Czechs Under Fire For 'Arousal' Testing

[Gaylord]

Interesting report. The test is obviously designed to weed out bogus gay asylum seekers who know that their countries of origin are on a list of countries that either discriminate in some way against gays or actively persecute them and that they could therefore apply for asylum on that basis. As to how foolproof it is as means of determining sexual orientation, I just don't know, but the main question here I would have thought is, what do genuine gay asylum seekers think about it.....does it infringe their human rights?, is it something they would be embarrassed to undergo? or do they feel that it vindicates their gayness and strengthens their asylum case? People claim asylum under a number of different headings and I see no contradiction in trying to devise tests that can be applied as an aid to determine the veracity of cases in each different category.

To take a completely different example, if a woman claims that she has been raped, is it not normal proceedure for a doctor to take a vaginal swab. Some may argue that this is similar to being violated and losing ones dignity all over again, but it is necessary from a legal standpoint to gather certain evidence for any case which may be brought.

From what Gaylord has posted and given the manner in which I imagine such a test would be conducted, I cannot see it being any more humiliating or degrading then a person going for say a full medical examination.

I would only view it as being objectionable, if the aim of the test was to discriminate against gays and make it more difficult for them to get asylum.

Thanks for that Carlos. So, should we be using lie detectors in the general scrutinisation of asylum applicants?

GL

[Doozer]

Lie detectors , No.
They are the most unreliable equipment ever in use.
Anyone can get over a lie detector by staying calm or permenantly on edge and get false readings
What you want is fMRI mapping of the brain to show that the brain is pychicaly lying
or to show the arousal in teh brain as its happening

[samlad]

Lie detectors , No.
They are the most unreliable equipment ever in use.
Anyone can get over a lie detector by staying calm or permenantly on edge and get false readings
What you want is fMRI mapping of the brain to show that the brain is pychicaly lying
or to show the arousal in teh brain as its happening

Agreed... surely all those 'gentlemen' off the Jeremy Kyle Show MUST be telling the truth!!!

[Doozer]

Agreed... surely all those 'gentlemen' off the Jeremy Kyle Show MUST be telling the truth!!!

Thats the thing
You see the guests on Jermey Kyle of Mauri Povich and the are the bottom rung of society who havent a brain cell between them and tehy are told that this machaine can magically tell you if your lying. They never say, ' But Bubba said if thays were real theyes wud be uzed in de courts wudnt day?'

[carlos marvado]

Thanks for that Carlos. So, should we be using lie detectors in the general scrutinisation of asylum applicants?

GL

I've just read Doozer's answer to that question, and I'm happy to go along with what he posted. You need a method of getting as close as possible to a 100% accurate result, or better still, one should base decisions on information gathered from different sources and using different methods.

[Gaylord]

I've just read Doozer's answer to that question, and I'm happy to go along with what he posted. You need a method of getting as close as possible to a 100% accurate result, or better still, one should base decisions on information gathered from different sources and using different methods.

But DNA testing is not 100%, but we rely on this method as part of the evidence gathering process....??
Perhaps the lawyers and judges don't want the competition, which is what lie detector usage would be

GL

[Doozer]

But DNA testing is not 100%, but we rely on this method as part of the evidence gathering process....??
Perhaps the lawyers and judges don't want the competition, which is what lie detector usage would be

GL

Thats very true GL
DNA testing isnt 100% and a lot of time it gets contaminated by bad practce
or the jury are influenced by the CSI effect
As I said teh only credible way is to use fMRI brain mapping, getting a base rate and looking for arousal patterns when found to be evading the truth