Commentary: Phallometry in Court—Problems Outweigh Benefits.

Phallometry evaluations are of great value in sex offender treatment programs, in assessing for a deviant drive related to criminal offenses and in monitoring treatment results, especially in connection with cognitive behavioral techniques that teach skills for reducing deviant sexual interests. The research on phallometry, however, is fraught with methodological problems that limit its utility in settings such as court procedures where there is a strong self-interest in producing results that suggest the absence of deviant sexual drives. The lack of consensus in methodology and scoring, the difficulty encountered in "nonadmitters," the ability to dissimulate ("fake good") on the assessments, and the lack of good specificity and sensitivity data limit the use of such procedures in any setting that could affect length of sentence or determination of civil commitment.