SECURITY IMPLICATIONS OF POLYGRAPH-DERIVED HOMOSEXUAL FANTASIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88G00186R000400410003-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 17, 2011
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: December 5, 1985
• Content Type: MISC

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SECURITY IMPLICATIONS OF POLYGRAPH-DERIVED
HOMOSEXUAL FANTASIES
STAT
Adult homosexual activity is an issue of primary concern to
the Office of Security. Evidence of such activity is con-
sidered adequate basis for summary dismissal from Agency
employment or for disqualification from consideration for
such a position. It has long been held that homosexuality not
only constitutes a condition of vulnerability to blackmail,
and thus a significant security risk, but also indicates a
degree of character defect (i.e. unsuitability) statistically
incompatible with the likelihood of the successful completion
of an Agency career. Therefore, information on post-adoles-
cent homosexual activity has been rigorously sought, careful-
ly reported, and seriously considered by the Office of
Security.
Recently, however, polygraph interviewers have elicited, from
an increasing number of subjects, reports of post-adolescent
homosexual fantasies in the absence of actual homosexual
activity. The reason for this apparent increase is obscure,
especially in light of the current bio-socio-behavioral trend
in American psychological thinking, which obviates focus on
the dynamic unconscious, psychical structure, and fantasy, in
favor of a primary emphasis on behavior, i.e. activity. It is
especially significant then, that at such a time as this, our
polygraph operators have developed the remarkable if unpopu-
lar sophistication to inquire about the presence of fantasies
in the absence of overt behavior, and to recognize the inher-
ent significance to those fantasies when reported.
The next step is far more difficult, however, since it cen-
ters around a determination of just what significance is to
be attributed to those fantasies and their vicissitudes, and
just how far the polygraph operator should pursue them. For
example, is it helpful to ascertain such dimensions as their
frequency, intensity, diversity, specific content, exclusivi-
ty, occurrence in dreams, or association with sexual stimula-
tion? That is, does an occasional such fantasy have implica-
tions different from the frequent and regular occurrence of
such mental content? Are fleeting fantasies as important as
those more deliberate and intense? Is a repetitive fantasy to
be considered differently from fantasies that contain varying
content? Are subjects whose fantasies are exclusively homo-
sexual to be thought of differently from those who report
heterosexual fantasies as well? What about specific content
of homosexual fantasies? Is the usual and ordinary of diffe-
rent significance from the unusual, the idiosyncratic, or the
frankly bizarre? And what of fantasies that occur in the
sleeping state called dreams? How do we think of them? Or
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As we consider these issues we stand at the interface between
the disciplines of security and psychiatry. Because of the
complexity of such fantasies, it would be far beyond the
scope of this paper to provide specific rules or even firm
guidelines for the disposition of applicants who report them.
It is rather my intention to present a perspective from which
these phenomena may be viewed and considered, and which may
ultimately lead to an interdisciplinary formulation of firmer
criteria for disposition. But I would emphasize here that the
presence of homosexual fantasies alone, absent other conside-
rations, bears no regular or specific prognostic significance
with regard to future adult homosexual activity.
I propose to address these fantasies from the perspective of
my own training, thinking, teaching, and practice, that of
the psychodynamic or psychoanalytically-oriented psychiat-
rist. From this point of view, it may be useful to clarify
that each of us is born with the potential for bisexuality;
that the primitive sexuality of the very young child is
amorphous, unfocused and nonspecific, lacking preference for
any particular sexual object, aim, or gender (i.e. that it is
appropriately described as polymorphous-perverse); and that
sexuality becomes focused and refined ari passu with the
development and definition of other psychical and emotional
components of the self.
Further, gender identity and sexual preference are formed and
all but fully established in early childhood, and are influ-
enced by a number of diverse factors, including genetic
predisposition, social expectation, the availability of ap-
propriate role models, and the quality of early relationships
with both the parent of the same sex and the parent of the
opposite sex. Various experiences, occurring at times of
developmental vulnerability, such as traumatic separations,
illnesses, surgical procedures, the birth of a sibling, or
actual seduction, especially by an adult or older sibling
with whom a loving relationship has been established, may
affect their stability.
It is the major maturational task of adolescence, however, to
establish with finality 'the dominance of a heterosexual ori-
entation over a homosexual preference. Among the major stres-
sors of the teen years is the intensification of sexual and
aggressive urges in association with increasing levels of
circulating hormones which begins in prepuberty. This heigh-
tening creates a physiological disequilibrium, as part of
normal adolescent development, between the newly intensified
hormonally-influenced urges, and the ability of the integra-
tive and synthetic capacities of the mental apparatus to deal
with them. The duration of the process of establishing a new
equilibrium is subject to considerable individual variation
and it may not necessarily be fully resolved by any specific
age, although societal norms and expectations generally con-
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sider either 18 or 21 as the age of adult responsibility. It
is presumably in cognizance of these factors (in addition to
regard for legal considerations) that OS inquires about adult
homosexual activity and polygraph operators do not consider
adolescent activity (i.e. below the age of 18) reportable to
Clearance Division.
The adolescent struggle against the homosexual component of
bisexual endowment may be incomplete, or may leave signifi-
cant residues in its wake. "Latent homosexuality," according
to one author (Eidelberg), "can be detected in all normal
people, the result, (as Freud noted), of a struggle between
two rival trends. In short, every human being is bisexual; a
male individual represses his female sexual needs, a woman,
her male desires. As a result, most individuals have uncon-
scious or latent homosexual wishes. Because they are latent
they do not interfere with the individual's normal hetero-
sexual functions."
At this point we may feel left in some even greater confusion
about the significance of homosexual fantasies, not only in
the later phases of adolescence and early adulthood, but
throughout adult life - until we recognize two fundamental
facts: One, that the polygraph does not respond to homosexua-
lity per se, but rather to physiological evidence of unresol-
ved conflict in the area of homosexuality, that is, to some
degree of incompleteness in the adolescent resolution of the
normal bisexual struggle; and, Two, that in addition to
evidence of adult homosexual activity, it is equally appro-
priate for the office of Security to concern itself with the
potential for such activity in the future. Clearly the evi-
dence of conflict, signifying the incomplete resolution of
internal struggle, raises the index of concern about the
potential eruption of an impulse in the future. And, because
of the complexities of the issues involved, it should probab-
ly flag the subject for particularly careful and thorough
psychiatric interview.
The value to the interviewing psychiatrist of the data which
prompt the interview is inestimable. Because of the highly
charged and exquisitely embarrassing nature of these poly-
graph-derived revelations, they are otherwise likely to be
kept from the psychiatric interviewer who might himself, if
unprepared, treat them so gingerly as to miss them entirely.
Neither the polygrapher nor the psychiatric interviewer
should be dissuaded by the frequent attitude of subjects
struggling with unresolved sexual conflicts who regard homo-
sexual activity with moral indignation, scorn, repulsion, or
outrage. These responses, in fact, generally confirm the
physiologic evidence of such conflict, and often represent
desperate efforts to support the consciously-favored side of
the unconscious struggle. Contrariwise, subjects who have
resolved these internal issues to a major extent are far more
likely to respond to questions in these areas with greater
comfort and tolerance. Since their heterosexual dominance is
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essentially autonomous, the issue is no longer so highly
charged; their residual homosexual urges are of manageable
proportions and they may remain repressed with a minimal
expenditure of psychical energy.
To clarify and elucidate some of the diverse issues presented
by subjects who acknowledge these homosexual fantasies, I
shall describe four cases which highlight different aspects
of the problem. The first, Miss A, is described in greatest
detail; although somewhat atypical, she illuminates many of
the issues which invite our attention. Not only did she
require the most difficult psychiatric judgment call I have
faced, but since I was the interviewing psychiatrist, and she
a particularly forthcoming and open subject, we may use the
interview to provide an almost-first-hand account of our
interchange and my thinking. Although my conclusion may be
open to question, the presentation can provide some sense of
what may be expected from a psychiatric interview.
Miss A, recently hired and about to enter on duty, was a
strikingly attractive, tall, tan, blonde young woman of 23
with the appearance and demeanor of a woman athlete. Pleasant
and cooperative, although rather emotionally immature, she
came to interview because of persistent ruminations about the
possibility of becoming homosexual in the next two or three
years. She wondered if she would have to give up her life and
her job and wanted to be sure, before she came on board, that
this was the right place for her. She had no confidence that
she would not become either homosexual or alcoholic, and
stated, "I don't want to hurt myself or my future or the
government. It's not just a general lack of confidence in
myself. I look forward to coming to work here but I look
forward to the future. I don't want to be doing anything that
I shouldn't be doing." Recall that her disclaimer of a gene-
ral lack of self-confidence, offered spontaneously, indicated
the presence of that idea at some level in her thoughts.'
She went on to discuss an incident that had arisen in her
polygraph interview and seemed to stimulate her ruminations
and self-doubt. She had recalled an incident five years
earler when she was seventeen and a freshman in college. On
returning from a weekend party at which she had been drin-
king, she engaged in a passionate ten-second kiss with her
rommate. That had been her only homosexual experience. She
had cleared the polygraph on the homosexuality question.
Soon after the polygraph interview, however, she began to
wonder why "it had happened." Her use of the passive mode
evinced her effort to absolve herself of any responsibility
for the event: she wondered why "it had happened" and not why
"I kissed her." She had never known any homosexuals until her
matriculation at college where "the girl across the hall was
a lesbian." Miss A was an active team sport player and knew
that some of the girls on the team, and indeed one of the
coaches, were homosexual. She was aware of feeling curious
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and yet put off by it. As she thought about these things, her
self-doubt intensified.
"What if it happens again? And how can I say that it won't? I
feel very uncomfortable with the thought that there might be
some buried and unwelcome part of me deep down there that is
homosexual." She saw no connection between this doubt and her
social situation: she had been seeing "one guy for five or
six years, on and off, but it wasn't anything hot and heavy -
not a sexual relationship." She enjoyed the feeling of being
turned on by the sight of or social contact with a man and of
"having a guy turned on to me."
She reported having some friends who were lesbians and she
"felt funny and awkward" knowing what they were thinking when
they looked at her "that way." With gentle guidance she was
able to describe some of her masturbation fantasies - "of
being with a man - calm and happy and relaxed - just being
there with him - feeling that we are very much alike -
there's calm and total acceptance of him and he of me. Inter-
course is the ultimate." The last idea was clearly an after-
thought. Her father "never liked sports, yet," she volun-
teered, "he is a man in every sense of the word." Since she
expressed that idea spontaneously, it was clear that the
thought had arisen in her mind that perhaps she did not
always think of him as being quite so masculine as she had
asserted. She went on, "He likes to dust and clean and arran-
ge flowers and I love him for it."
Noting that she was a very attractive woman, I asked if her
father had ever encouraged her developing feminity or expres-
sed pride or pleasure in her being a girl or a woman. Her
blank face clarified that this was a concept new to her -
that for whatever reasons he had never told her that she was
pretty nor taken any apparent delight in her attractiveness,
feminity, or even her outstanding athletic achievements;' that
is, he gave no encouragement whatsoever to any aspect of her
physical self.
Miss A, an immature, perfectionistic young woman with an
obsesional character characterized by meticulousness and
scrupulosity, gave evidence of conflict in the sexual sphere
on the polygraph interview and especially in her intensifying
ruminations in the following days. The experience had reawa-
kened the bisexual conflict of adolescence which, at 23, was
late in resolving. Her masturbation fantasy indicated that
her sexual aim was not really intercourse, the answer which
she felt I had expected, but the kind of love that a little
girl wants and might get from her daddy - calm and soothing,
relaxed and totally accepting.
One can postulate, with some confidence, that her efforts to
maintain a gratifying relationship with her father ended when
her physical development defined her unequivocally as female,
that is, when their bodies could no longer be thought of as
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"very much alike." By responding, then, like a little girl
and not a feminine big girl or teen-ager or adult, she could
regressively retain the only kind of love that she could get
from her daddy, the cuddling closeness of the little girl.
The delay in her resolution of adolescent sexual conflict is
also partially explained by her father's inability, for his
own reasons, to delight in and thereby encourage her feminine
sexual development. This made it much more difficult for her
to expect and to be confident about her acceptability to
other males, something rather unusual in so pretty a woman
and far more commonly seen in women who are less attractive.
Miss A's homosexual fantasies are not of sexual experiences
but rather of the fear of the eruption of her not-yet-fully-
repressed adolescent homosexual conflict. She recognizes
them, at some level, as something unwelcome deep within. Her
scrupulosity hounds her to confess her fantasy/doubt and
cheats her of confidence and optimism about its resolution.
She gives no evidence of perversion, but demonstrates under-
standable delayed resolution of adolescent conflict. It is
doubtful that she will engage in overt adult homosexual acts,
a judgment based not only in the foregoing, but also on her
remarkable scrupulosity, and the immaturity at 23 which seems
to be in the process of dynamic maturational change. I would
be far less optimistic if she were 33. A successful hetero-
sexual relationship will facilitate the resolution, but will
be difficult, since she is likely to think of herself as a
little girl who isn't big enough to accept the adult penis
without being harmed by it; a girl who could not possibly
function as an adult woman.
Mr. B, a 37 year old married father of four, applied recently
for a technical position. He had converted to his wife's
strict and moralistic religious group at the time of his
marriage. He reported to the interviewing psychiatrist that
he had "tried moderate drinking for a brief period" in 1973
and has been "dry" for the past ten years. The drinking
coincided with the death of his father from Alzheimer's
Disease, after which Mr. B "visited with" a psychologist for
a few sessions. Anxious and tense, yet candid with the inter-
viewer, he described an unusual sexual incident which had
come up during his polygraph examination: four years ago,
presumably at the encouragement of his parents, he had en-
tered a pornographic bookstore where he observed an erect
adult penis thrust through a knothole in the wall. He manipu-
lated the penis while masturbating. Mr. B reported no other
homosexual activity. When asked, he asserted that he would
have none in the future - that it wasn't right for him and
that he regarded it as morally wrong. He had cleared the
polygraph on the homosexuality question. The psychiatrist
withheld disposition, but noted obsessional and schizoid
features not considered definitively disqualifying.
Unavailable to the psychiatrist, however, was information
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derived by the office of Security in its pre-polygraph inter-
view which would have ended the psychiatrist's indecision.
There, the subject told of enjoying pornographic theaters,
finding it especially erotic to see males and females enga-
ging in sexual activity with members of the same sex. He was
a frequent buyer of hardcore pornographic literature, deeming
such magazines as Playboy and Hustler "softcore." He became
sexually aroused about homosexual activity whenever he went
into a pornographic bookstore. He described a recurring de-
sire to engage in sexual activity with male prostitutes and
knew that they frequented such bookstores. He went "to prove
to myself that I can resist the temptation to seek out sexual
involvement with another male."
He further revealed that he had begun to question his sexual
identity in 1969 as a college undergraduate. He described a
lack of masculinity and difficulty dating women. He was
concerned about his sexual attraction to a male friend at
college; it was for this that he twice sought psychiatric
help during college and also for this that he consulted a
psychologist in 1973.
Mr. B's case highlights the value of and need for close
cooperation between the psychiatric and security personnel
involved in assessment. If an evaluating psychiatrist had had
access to the information available at that time only to the
Office of Security, a recommendation of disqualification
would have been forthcoming without equivocation, probably
without a psychiatric interview, and certainly without any
further additions to the calendar of the Applicant Review
Panel.
Mr C and Miss D are typical of recent interviewees who report
homosexual fantasies and who are readily disqualified for
other reasons, a frequent occurrence. Mr. C, a 33-year-old
Ph.D. married for ten years, reported in the pre-polygraph
interview dreams of homosexual encounters twice weekly since
1982. The dreams were described in explicit detail and in-
cluded being beaten while fellatio was being performed on him
by males, anal sex, and sexual relations with children. These
dreams were more frequent and intense during long periods
when sexual access was denied to him by his withholding wife.
His background check revealed past drug usage and sales, and
a report of unreliability on a previous job. To the inter-
viewing psychiatrist, however, he spoke of financial stress
and periodic depression in response to job pressure as fac-
tors associated with dreams of sexual contact with "different
individuals." He specifically denied that his sexual fanta-
sies included children. He failed to clear the polygraph on
the homosexuality question abd was disapproved by the Appli-
cant Review Panel.
Miss D was a 28-year-old single applicant for the Career
Training Program whose background included many contacts and
much travel in Communist bloc countries, a question about her
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suitability for rehiring by a previous Government employer,
and a report of her failure to complete a report when pre-
viously employed by a university. On the polygraph, she
reported current homosexual fantasies and masturbatory fanta-
sies of homosexuality and masochism but no adult homosexual
activity. She spoke of sexual excitation associated with
seeing female bodies in Playboy and with reading letters to
the editor with sadomasochistic content. The polygraph was
incomplete on more than one issue on three attempts.
The interviewing psychiatrist noted a history of colitis and
adolescent rebellion against her father. She presented as a
"nice looking professional woman" who was 'working for a
prestigious "think tank" and simultaneously completing her
Ph.D. She was dating and living with a foreign service offi-
cer whom she felt she would ultimately marry. She indicated
her heterosexuality in relating her cystitis and herpes to
intercourse. The psychiatrist cleared her for employment; she
was referred to the Applicant Review Panel which disqualified
her.
It would have been far more difficult, however, to arrive at
appropriate dispositions of these cases on the basis of their
homosexual fantasies alone. For Mr. C, the history of drug
involvement and of unreliability in a previous job facili-
tated the process. For Miss D, frequent travel in Communist
bloc countries, numerous contacts with nationals of those
countries, and questionable performance in two previous jobs
were determining. Adult homosexual activity was absent in
both subjects. However, both seem to have been interviewed
psychiatrically before their polygraph examinations, sugges-
ting the advisability of scheduling the polygraph before the
psychiatric interview, if the psychiatrist is to have access
to the information developed by the Office of Security.
To the best of my knowledge, to date, each recent applicant
who has disclosed the presence of homosexual fantasies in the
pre-polygraph interview or during the polygraph examination
itself has, for one reason or another, been ultimately dis-
qualified. This may represent appropriate caution and conser-
vatism on the part of assessors, may be due to the presence
of other disqualifying elements within the application pro-
cess, and/or may serve as a stimulus for us to think through
the issues and establish, if possible, some consistent and
multi-disciplinary guidelines for dealing with such cases. It
is clear that the question is complex and that the presence
of such fantasies can be determined by a number of factors,
requiring consideration of these cases on an individual ba-
sis.
The polygraph is a uniquely valuable tool for the elucidation
of painful, embarrassing, shameful, or otherwise unwelcome
issues that might otherwise not come to light. Because the
interviewee knows that his physiological responses may well
give away his efforts to conceal them, he is far more likely
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to report to the polygrapher such thoughts, memories, fee-
lings, and fantasies. However, because of the exquisite sen-
sitivity of these concerns, he may be particularly likely to
withhold them from an unwitting and unprepared psychiatric
evaluator, whom he may perceive as judgmental and critical,
especially of elements which could be considered perverse.
A problem may arise in the polygraph operator's efforts to
press too hard for details of sexual fantasies and practices,
including the vicissitudes of the fantasies which I have
mentioned above. It would seem, therefore, only reasonable to
suggest that he refrain from probing too deeply or too long
into the details of these matters, since the result may be
long sweaty unproductive hours for both examiner and subject
with no resolution, but rather an intensification of the
subject's entrenchment and the sense that the examiner may be
pursuing these issues in the service of gratifying his own
prurient interests and voyeurism.
Potential alienation of the subject may be reduced if the
examiner, facing such a situation, were to flag the subject
for psychiatric interview, and convey to the psychiatric
evaluator, through appropriate channels, the content of his
interview and the basis for his concerns. The psychiatrist,
then, may invite further elaboration by the subject of the
questions in the service of resolving those issues which
remain open. Ultimately, he is probably best equipped to
assess the prognostic significance of the homosexual fantasy
material.
In summary, it may be most useful to respond to the presence
of homosexual fantasies in the absence of adult homosexual
behavior as a warning indicator of unresolved bisexual con-
flict which warrants a particularly careful assessment of
each case on an individual basis. It is vital that security
personnel and psychiatric evaluators have access to the same
pool of data. It may be especially valuable, in these cases,
for the polygraph interview to precede the psychiatric eva-
luation. It seems useful to suggest that polygraph operators
not probe too deeply or too long in these highly-charged
areas lest their motives be questioned. It is likely that
closer collaboration between the Office of Security and the
Office of Medical Services will provide the most effective
means for dealing with this complex problem.
Version 1.02 (oral presentation)
December 5, 1985
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