Sexual History Disclosure Using the Polygraph in a Sample of British Sex Offenders in Treatment

• NCJ Number: 211798
• Journal: Polygraph Volume: 34 Issue: 3 Dated: 2005 Pages: 171-183
• Author(s): Daniel Wilcox; Daniel Sosnowski; Brent Warberg; Anthony R. Beech
• Date Published: 2005
• Length: 13 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This British study polygraphed 14 adult male sex offenders to facilitate the disclosure of their sexual history following completion of approximately 140 hours of probation-based sex-offender treatment.

Abstract

Sexual History Disclosure Examinations (SHDEs) are designed to obtain detailed sexual histories from offenders, so as to improve the development of a focused treatment approach. Previous studies have reported that a SHDE increases the rates and ranges of sexual offense disclosure compared with other approaches. The current study was distinguished from previous similar studies by performing SHDEs with sex offenders who had already had a substantial amount of specialized treatment. The study's objective was to examine whether further offense-related information could be obtained beyond that known from existing official data sources. In this sample of 14 sex offenders, 8 had been convicted of child molestation, 4 of indecent exposure, and 2 for indecent assaults on women. The SHDEs were conducted by an examiner accredited to conduct postconviction sex offender testing. All participants were administered a single SHDE. The polygraph results yielded substantial increases in the number of admitted victims and offenses than were recorded in all other available data sources, including information obtained in the course of treatment. Participants also reported a much earlier onset of sexual offending and a wider range of deviant paraphilic sexual interests than previously documented, as well as a wider range of victims than previously known; 93 percent of the sample reported committing both contact and noncontact offenses; 50 percent of the sample reported committing intrafamilial and extrafamilial offenses; and 29 percent of the sample acknowledged committing offenses against both children and adults. This study recommends that a larger study be undertaken to investigate the usefulness of using SHDEs with sex offenders. 1 table and 43 references