Abstract
The polygraph is a lightning rod for controversy that often distracts practitioners from its uses. There is much confusion about the use of the polygraph as a “lie detector,” which is not necessarily its main purpose. The editor, Dr. Daniel Wilcox, has done an excellent job in clarifying for the reader the advantages of using the tool in postconviction testing as an aid to gaining information on risky behaviors.
This text includes 14 chapters with contributions from 23 authors who are acknowledged experts in assessment and application of the polygraph with sex offenders. The text begins with the editor providing an overview of the recent developments in the use of the polygraph with sex offenders. In this introductory chapter, Wilcox presents research using the polygraph and questions the notion that crossover offending (the belief that individuals who sexually abuse adults would not sexually abuse children) is rare. This is followed by Whittingham, who considers the clinical use of the polygraph with sex offenders. This chapter begins with a discussion on risk management practices and etiology of sex offending before considering the strengths and weaknesses and offering caveats when using this technology, noting that it is the interpretation rather than the reliability of the tool that provokes controversy. A chapter by Wilcox and Madsen provides a historical account of the use of the polygraph within U.S. government agencies and businesses, which provides an important backdrop to its current use in polygraph postconviction sex offender testing (PCSOT). This is followed by review of the empirical evidence for the value of PCSOT. Madsen and Wilcox present evidence that, when compared to clinical interviews, polygraphs administered after conviction assisted in gaining significant amounts of information that was otherwise undisclosed. Although they admit there has been less research conducted on the use of the polygraph in the supervision of sex offenders, they present encouraging evidence from the few studies of offenders on parole or probation that the use of polygraph acts as a confessional in disclosing high-risk behaviors. Sosnowski and Wilcox provide some direction to professionals on the practical usage of the polygraph, common errors that reduce accuracy, preparation, and question structure to enhance reliability and guidance on interpreting results.
One of the strengths of the volume is the discussion (in chapter 6) of case studies by Wilcox, O’Keeffe, and Oliver. In this chapter, the authors detail two case studies describing the use of the polygraph in challenging denial of offenses and four case studies examining the effect of the disclosure of new information. Buscham and Bogaerts go on to discuss the use of the polygraph (sexual history disclosure polygraph examination) of first-conviction downloaders of child abuse images in the Netherlands. They describe the results of two studies that revealed that downloader offenders also admit to engaging in other sexually abusive behaviors, such as hands-on behavior toward children involving penetration and fondling as well as paraphilic behaviors, information that was unknown prior to polygraph examination.
Gannon, Beech, and Ward provide a detailed account of the current understanding of risk assessment processes linked with the use of the polygraph. Although the polygraph is not considered to have risk assessment properties (i.e., as a measure of predictive accuracy), the authors suggest that, paired with Beech and Ward’s (2004) etiological model of risk, the polygraph could provide the most realistic picture possible of sexual offenders’ risk.
In another important chapter, Madsen addresses the contentious issue of the accuracy and psychometric properties of the instrument. Important concepts related to validity are considered, as are results from published studies on the sensitivity and specificity of the instrument. Madsen notes that only three studies have attempted to investigate the accuracy of the polygraph in a sex postconviction context. Although initial results look promising, Madsen notes that there are concerns with respect to sampling and procedural biases in some of those early studies. Madsen draws on studies outside the field of sexual offending before considering factors that may affect the accuracy of the tool to further explore the psychometric properties of the instrument.
Throughout the text, it is clear that much of the research to date has been conducted within the United States. Heil and English offer a historical account of the use of the polygraph in the United States dating back to the 1960s. Central to the reliable administration of the polygraph is testing processes and the debate regarding best practice and training requirements. This leads the authors to a discussion of the polygraph’s use within the context of a containment model in sex offender management. Like Madsen, they consider issues of reliability and accuracy and issues affecting false admissions. Addison and Crisilla move away from using the polygraphs with sex offenders and consider its use in the management of other areas of offending behavior, such as domestic abuse, stalking, and general violence. Addison and Crisilla argue that as an alternative to the reliance on self-reported disclosures of offenders, the polygraph can be used as a method of verifying an offender’s self-report, making significant contributions to the management and treatment of offenders more generally. However, the authors note that although postconviction polygraph testing can facilitate assessment and treatment in wider offender populations, the impact and usefulness of this technology is yet to be empirically tested.
The final three chapters consider alternative technologies aligned to the polygraph as methods of gaining information on behavior and sexual interests. These chapters go beyond the use of polygraphy and offer useful discussions on interviewing and detection of deception. In chapter 12, Blair is concerned with the interrogation and interviewing process and highlights the differences between interviewing and interrogation and methods for eliciting accurate information. This is followed by Vendemia, Schillaci, Buzan, Green, and Meek, who offer a detailed summary of new technologies within the existing polygraph methodology, such as voice stress analysis, thermal imaging, pupillometry, and technologies outside of polygraph methodology, such as brain wave (event-related potentials) and functional magnetic resonance imaging, as alternatives to detecting deception and monitoring cognitive activity. In the final chapter, Kalmus, Beech, and Warberg review the forensic assessment of sexual interests, including physiological (penile tumescence, thermistor or temperature groin measurements, photoelectric surface blood volume measurement, pupillometry and electroencephalogram measurement) and nonphysiological (card sort, standardized inventories, attentional methodologies) methods of discriminating sexual interest. The authors note that these tools can be aligned with polygraph and broader efforts to assess and effectively manage offenders.
As noted in the foreword by Eric Holden, past president of the American Polygraph Association, PCSOT represents the fastest-growing segment of polygraph practice in the United States, a practice that will likely be adopted elsewhere. The focus of the volume is to assist professionals who work with sex offenders to have a clearer understanding of how PCSOT can assist them in assessing, treating, and supervising sexual offenders. As the editor notes, in spite of its controversial past, the polygraph has become an important tool in the postconviction management of sexual offenders. This text is a vital reading for those practitioners involved in the community supervision of sexual offenders and is highly recommended.