The Use of Phallometric Testing in the Diagnosis, Treatment, and Risk Management of Male Adults Who Have Sexually Offended

Phallometric evaluation of persons who have sexually offended has a complicated history. Also known as the penile plethysmograph (or PPG), the technology was refined and adapted to forensic use by Kurt Freund in the 1950s and has been employed in sexual psychodiagnostics and forensic sexological research for more than 50 years. At present, it is perhaps the only objective measure of differential sexual arousal available to researchers and practitioners concerned with paraphilic interests and preferences. However, although the method has been the subject of many peer-reviewed investigations, questions remain regarding its reliability and validity as a component of comprehensive risk appraisal and risk management with this client population. Some practitioners regard the PPG as a crucial part of the evaluative process with sexual offenders, whereas others have expressed concerns in a variety of domains, including psychometric defensibility, relative utility in different contexts (assessment versus treatment outcome), and, interestingly, morality.