This post is for people who are interested in the polygraph examinations that sexual offenders are forced to submit to (and pass) as part of the Sexual Offender Treatment Program. I have talked to people from several states who tell me that it is the same in there state, but if anyone has had a different experience, please do not hesitate to join the conversation. The first polygraph examination usually takes place near the beginning of treatment and is called the “full disclosure.” You are required to make a list of all sexual situations you have been in for your whole life. If you played doctor as a 5 year old, you have to put it down. If you were molested, you have to put it down. If you had teenage circle jerks, fondled a dog’s thingy, went skinny dipping or any other sexual situations as a youth, you have to put it down. All sexual relationships have to be described, heterosexual, homosexual, girlfriends, marriages, everything, plus you have to describe your masturbation habits from childhood to the present. Of course, if you had any sexual abuse victims of any sort you have to put it down. For most people the list is quite long. It is ok to generalize, for example you might say you frequented prostitutes about once a month for the five years you were in the Navy, without describing each one, but when you are talking about actual victims, you have to describe each one by sex, age, what you did to them, when it happened. Some programs require you to fill out a “victim form” for each person you have victimized. If you are like me you will have a pretty long list of sexual situations. You put the big list and any victim forms in a pile and staple them together with a form on top. The form says something like, “This is an exhaustive list of every sexual situation I have ever been in.” You have to sign it swearing that it is true. You may or might not have to read the list off to your therapist and group. The therapist and/or polygraph examiner may ask you questions about stuff that is on the list, so you can clarify. The “full disclosure” polygraph exam is mainly to ask you if you disclosed everything on the list and forms. It may be broken down according to the type of crime that you committed, such as: “Other than what you admitted on the forms, have you ever molested kids?” “Other than what you admitted on the forms, have you ever raped anyone? “Other than what you admitted on the forms, have you ever looked at child pornography? I found the full disclosure polygraph hard to pass, because I have been a dirty boy all my life and I kept on wondering if there wasn’t something else that I had done and forgotten to put down. If had a very guilty conscious and spent many days racking my brain, wanting to assure myself that I had gotten everything down. When I took my first full disclosure polygraph I was telling the truth to the best of my ability, but the polygraph examiner decided I was being deceptive. Even though I had tried to tell the whole truth, I felt deceptive – like no words on a page could ever capture what I have been through. I felt like I had to be holding back, because if anyone really knew how perverted and sexually ruined I was before I even entered high school, they would be shocked out of their heads. Anyway, I was found deceptive and ended up in a world of shit because of it. If only I had known about this website I would have spent my time more productively learning how to pass the polygraph, rather than neurotically racking my brain for more stuff to confess to. After treatment has been going along for some time it will be time to move on into a higher level of treatment, with associated increased freedoms and less monitoring, before you move into the higher level you have to pass the “maintenance polygraph.” The maintenance poly is focused on your behavior since you took your last polygraph. There is a long list of questions, including some of the following: 1. Have you been alone with children? 2. Have you picked up hitchhikers? 3. Have you watched porn? 4. Have you been sexually flirtatious in any way with a minor? 5. Have you had sex with an adult? Who? Where? When? 6. How often do you masturbate? What do you think about when you masturbate? Do you ever think about a victim when you masturbate? Where and when do you masturbate? 7. Have you drank alcohol or been in the presence of alcohol? Where, when? 8. Have you used drugs or been in the presence of drugs? Where, when? 9. Have you committed any crimes? 10. Have you had unauthorized contact with children? 11. Have you gone to a sex bookshop? 12. Have you done anything sexual that you really should admit? 13. Do you ever cruise around, searching for a victim? These are all paraphrases of real questions on the maintenance questionnaire. The maintenance polygraph may ask you if you were telling the truth when you filled out the maintenance questionnaire, plus the examiner will ask you some questions that address issues you have had while in treatment. So if you admitted that you had a few beers one weekend, they will ask you if there were any other times you drank. If you admitted that you looked at porn a while back, they will ask if there were any other times. They may ask something else, depending on the examiner. That is my description of the two types of polygraphs that are generally given in post conviction sex offender treatment. The other type of polygraph that is sometimes used is called, “issue specific.” That is for when someone accuses you of something and they test you and ask you if you did it.
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