contains a series of appendices that provides background information for the interested reader on such topics as the EAP movement, military counseling/referral programs, and DoD personnel security policies and programs. PrefaceIn the wake of an alarming number of espionage cases involving cleared U.S. employees in the early-to-mid 1980s, the DoD Security Review Commission under the chairmanship of General Richard G. Stilwell, USA (Ret.) recommended that a personnel security research center be set up. In 1986 PERSEREC was established. The center was charged with producing data-based information for policymakers to facilitate making informed decisions on personnel security policy, with the ultimate aim of reducing the likelihood of people committing espionage.People are drawn to espionage for a variety of complex and interconnected reasons, many of which are caused by unresolved personal problems. Professional help-from programs and services provided by t...

Espionage Against the United States by American Citizens 1947-2001

“…Clinical interview studies of espionage offenders have noted a pattern in which personal disruptions or crises often precede an individual's decision to commit espionage, and have speculated that if help or timely intervention had been offered, the crime might have been averted (Wood & Fischer, 2002). We attempted to document this pattern in the cases in the espionage database by coding instances of various upsets and life crises if these occurred coincident to or shortly before an espionage attempt.…”

“…Research on continuing evaluation programs in the military services (Bosshardt, DuBois, & Crawford, 1991) has shown that continuing assessment programs are moderately effective, but would be improved by better monitoring mechanisms, random reinvestigations instead of predictable ones, and targeting resources on those exposed to high-risk information. Over the decade since this major research on continuing assessment was done, one line of attempted improvement has been identifying cleared individuals with significant personal problems and offering them help through Employee Assistance Programs as a means of reducing the probability that they will resort to espionage (Wood & Fischer, 2002).…”

“…The poll found that respondents were evenly divided between those who would report a co-worker immediately, and those who would speak to the person, offering them a chance to improve, without reporting them (Wood, 2002). The hopes pinned on federal Employee Assistance programs as a way out of this quandary, since these programs allow a troubled employee to be referred for professional help before the troubles escalate, have so far been undercut by lack of trust in assurances of confidentiality by a government program (Wood & Fischer, 2002).…”

Changes in Espionage by Americans: 1947-2007

“…Researchers have speculated that if help or timely intervention had been offered, the crime might have been averted (Wood & Fischer, 2002). Instances of such triggers were coded in the PERSEREC Espionage Database if they occurred coincident to or shortly before an espionage attempt, roughly during the previous 6 to 8 months.…”

Ten Tales of Betrayal: The Threat to Corporate Infrastructure by Information Technology Insiders Analysis and Observations

“…For example, Wood (2002), noted that inside attackers are likely to target familiar domains and may even be domain experts. Our research supports this conclusion.…”