ABSTRACT
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239046.].
ABSTRACT
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.
Subject(s)
Lie Detection/psychology , Recidivism/prevention & control , Sex Offenses/psychology , Adult , Criminals/psychology , Humans , Male , Paraphilic Disorders/diagnosis , Paraphilic Disorders/psychology , Prisoners/psychology , Sexual Behavior/psychology , Truth Disclosure/ethicsABSTRACT
This study was designed to investigate differences in psychophysiological responses among individuals with psychopathic tendencies. A total 40 students were participated and were divided into two groups based on Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (LSRP) scores: a high psychopathic tendency group selected from the top 5% of LSRP scores, and a low psychopathic tendency group selected from the bottom 5% of LSRP scores. All participants were instructed to perform a mock crime and complete the concealed information test (CIT). Results indicate that significant differences between crime-relevant questions and irrelevant questions were observed for respiration line length and skin conductance response in both groups, but heart rate did not significantly differ between groups. There were no differences in psychophysiological responses between the groups. In conclusion, CIT was found to be an effective method for detecting crime-relevant information in individuals with psychopathic tendencies.
