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Dr. Phil's Polygraph Episode

voidx

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I just saw a commercial yesterday, I think it was, for an episode of the Dr. Phil show. The episode is about a teenage boy that the parents fear is potentially molesting his little sister. There are some emotional and dramatic clips in the commercial, but towards the end Phil tells the kid that he's making him take a polygraph test, and that the kid can't lie to him, or he'll know.

Does anyone know if this episode has aired yet? I didn't catch the date and time for when it was on. I realize its the Dr. Phil show, but this struck me as particularily poor judgement from an ethical stand point. Let alone the questions over the validity of the polygraph test.
 
voidx said:
I just saw a commercial yesterday, I think it was, for an episode of the Dr. Phil show. The episode is about a teenage boy that the parents fear is potentially molesting his little sister. There are some emotional and dramatic clips in the commercial, but towards the end Phil tells the kid that he's making him take a polygraph test, and that the kid can't lie to him, or he'll know.

Does anyone know if this episode has aired yet? I didn't catch the date and time for when it was on. I realize its the Dr. Phil show, but this struck me as particularily poor judgement from an ethical stand point. Let alone the questions over the validity of the polygraph test.
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It's a two parter. Part one aired yesterday, with it ending with the boy getting the polygraph. Part two is today with the audience and parents learning the results.
 
I think saying "don't lie to me or I'll know", is just a ploy to get the kid to fess up, if guilty. If he believes it to be true, he might just confess.

-slight hijack-
Dr. Phil has been on my sh&t list ever since touting a cure-all to colic. It ended up as an infomercial for some dude's book telling you to swaddle your kid and whoosh into his/her ear (trust me, doesn't work).

Anyway I don't want to Hijack too much, but you can also catch Jose Canseco on pay-per-view taking a lie detector test about weather or not he injected Mark McGuire with steroids.
 
Place yer bets, Ladies and Gents

Anyone want to place bets on the outcome? Dr. Phil exposes a child-molesting teen on national TV?

Never gonna happen... Jerry Springer, maybe, but not good 'ol Doc Phil...
 
Eh, I don't know. The kid was pretty creepy. He admitted that he is quite the accomplished liar, so I think it would be fairly easy for him to beat a polygraph. Dr. Phil acted like the polygraph is 100% reliable, but wasn't there a serial killer not long ago who beat the polygraph--the Green River killer, maybe?

Plus, a lot of his story seemed like he had researched pedophiles and knew what to say to Dr. Phil. For instance, he said he'd been molested himself 27 times. That just seemed like an odd number to remember. And that his surfing the 'net for porn was a cry for help. Dr. Phil wasn't buying that one.

I don't often watch Dr. Phil, but I do want to see how this one ends up.
 
Yeah, good ole Dr. Phil just said on national TV that polygraphs are completely scientific, and used the emotional clout of child molestation to place the polygrapher firmly on the side of 'The Truth'(tm)... the kid finally cemented the deal by breaking down and confessing.

So now middle America is 100% certain that polygraphs are science, and infallible, because Dr. Phil used them to keep the creepy molester from getting away with it.

Letter writing campaign anyone?
 
So the kid breaks down and confesses. What were the "results" of the polygraph? Or did they go into much detail? I'm surprised they actually went through and outted the teenager as a child molester on national TV. How old was he? Did Phil have the police or child services or something or other waiting in the wings, or was it, "hey, your ARE a child molestor, I knew it....well good night everyone!". What happened as a result of the kid confessing?

I mean, if the kid truly did molest his sister, shouldn't there be a legitimate investigation, or is a tape of the Dr. Phil episode submitted as exhibit A? I'm a little confused.
 
voidx said:
So the kid breaks down and confesses. What were the "results" of the polygraph? Or did they go into much detail? I'm surprised they actually went through and outted the teenager as a child molester on national TV. How old was he? Did Phil have the police or child services or something or other waiting in the wings, or was it, "hey, your ARE a child molestor, I knew it....well good night everyone!". What happened as a result of the kid confessing?

I mean, if the kid truly did molest his sister, shouldn't there be a legitimate investigation, or is a tape of the Dr. Phil episode submitted as exhibit A? I'm a little confused.
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I haven't seen the second half yet. It doesn't air in LA until 4pm Pacific time, about 2 hours from now.
 
Good links from JMercer.

(The TOTSE one needs an 'L' at the end of 'htm' to work right...)

Voodoo science in every sense.
 
voidx said:
So the kid breaks down and confesses. What were the "results" of the polygraph? Or did they go into much detail? I'm surprised they actually went through and outted the teenager as a child molester on national TV. How old was he? Did Phil have the police or child services or something or other waiting in the wings, or was it, "hey, your ARE a child molestor, I knew it....well good night everyone!". What happened as a result of the kid confessing?

I mean, if the kid truly did molest his sister, shouldn't there be a legitimate investigation, or is a tape of the Dr. Phil episode submitted as exhibit A? I'm a little confused.
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He's 19 now. I don't know if there will be an investigation with the police or not. So far, they haven't said.

Polygraphs are a very scientific process according to Dr. Phil.

The results--

the polygraph said he lied about not molesting his now 4 year old sister

Then he admitted to it. This is really sad. And it makes me question the parents here. Why in the world would any parent want their child to be outted as a child molester on national TV?

There are more polygraph results to come, but that was the biggie.
 
More results--

he lied about not forcing a girl to have sex against her will

he lied about not having sex with someone under 14

he lied about not lying to Dr. Phil

inconclusive about whether or not he was molested.
 
Lisa Simpson said:

Polygraphs are a very scientific process according to Dr. Phil.
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What are Dr. Phil's credentials? He comes across as a hack, Like John Grey, "Ph.D"



Link to the lie detector episode


"As a professional psychologist, he has published numerous scholarly articles and has practiced in the many fields of clinical psychology and behavioral medicine. Dr. Phil has a B.S, M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from North Texas State University with a dual area of emphasis in clinical and behavioral medicine. He has been a board-certified and licensed clinical psychologist since 1978." Hmmm.... how to confirm this?
 
I think he has an earned Ph.D in psychology...he hooked up with Oprah and TV stardom when she was being sued by the beef people and she hired his consulting firm.
 
Please forgive the courtesy I gave Mr. Phil in my letter, something about honey attracting magots... oh I forget the cliche.


  • Dear Dr. Phil,

    Considering how many you have helped, why is it that you have decided to abandon all common sense and tout the Polygraph as a scientific and sound device? The FBI's own website ( http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/fsc/backissu/july2002/krapohl.htm ) speaks to the dubious nature and inconsistent results of polygraphs and the methods in which they are typically evalutated.

    With an apparent lack of interest in research, it appears that you have mounted a straw man defense of the polygraph by coupling it with an extremely sensitive and emotional subject matter with the net result being the continuation of fooling the American public into believing the falsehood that the polygraph is a useful instrument.

    This is a disservice to critical thinking, that family, and the entire demographic which follows your show and adheres to your wonderfully helpful and level headed advice.

    Why such a sudden diversion into a fantasy land of misleading quackery? Each of us has a responsability to help our neighbors to further our society in a path of clear and critical thinking and not blind faith based on appeals to the authority of "science".


    Thank you for your time,


 
FB, great letter.

Even after reading yours, I couldn't come up with one as good, but I did send them my thoughts on 'voodoo science' and why the show should not promote it.
 
Thank you.

The toughest part of that letter was offering the compliments I offered.

We've got a fairly large number of possible letter writers. Considering that we all have a central place from which to get information on horrible practices like Mr. Phil's recent debacle.... we have a possibility to really raise the level of awareness by us all writing an e-mail or letter.

Something about squeaky wheels and grease.

:)

Thanks again!
 
Lisa Simpson said:
He's 19 now. I don't know if there will be an investigation with the police or not. So far, they haven't said.
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I find that very odd. Here is Dr. Phil basically claiming to have just outted a child molestor, and what are going to be the consequences for this kid? One would think they would need to be very serious and clear-cut if he's so flatly guilty as its being made out. Did Phil have any suggestions or comments on what should happen next as a result of the polygraph and the admission from the kid? Sorry about all the questions, I've been busy and unfortunately missed both episodes. I'm not really a regular viewer of Dr. Phil, or TV in general.

Polygraphs are a very scientific process according to Dr. Phil.
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Well this is kind of the catch-22 as I understand it. The process itself is scientific, from the equipment, to what it measures. However, the problem is in the results of that process. They are far to open to error and poor reliability to really say anything. Real science would deem the results to unreliable or inconclusive to make the process valid.

The results--

the polygraph said he lied about not molesting his now 4 year old sister

Then he admitted to it. This is really sad. And it makes me question the parents here. Why in the world would any parent want their child to be outted as a child molester on national TV?
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That was one of my main concerns too. What are the parents thinking? I can't see how this can be helpful to them to air this kind of dirty laundry on national TV. What about the little girl? While I don't think these kind of problems should be hidden behind closed doors, they should be out in the open within a family so they can be dealt with. I don't think out in the open being national TV is really a very good idea. The only one that truly benefits from this is Dr. Phil and better ratings.

There are more polygraph results to come, but that was the biggie.
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The other thing that crosses my mind is the kid now being 19. Is he not legally an adult? Could he not simply have refused to take the polygraph test? I'm not trying to defend him persay, if he really did molest his sister then that needs to be dealt with. But I don't see how Dr. Phil is helping that. If anything this whole debacle could be easy pickings for a lawsuit on the kids behalf. This really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
 
[B"]The process itself is scientific, from the equipment, to what it measures." [/B]


Mmmmm....more like the process and what it measures are 'mechanical'...

Like Kirlian photography or electronic dowsing devices, etc. science was involved in the component parts, but the machines aren't scientific equipment...
 
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