In this fascinating article, Andrew Balmer looks at the development of ‘criminology’ — initially an attempt to find scientific explanations of criminal behaviour. Closely linked to this was the development of the polygraph or lie detector (and fans of ‘Wonder Woman’ may be surprised at the connection revealed).
The concept of ‘biological determinism’ is explained and discussed with useful examples, in particular the links with gender and racism. Most importantly, the article shows how the polygraph has been used, for example in the USA to ‘root out’ alleged political and sexual deviants, and in the UK to monitor sex offenders, particularly paedophiles.
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