Ethical Issues Might Exist Within Polygraph Examinations.

After graduation, many criminal justice majors, like myself, will apply for jobs that request them to take a polygraph examination in order to be hired. This is because many criminal justice majors apply for jobs within law enforcement and the government. Over 60 percent of the law enforcement and government-based jobs within the United States request job applicants to take a polygraph examination. I fear that these polygraph examinations could be crossing the line by invading one’s privacy. Could polygraphy be an unethical practice within the hiring process?

In order to examine the possibility of ethical issues existing within polygraphy, one must have some basic knowledge on the topic.

A polygraph machine, measures and records a subject’s blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while he or she is questioned. The idea is that if a subject responds to a question with a deceiving response, the polygraph will show physiological reactions that are different from non-deceiving responses. John Larson invented the polygraph in 1921; he was a medical student at the University of California at Berkeley. It was first implemented within law enforcement by August Vollmer, the police chief of the Berkeley Police Department in California. Many members of the scientific community consider polygraphy to be pseudoscience, or a practice that is presented as scientific but: does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, and or cannot be reliably tested. However, in some countries, polygraphy is still being used as an interrogation tool during criminal investigations. It is also being used to supplement the interview process of prospective employees for certain public and or private sector jobs. In the United States, federal government agencies such as the FBI, the CIA, and many police departments, including the Los Angeles Police Department, are using polygraph examinations to question suspects and also to screen potential new recruits. However, in Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware and Iowa it is illegal for a non-government employer to administer a polygraph examination. Further, polygraph testimony’s admissibility in court differs between each state. Yet, no defendant or witness can be forced to undergo a polygraph test. While its use in court is controversial, polygraphy is widely used during probation, particularly on sex offenders. If you would like even more information on polygraphs, please visit the American Polygraph Association’s FAQ page HERE.

In order to gather more information on polygraph examinations I conducted an interview with polygraph expert, Tom Mauriello.

Tom Mauriello has been a professor and lab instructor at the University of Maryland’s criminology and criminal justice department for over thirty years. However, Mauriello is more than just an educator. He retired last February after thirty years of service with the United States Department of Defense (DoD). His assignments with DoD included: Special Agent; Chief of Police; Senior Polygraph Examiner; Director, Occupational Health, Environmental and Safety Services; Director, Interagency OPSEC Support Staff (IOSS); Deputy Director for Security Education, Training and Awareness; Congressional Staff Investigator for the United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations; and Chief of Polygraphy for the Associate Directorate for Security and Counterintelligence. Not to mention, Mauriello is a recipient of the DoD, Exceptional Civilian Service Award, and the NCMS – Society for Industrial Security Professionals, President’s Award and Donald B. Woodbridge Award. As you can see, Mauriello is clearly more than qualified to be considered an expert on this topic: whether or not ethical issues exist within polygraph examinations.

In the following video clip, Mauriello discusses whether or not employers should request polygraph examinations.

Some ethical issues do in fact exist within polygraph examinations.

On top of the issue that Mauriello brings up that there is no one, single law that regulates polygraph examinations; polygraph exams might compel, frighten, and or manipulate test subjects. Polygraphy turns people into unwilling instruments of their own doom. Polygraphists do not need to do much to intimidate their subjects into confessing; the polygraph machine does that for them. Further, some might even consider polygraph examinations to be “fishing expeditions.” This is because, prior to administering the polygraph exam, the polygraphist might “fish” for information. He or she will do this by asking questions like, “is there anything you would like to admit or reveal prior to taking the polygraph exam?” As a result, most people are so intimidated by the polygraph machine that they confess to things prior to taking the polygraph test that the examiner would not have even thought to question them about. As you can see, there are quite a few ethical concerns surrounding polygraphy.  

With all of this knowledge, some, including myself, feel that polygraphy should be completely banned from the hiring process.

Polygraph examinations are an unethical practice that unreasonably invades people’s privacy. In my opinion they have no place within the hiring process. If you listen to the audio clip at the very bottom of this post (after the references list), of a non-expert’s opinion of polygraph examinations, you will see that I am not alone in this negative feeling towards polygraphy. I am not sure if it will ever happen, but I hope that someday polygraph examinations requested by employers, even government ones, will be made illegal on a national level.

Now that you have read my blog post, I leave you with one last question: 

Would you agree to take a polygraph examination?

References:

- ccjs.umd.edu/facultyprofile/Mauriello/Thomas
- polygraph.org/section/resources/frequently-asked-questions
- Professor Mauriello's lectures
- Pyle, C. H. (1985). Asking the Wrong Questions. Society, 22(6), 54-55.

- stupidevilbastard.com/2006/04/i_will_never_have_a_job_with_the_fbi

- wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygraph

listen to ‘Person on the street interview’ on Audioboo

Stranger's opinion on polygraph examinations

listen to ‘Person on the street interview’ on Audioboo

Ethical Issues Might Exist Within Polygraph Examinations

A concise introduction to polygraph testing:

A polygraph, sometimes called a lie detector, measures and records a subject’s blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while he or she is questioned. The idea is that if a subject responds to a question with a deceiving response the polygraph will show physiological reactions that are different from non-deceiving responses. John Augustus Larson invented the polygraph in 1921; he was a medical student at the University of California at Berkeley. It was first implemented within law enforcement by August Vollmer, the police chief of the Berkeley Police Department in Berkeley, California. Many members of the scientific community consider polygraphy to be pseudoscience, or a practice that is presented as scientific but: does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, and or cannot be reliably tested. However, in some countries, polygraphy is still being used as an interrogation tool during criminal investigations. It is also being used to supplement the interview process of prospective employees for certain public and or private sector jobs. In the United States, federal government agencies such as the FBI, the CIA, and many police departments, including the Los Angeles Police Department, are using polygraph examinations to question suspects and also to screen potential new recruits. However, in Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware and Iowa it is illegal for a non-government employer to administer a polygraph examination. Further, polygraph testimony’s admissibility in court differs between each state, and its admissibility is typically up to the discretion of the judge. Yet, no defendant or witness can be forced to undergo a polygraph test. While its use in court is controversial, polygraphy is widely used during probation, particularly on sex offenders.

Interview of criminology & criminal justice professor Tom Mauriello (polygraphy expert):

The potential ethical issues that could arise during polygraph examinations:

Some concluding thoughts on polygraphy:

11/19 info 3.0 video quiz

Taking a course that blends class meetings with technology

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Opinion on ipads

listen to ‘Audioboo interview of my girlfriend question #1’ on Audioboo

The digital divide still exists in America.

In 2007 Kevin Guidry of Indiana University examined the digital divide in America.

He writes, “Although few of us discuss or focus on it, the digital divide still exists. There are still large numbers of Americans who do not own computers or have Internet access at home. Those who do not have Internet access at home are disproportionately unemployed, less educated, and Black or Hispanic (U.S. Census, 2009b). Even when considering Internet access outside of the home, those same disparities still prevail (Horrigan, 2009; U.S. Census, 2009a)” (Guidry, 2007, pp. 1). With smart phones being so prevalent today, could the digital divide be on its way out the door? Smart phones definitely make the Internet more accessible, but there are some pretty big issues that cell owners face.

In 2012 the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project conducted a survey that assessed the prevalence of some of the major problems that cell owners might face, especially amongst smart phones.

They found that: "Some 88% of American adults have cell phones, according to this survey, and, of those cell owners: 72% of cell owners experience dropped calls at least occasionally. 68% of cell owners receive unwanted sales or marketing calls at one time or another. Some 79% of cell phone owners say they use text messaging on their cells: 69% of those who are texters say they get unwanted spam or text messages. Some 55% of cell phone owners say they use their phones to go online (to browse the internet, exchange emails, or download apps): 77% of cell internet users say they experience slow download speeds that prevent things from loading as quickly as they would like" (Boyles & Rainie, 2012, pp. 2). As you can see from this data, the majority of American adults have cell phones and a lot of them experience problems. Further, over half of the cell phone owners have smart phones and use them to go online; with over three quarters of them experiencing issues.

The survey that the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project conducted found that the digital divide still exists.

They claim that: “Non-white cell owners confront all of these problems at somewhat higher rates than do their white counterparts. This might be tied to the fact that African-Americans and Hispanics are more likely than whites to rely on their cell phones as their primary or exclusive phones for calling and for Internet access” (Boyles & Rainie, 2012, pp. 4). Clearly whites still own computers or have Internet access at home at a higher rate than African-Americans and Hispanics. Due to this, African-Americans and Hispanics tend to rely on their smart phones to use the Internet. Because they are using their smart phones’ Internet so much more frequently than white people, African-Americans and Hispanics experience more problems with their smart phones. Even after five years, there is still a digital divide in America.

Having said that, the digital divide could disappear in the future.

Today, using a computer to access the Internet is still superior to using a smart phone. But, I predict that within the next five to ten years (or maybe even less) the Internet on smart phones will be no different than the Internet on computers. And consequently, the digital divide will no longer exist.