Open AccessImproving the quality of sexual history disclosure on sex offenders: Emphasis on a polygraph examination
Author(s) -
Sue Hyun Jung,
Min Jin,
Jang Kyu Lee,
Hee Song Kim,
Hyung Ki Ji,
Ki Pyoung Kim,
Myoung Ho Hyun,
Hyeon Gi Hong
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0239046
Subject(s) - polygraph , recidivism , paraphilia , psychology , sex offender , clinical psychology , sex offense , suicide prevention , poison control , social psychology , sexual abuse , medical emergency , sexual behavior , medicine
The increasing recidivism rate of sex offenders indicates potential problems in existing recidivism programs. The present study was conducted to determine whether the polygraph examination is a useful technique to obtain a sex offender’s concealed past sexual history. We collected fifty-two sex offenders’ data and analyzed it. Among the 52 participants, the court ordered 26 sex offenders to take the psychiatric evaluation and the polygraph test. The other half were prisoners at the hospital who were currently undergoing treatment. The participants in the polygraph group disclosed more deviant sexual behaviors and paraphilia interests/behaviors than the comparison group. Thus, the polygraph examination is a powerful tool that can encourage sex offenders to disclose hidden information to help create suitable psychological therapy programs for preventing recidivism in the future.