Polygraph. Voice Analyzers and Forensic Testing
The use of polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and forensic testing in sensitive areas, such as the questioning of suspects in criminal cases, recruitment processes (e.g. by the FBI), investigation of insurance fraud and interrogation of current or potential employees raises certain ethical issues. In particular, the appropriateness of compelling, or coercing people to undertake such testing needs to be examined. The use of polygraphs also raises the broader question of whether we want to live in a society that is dominated by these types of testing. Voice stress analyzers, unlike polygraph, are 98 percent accurate. These devices are so efficient and accurate, that many government agencies now use them. The major problem today in our criminal justice system is prosecutorial misconduct, consisting of hiding information to prosecuting those known to be innocent. The latter results in some 20 percent of our two million-inmate populations having not committed any crime. Despite this inherent difficulty in the relationship between psychology and the law, the forensic psychologist can assist a court or an investigation by giving an expert opinion on aspects of behaviour that will increase the probability of the outcome being correct; (
In Australia this does not appear to be the case as yet. There is major controversy over these matters in the Australian courts but in being cautious about admitting psychological evidence the courts are failing to give access to a source of information that is essentially valuable to the legal process. Psychology and the law, although both are intimately concerned with human behaviour, have a major difference in that the former sees behaviour in infinite shades of gray whereas the criminal law sees it in black and white - guilty or not guilty. Most criminal legal systems see and respond to behaviour in this simplistic but decisive manner. There is at least one exception to this in the Scottish legal system where a third verdict of "not proven" is possible. This is recognition by a judicial system that there are gray areas in human behaviour and that a simple guilty or not guilty model is not completely adequate. In civil law there is more recognition of the grayness of behaviour in such dimensional legal concepts as contributory negligence. The validity of polygraph examinations to detect deception has long been a controversial issue. Since development of polygraph techniques almost 80 years ago, their use both within and outside the Federal Government has been the focus of numerous judicial opinions and, as well, legislative and executive branch debates. A Polygraph or "lie detector" is "an instrument used to measure the autonomic nervous system responses in terms of blood pressure, pulse rate, respiration rate and galvanic skin response." In theory when a person tells a lie, fear of detection causes uncontrollable reactions in these physiological areas, which the polygraph indicated with inked lines on a moving paper scroll. Polygraph examinations have been approved as a way to determine guilt of criminal suspects, to exonerate innocent suspects, to protect national security, and to maintain employee honesty. Polygraph examinations have, at the same time, been criticized for providing inaccurate and misleading information, for failing to detect security risks, for interfering with the rights of private citizens, and for lowering employees' morale. At the center of controversy over the use of polygraph examinations is the question of its validity: does a polygraph examination actually identify truthful and non-truthful individuals?
Some common words found in the essay are:
England Scotland, Federal Government, , Dr Marston, Ironically Frye's, Henderson Nev, Supreme Court, Cold War, Stress Analyzer, Frye United, voice stress, polygraph examinations, lie detector, voice stress analysis, blood pressure, mental health, stress analysis, polygraph evidence, scientific principle, forensic psychologist, justice system, voice stress analyzers, giving expert opinion, court investigation giving, assist court investigation,
Approximate Word count = 2275
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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