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.

India's entertainment industry is one of the country's fastest rising industries.

In the following post I will discuss India’s entertainment industry. I will focus on India’s television and film industries. Today, both follow a primarily commercial business model.

Within the last twenty to thirty years India’s entertainment industry has boomed.

Since the early nineties India’s television industry transformed from just a few government owned channels to broadcasting more than three hundred national and regional channels. And, the Indian film industry, better known as “Bollywood,” produces close to a thousand movies per year in various Indian languages. “Bollywood” almost triples Hollywood in terms of movie production (“Entertainment Industry in India,” n.d.).

The Indian television industry has seen steady growth over the last few decades, and is continuing this trend. 

“With the introduction of digital distribution platforms like direct-to-home and Mobile TV, the Indian television industry has undergone a revolutionary change. As per KPMG and FICCI reports, the Indian television industry is worth over four billion dollars and is estimated to grow by over fourteen percent by 2013” (“Entertainment Industry in India,” n.d.). The direct-to-home industry’s revenue has been doubling almost every year since 2008. Additionally, Doordarshan, the main television broadcaster in India, expects to be completely digitized by 2017. This will lead to TV channels like MTV, Cartoon Network, Disney, Star Plus and Pogo to grow their service market, further increasing revenue (“Entertainment Industry in India,” n.d.). Not to mention, even more of the Indian population being able to watch soap operas and cricket, the two most watched programs on TV in India today.

The Indian film industry, however, has dipped in recent years; but it is now looking like it could be back on the ascent. 

“The billion dollar Indian movie industry that churns out twelve thousand movies a year, employs almost two million people, and has more than fourteen million theater viewers a day, is actually groaning under its own weight” (Jetley, 2011). Approximately only five percent of the movies that are released every year make a significant amount of money. Further, The Indian film industry’s revenue shrunk about five hundred million dollars from 2008 to 2010. One of the major reasons for this was the collapse of the home video industry. The high cost of DVD rights and the high frequency of piracy caused home video revenues to be nearly cut in half (Jetley, 2011). Another reason why the Indian film industry is in this mess is because of growing production costs driven in part by excessive fees paid to its stars. Actor’s salaries in Bollywood have doubled in the last three years, with stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Aishwarya Rai commanding three to six million dollars per film. These production fees, which include the money paid to actors, directors and screenwriters, make up roughly forty to fifty percent of a film’s costs (Jetley, 2011). “Industry players are of the opinion that one way of fighting the combined onslaught of piracy, star fees and marketing costs is to consolidate…even though there are 1,200 films made every year you can count the number of large corporate production houses on your fingers, leaving plenty of room for further mergers and acquisitions [especially with large American film studios]” (Jetley, 2011). The Indian film industry really needs a new structure. The hope is that the American film studios influence will lead to more films having success at the box office, especially action-thrillers and comedies both containing aspects of musicals (films that feature song-and-dance numbers) since those two seem to be the most popular film genres in India today.

 

With the American film industry beginning to influence Bollywood, the Indian film industry looks to make a comeback. 

“The Indian film industry over the past few years has been receptive towards foreign investments. This has paved way for many international production firms to make their debut in “Bollywood” along with opening their offices in [India]” (“Entertainment Industry in India,” n.d.). “[India has the] world's largest film industry in terms of production volume and it is undergoing a massive international presence. Reliance ADA Group is signing a production pact with DreamWorks Studios, endorsed by Steven Spielberg to produce movies” (“Entertainment Industry in India,” n.d.). “[Just like the partnership of DreamWorks Studios and Reliance ADA Group], Yash Raj Films has signed a joint partnership with Walt Disney to produce animated films. Other [examples of American culture and its film industry influencing “Bollywood”] include: Sippys film projects being sponsored by Warner Group, Sanjay Leela Bansali Films collaboration with Sony Pictures Entertainment, and TV 18's association with Viacom to form Viacom-18” (“Entertainment Industry in India,” n.d.). These mergers should improve the structure of Bollywood, which in turn should lead to increased revenue. The potential for the Indian film industry to bounce back is high.

Who knows what the future holds, but it sure looks bright.

Over the past few decades India’s entertainment industry has been one of their fastest rising industries. The Indian television industry has seen steady growth and is continuing this trend. The Indian film industry, however, has dipped in recent years. With the American film industry beginning to influence Bollywood, the Indian film industry looks to make a comeback. Who knows what the future holds, but it sure looks bright.

Sources:

-       http://business.mapsofindia.com/entertainment-industry/

-       http://muhsinmutiah.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/dd-1.jpg

-       http://travelingcanucks.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/bollywood2.jpg

-       http://www.boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=317&catName=MjAxMC0yMDE5

-       http://www.cnbc.com/id/43572979/Behind_the_Song_and_Dance_Bollywood_s_Flop_Story

-       http://www.india-forums.com/tv-channel/

Are Law Enforcement Officials Violating Your Privacy?

“Local, state and federal law enforcement authorities made more than 1.3 million demands for cell phone subscriber information last year, in a sign of their growing reliance on technology to aid criminal and emergency investigations” (Nakashima, 2012). With more and more Americans carrying cell phones to communicate, law enforcement officials will continue to order cell phone companies to help them track data, in real-time, to assist them in catching fugitives and suspects. Further, law enforcement officials will use this real-time tracking of data to help them prevent crimes as well. With this access, law enforcement officials can pin point anyone’s exact location, they can see a list of someone’s calls made and calls received, they can see all of someone’s text and email messages sent and received, and they can set wire taps to listen in on someone’s cell phone conversations.

Judges have been granting warrants to law enforcement officials for real-time tracking of cell phone data without having to prove that there is probable cause that a crime is taking place (Nakashima, 2012). Additionally, “the Obama administration maintains that Americans have no expectation of privacy in cell-site records because they are “in the possession of a third party” — the mobile phone companies. What’s more, the authorities maintain that the cell site data is not as precise as GPS tracking and there is no trespass or physical intrusion on a customer’s cell phone when the government obtains historical cell-site records from a provider” (Kravets, 2012). In fact, just about one month ago an appellate court decision was made on this very issue. The decision affirmed that obtaining a warrant without having to prove probable cause to use real-time tracking of cell phone data to catch a suspect and/or prevent a crime is valid, effectively creating legal precedent on this issue. Thus, this ruling was a huge win for both law enforcement officials and prosecutors alike. This is especially true because, the Supreme Court recently ruled that you must prove probable cause that a crime has been or might be committed to acquire a warrant for placing GPS trackers on a suspect’s vehicle. As a result, both law enforcement officials and prosecutors will shift to primarily using real-time tracking of cell phone data to catch suspects and/or prevent crimes (Kravets, 2012). This should lead to a major increase in demands for cell phone subscriber information.

With this knowledge do you feel safer or do you feel like your privacy is being breached? While law enforcement officials and prosecutors gaining legal precedent to use real-time tracking of cell phone data without probable cause will potentially lead to more arrests, many politicians are fighting this ruling. This is because they believe that this judgment strips innocent Americans of some of their 4^th amendment rights. Particularly, the right to any judicial warrant granted must be supported by probable cause. Representative Edward J. Markey (Democrat-Massachusetts) speaking on the issue said, “we cannot allow privacy protections to be swept aside with the sweeping nature of these information requests, especially for innocent consumers…Law enforcement agencies are looking for a needle, but what are they doing with the haystack?” (Nakashima, 2012). Personally, I agree with Representative Markey. Without having to prove probable cause, law enforcement officials can go on wild goose chases when they sweep through the data that they receive from the cell phone companies. This ruling violates not only my privacy, but also my fellow Americans’. Additionally, it violates our 4^th Amendment right that any warrant obtained is required to be supported by proof of probable cause. So, I will ask you again: do you feel safer or do you feel like your privacy is being compromised.

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