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... ment of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves. The polygraph ists ask questions pertaining to religion, sexual practices, sexual preferences, political opinions, union, and racial matters. Polygraphists even ask existing employees questions like, are you relatively satisfied with this job now, do you intend to stay with this employer, and when you are working do you wish you were someplace else? Those questions are not relevant to the performance or practices of the organization and employee, and so it is an invasion of privacy. The polygraph is an intrusion into seclusion, which is an invasion of privacy.
The polygraphs is excavating private information, in which the examinee might not want to share. Asking questions of the private matter is no better than if a company are to put cameras in bathrooms to make sure no illegal activities are taking place, or reading employees personal email to get information about them. All are private matters in which an individual has a right to keep private, and as one infringes on these rights it becomes immoral. Businesses use polygraph test randomly.
It selects anyone at random to test the degree of honesty of the individual. It is an invasion of privacy. One should have reasonable suspicions to even consider making someone take a polygraph. It is similar to cops randomly selecting houses to search, just to see what they turn up. The essences of the action are morally wrong. One has a right to privacy, and companies cannot infringe upon these, just to see what they turn up.
The last reason for accepting my thesis is the tests are coercive. First, it is very hard for a job applicant to say no when a prospective employer asks him or her to take a polygraph test. The same holds true for existing employees. If an employee refuses to take the test when asked, there are adverse consequences, such as getting fired or demoted.
Second, many business admit that they use the tests to coerce employees to admit the truth. B. J. Habibie of the Bank of Bali states, Our lie detector tests are used to pressure an employee to confess. Last, the person admitting the test can be coercive.
He may tell lies, harass, or scare the examinee to tell the truth. All of those reasons are coercive. Coercion is a frequently analyzed form of controlling influence. It eliminates freedom, and entirely compromises free choice.
People under coercion may be forced into making a decision that they might not otherwise make. The polygraph is a form a coercion, new hires and existing employees do not have a choice in whether to take it or not. It limits their freedom of choice, therefore, it is morally wrong to use as a screening method. At this point a critic might state lie detector tests are a necessary evil. If a company wants to prevent theft it must use tools that will help, and lie detector tests will help prevent theft.
I believe lie detector tests are not a necessary evil, and are not the way to prevent theft. As stated by the Drill Sergeant in, Full Metal Jacket, If it were not for people like you leaving your footlockers unlocked, we would not have any thievery in this world. I believe it is valid. If all businesses were to keep an eye on their employees and not give them opportunities to steal, there would not be any theft, and therefore it would not be a problem.
Another point a critic might make is it will help catch potential criminals. I believe the test is not catching potential criminals, but catching innocent people. Any good thief will know how to beat the test, and any innocent person will be so nervous they will fail the test. A critic might state, Well the tests have been proven to be 95 % accurate. I found an article in which a total of four hundred and twenty one psychologists with expertise in psychophysiology, and statistics responded to a survey on polygraph tests. The survey results found psychologist and psychophysiologist doubted the accuracy of the claims which have been made by the polygraph community.
In other words the tests are not as accurate as one might think. The last response a critic might state is only guilty people have something to hide. I believe that is ridiculous. Dr. Dennis Roger states, People have a right to privacy, and do not need to share it if they feel it is invading their privacy. All in all one has a choice in what information they may want to share, and if they do not, it certainly does not mean they are guilty.
In conclusion, lie detector tests are unreliable, coercive and invade privacy. We use lie detector tests to help determine if an individual is being honest or not. The irony is we do not know how reliable or truthful lie detector tests are. For all the reason stated in my paper leads me to believe the lie detector tests are immoral. Companies are relying on the technology to weed out dishonest people, but all it is doing is weeding out nervous people. Also, the good thief who will pass the lie detector tests is the one who will do the most damaged.
The ones who trigger some suspicion or fail the test are nervous and will do less harm than the one who lies and passes. The tests are immoral and should not be used. Work Cited 1. APA news release; June 10 1997; Lie Detector tests are not Valid; Pam Willing. 2. web Fact sheet # 36, Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 3. Small Business Report; New York; Dec 1983; A controversial Attempt to Prove Honesty 4.
Work Force; Costa Mesa; June 1999 Bob Rosner; How do you feel about the use of lie detectors at work 5. News Observer; September 1996; Dennis Rogers; An honest regard for privacy 6. Accountancy; London; September 1998; Time Mcquire; Liars, damned Liars and interviewees 7. New England Journal of Medicines; July 1992; Robert Steinbrook; A Flawed diagnostic Method 8.
Insight on the News; August 1998; v 14 n 28 p 44; Eli Lehrer; Lies, damned lies and polygraph tests 9. Supervision; Burlington; August 1999; Robert D. Ramsey; Employer interest vs. employee privacy 10. The Atlantic; October 1984; v 254 p 40; Stephen Budiansky; Lie Detectors and Technology 11. Ethical Theory and Business; Fifth Edition; Beauchamp and Bowie's; p 473 - 479 12.
Dr. Lykkens Book; Chapter 15 of A Tremor in The Blood: Uses and Abuses of the Lie Detector
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Research essay sample on The History Of Polygraph Lie Detector Test
