Ethical Practice and the Use of the Polygraph in Working with Sex Offenders

Wilcox, Daniel T.

doi:10.1002/9781118314876.ch23

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…To assist in this effort, we recommend an approach that incorporates a review of pertinent background documentation, a series of interviews, the implementation of carefully considered psychometric assessment tools, and, if appropriate, when greater levels of dissimulation seem apparent—as with sexual risk assessment (Wilcox 2009, 2013)—the polygraph may be helpful to augment and enhance the evaluation process.…”

Section: The Process Of Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Detailed examination of the employment of the polygraph to evaluate sexual risk is beyond the scope of this paper; see Wilcox (2009), 2013) for a thorough review. Although still a subject of controversy, the utility of the polygraph is considered to be substantial amongst professionals working in the field, and its use as an adjunct to sexual psychological risk assessment has become established practice in this context in the United Kingdom (Gannon et al 2012, Gannon et al 2014; Grubin 2006, 2010; Wilcox and Donathy 2014).…”

Section: Use Of the Polygraphmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Psychological Assessment of Clerics

Jack

Wilcox²

2017

Pastoral Psychol

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The psychological assessment of novice and experienced clerics is an important component of ordination, suitability, and risk evaluation to ensure that representatives of religious organizations are equipped, motivated, and safe for a life commitment to a faith vocation. It is the authors’ opinion that such assessments should be conducted by skilled psychologists with expertise that covers occupational, clinical, and forensic domains. Further, the authors emphasize the importance of an objective and secular assessment to better inform the church about its role and responsibility for the oversight and spiritual development of the cleric. A thorough psychological assessment should incorporate a multimodal approach to information gathering, which includes a comprehensive review of background information and medical records, a personal history interview, a mental status examination, and administration of relevant psychometric measures and assessment tools. We also advise that, upon completion of the assessment, the requesting religious organization should be offered the opportunity to meet with the evaluating psychologist to discuss suitability issues and, if necessary, risk management planning.

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Section: The Process Of Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Use Of the Polygraphmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Psychological Assessment of Clerics

Jack

Wilcox²

2017

Pastoral Psychol

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“…The polygraph technique has been subject to much ethical debate: the British Psychological Society has argued that post‐conviction testing may be perceived as coercive, making informed consent illusory (Bull et al, ), and others say that it could impede the therapeutic process and is inconsistent with a positive treatment ethos that supports offenders to rehabilitate (Wilcox, ).…”

Section: Technological Tools That Are Not Situation‐specificmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Technology in Managing People Who Have Been Convicted of Internet Child Abuse Image Offences

Lilley

2016

Child Abuse Review

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The last 20 years have seen an explosion in the availability, ownership and use of devices used to access the internet. There has been a simultaneous increase in the number of people viewing child abuse images. The ease of access to this material online has removed a key inhibitor for offenders. Technology has facilitated the distribution of child abuse images, but is also used to prevent and identify offending, as well as to manage offenders. There is a range of technological tools currently used in England and Wales to manage those offenders who have been convicted of accessing child abuse images and who are living in the community. Some are specific to the computer as the situation of the crime. This article analyses the evidence base for each. The article concludes that each tool has features which might contribute to the management of internet child sex offenders, but that none have yet been proven or disproven to be effective. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages Technology to help manage the risk posed by internet child sex offenders is developing and may offer promise. None of these technological tools have been proven or disproven to be effective management tools for internet child sex offenders. Offender managers in the police and probation services should be mindful of this and not be overly reliant on them. Robust evaluations of these types of technology for these offenders are needed.

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“…assessment techniques, the polygraph, in the author's judgement, provides important opportunities to examine the sexualised thinking and behaviours of individuals being assessed, in ways that conventional tools oft en cannot equal (Wilcox, 2009;Wilcox, 2013). In the current study, the polygraph is employed to help to reduce the levels of denial concerning sexual behaviours, in relation to a practicing priest.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%