The issue of whether sex offenders should be chemically or physically castrated has been one that has sparked much debate over the years. There are many people who believe, apart from murder or treason, that sexual abuse is one of the worst crimes that a person can commit against another. In these circumstances, many have voiced the proposition that such an offender, especially when they are repeat offenders, be punished in the harshest way allowed. Apart from the obvious jail term, the extra punishment would be either surgical or chemical castration (Beech & Grubin, 2010). Castration has two ways that it can be done: surgical and chemical. Surgical castration involves the removal of the testes and chemical castration uses hormones to drastically reduce the testosterone levels in …show more content…
The same way I do not believe in the death penalty, I do not believe that the mandatory castration of offenders is morally or ethically correct. We can eliminate castration in a few simple ways. For example, eliminating some reasons that you can be castrated for such as being a first time offender or being a non-violent offender as long as it does not involve a minor. Imposing harder sentences for all sex offenders meaning there are no “pats on the wrist” or community service chances. If you offend, you must serve a lengthy sentence. Also, once an offender is in prison, they would not be allowed an early release or any form of sentence reductions, and last but not least, make it so that it is VOLUNTARY in all states, after a medical and mental health evaluation...not mandatory. Some offenders will never be able to fully control their urges and if they are of capable mind, they should be able to opt for castration to help keep them out of trouble and out of
Chemical castration is a reversible treatment for those with urges to commit sex crimes, as well as those who have had a history of convicted sex crimes. This drug treatment helps to lower sex drives and decrease aggressive and violent tendencies. There are side effects to this drug just as there are for every other medicine on the market. Although it was not created for men, they suffer no extra side effects than the women. Chemical castration is an exceptional alternative to prison time or it works as a stepping block for integration back into society. It is a more cost effective alternative as well as being more efficient in correcting the problem as opposed to locking it up. With strict guidelines and continual use it can be the most effective course of action for sexual offenders today.
About 43.9% of sex offenders identified both male and female perpetrators as opposed to 9.6% of nonsexual offenders. These individuals were exposed to more severe forms of victimization with a longer duration. Sex offenders endured an average of 5.6 years of abuse while nonsexual offenders experienced 3.9 years. Through the use of logistic regression analyses, Burton, Miller, and Shill (2002) concluded that method of operation and gender of abuser accurately predicts whether an individual will sexually offend. The analysis correctly predicted and placed 78.3% of the sex-offending males into their correct groups.
There have been many federal acts passed in correspondence with sex offenses that illicit feat with the public. There are many different types of ways in which Levenson & colleagues’ (2007) describes the perceptions that the public has based on certain factors. For instance, in relation to the perception about the sex offender notification system, a survey produced results of around 80 percent in favor of these registries, because these individuals felt safer in their communities knowing who was in their neighborhood. Further, due to this fear that resonated in the early 1990’s communities do have tools such as residential restrictions, civil commitment, notification procedures, etc. that aid in the protection. However, there are myths associated with sex offenders, for example legislation often states that the reasoning for new laws and regulations is due to the high recidivism rates. However, sex offenders have significantly lower recidivism rates than believed. Also, there are countless people who do not believe that sex offenders can be assisted with techniques from a psychological standpoint. Most people think that these offenders cannot be treated, however, there is research being conducted that is promising. Finally, there is a common misconception that sex offenders kill their victims, especially children more often than other killers, however this is not true.
Sexual assault is a major global issue; sexual deviance such as sexual assault definitely needs a lot of social attention from many different societies across the globe (Nelson, 2007, p. 7). It is a very serious problem that needs to be continuously addressed, through research, government programs, and new fundamental treatment possibilities. As a matter of fact, it is continuing to spread rapidly with a percentage of 25% of women and 15% of men in the United States have been affected by sexual assault (Nelson, 2007, p. 7). Due to rapid growth, public awareness should be made about the different types of sex offenders. The public should be aware of their distinct characteristics and possible treatment options. Public awareness is extremely important; it allows us to know the many different kinds of people that are in this world. Different kinds of people, including sex offenders, it’s important to know what measures one would have to take and the different possible options when faced with such issues (Nelson, 2007, p. 7).
Sex offenders have been a serious problem for our legal system at all levels, not to mention those who have been their victims. There are 43,000 inmates in prison for sexual offenses while each year in this country over 510,000 children are sexually assaulted(Oakes 99). The latter statistic, in its context, does not convey the severity of the situation. Each year 510,000 children have their childhood's destroyed, possibly on more than one occasion, and are faced with dealing with the assault for the rest of their lives. Sadly, many of those assaults are perpetrated by people who have already been through the correctional system only to victimize again. Sex offenders, as a class of criminals, are nine times more likely to repeat their
The eighth amendment states that cruel and unusual punishment can not be inflicted upon anyone. Although the eighth amendment does state that cruel and unusual punishment can not be enforced the eighth amendment does not state what “cruel and unusual punishment” actually should include. It is hard to decide what punishments should be identified as cruel and unusual. I believe that there should not be any terrible punishment that is pushed too far to handle although that is my stand I also believe that some things have an excuse to enforce a cruel and unusual punishment. Is death penalty cruel and unusual or should it be enforced on certain people is a question that is commonly asked. Some people can do the unthinkable crimes such as killing someone or even multiple people something that you believe could never happen or maybe should never happen. Or maybe something you think there should even be the possibility for it to happen. Or maybe they raped or molested someone, or maybe hurt a kid or teenager. I personally do not want people that can do this with no regret or thought to be able to be in my life or even my world. I believe that there are certain cutoffs on who should get the death penalty and who should not get the death penalty. People who killed another human being or hurt a child in any severe way deserves the death penalty. If that child or person does not have the right to live or even live a normal life anymore then the person who did it should not have the right to live a normal life or even a life at all. Someone who rob someone or even robs a bank or stole something from a store should be locked up or put in prison. I believe that walking a certain great amount or being forced to do hours of laborious work is cruel and unusual but having a prison job and cold showers are not. Anyone who is in a prison is most likely in there for a reason. The reason being they broke a law of some sort. Or that person did something that they knew would end them up in jail and still decided to do it anyways. If you can not stop yourself from doing something that is harmful to yourself or others then you get to spend some time working like everyone else does on a daily basis. Another common question asked is
A considerable question could be whether an offender can be deregistered. Without a doubt, there are a few sex offenders who have been convicted of this crime who do not pose any threat to the community. These people suffer from consequences such as being unable to have employment, return to school, or even social interactions. In cases like these, they often look for an alternative option. For many years, deregistration was not probable for anyone until now. Looking into the research of deregistration, an attorney from Austin, Texas by the name of Scott Smith, has provided certain step for an eligibility of deregistration. The first step is to determine the eligibility of the offender. To be eligible, they must not have more than one violation
Sex offenders tend to blend in to society virtually unnoticed until they offend or reoffend (Polizzi, MacKenzie, & Hickman, 1999). Currently, there is a large group of mental health professionals representing a variety of disciplines, including psychology, psychiatry clinical social work, counseling, and medicine, that continue to believe in the potential efficacy of treating sex offenders. Over the past decade, the sex offender treatment field has grown rapidly and the treatment of juvenile sex offenders is on the rise (Parks & Bard, 2006). The rationale for treating juvenile offenders is based on research which indicates that inappropriate sexual behavior patterns develop early and a failure to intervene and change behavior early often means that the offender will continue to escalate his/her inappropriate behavior, which could present an even greater danger to society (Ayland & West, 2006). Vivian-Bryne, (2004) suggests that professionals who treat adult sex offenders report that offenders who are incarcerated will eventually return to the community and therefore, therapeutic measures should be taken to reduce the likelihood that they will reoffend even if those measures have not conclusively been identified as effective. Sexual offenders may find therapy valuable because it can allow them to retrace their upbringing to help them identify and understand the roots of their
Stories of sex offenders have been increasingly a focus of attention by the criminal justice system over the past years. By legal definition, a sex offender “is a person who is convicted of a sexual offense (Sex Offender Law & Legal Definition),” an act which is prohibited by the jurisdiction. What constitutes as a sex offense or normal/abnormal sexual behavior varies over time and place, meaning that it also varies by legal jurisdiction and culture. In the United States of America, for example, a person can be convicted of wide range of sexual behavior that includes prostitution, incest, sex with a minor, rape, and other sex offenses (Sex Offender Law & Legal Definition). As the nature of sex crimes have long held the
Sexual assault is one of the fastest growing violent crimes in America. Approximately 20% of all people charged with a sexual offense are juveniles. Among adult sex offenders, almost 50% report that their first offense occurred during their adolescence. (FBI, 1993) There are many different opinions, treatment options and legislation to manage the growing numbers of juvenile sex offenders. In today’s society the psychological and behavioral modification treatments used to manage juvenile sex offenders is also a growing concern. To understand and determine the proposed treatment methods, several related issues will need to be reviewed such as traditional sex offender therapy methods like cognitive therapy and alternative therapies like
When working with this specific population mental health professionals are often called on to evaluate and manage sex offender’s behavior. There are also times when individuals may be asked to give an opinion as to if the offender will repeat the behavior. Often times people that work with this population are referred to as (SOSs) Sex Offender Specialists. They have a specific group of diverse training and background. Some of these trainings incIude but are not limited to cognitive-behavioral, psychopharmacological, and therapeutic orientations.
The treatment for sexual offenders is done in a three principal approach which is cognitive behavioral approach, psycho-educational approach, and pharmacological approach. The cognitive behavioral approach gives emphasis on altering the habits of the offended relating toward sexual offending and “deviant patterns of arousal”. (CSOM) This means altering the daily habits of the offender which may be everything they had known previously to incarceration. The second principal of psycho-educational focuses on altering the offender’s state of mind toward their victims and attempts to instill the understanding of how they inflicted harm with their actions. With psychology there is never a set time on how long a set goal will be reached. Times vary between individuals and can sometime never reach their desired outcome. In conjunction with those previous principals the offenders are also treated under the pharmacological
Perpetrators of sex crimes committed against children often start by gaining the trust of potential victims and the adults in their lives’ by using a tactic called “grooming.” The purpose of this memo is to give the court a baseline understanding of what sex offender victim grooming is, its purpose, and techniques. Because of the extensive amount of research and information on this topic, this paper does not detail all of the grooming techniques used by child sex offenders to groom potential victims.
In 2005, Lösel & Schmucker conducted a meta-analysis of sexual offender treatment. Featuring 69 studies containing 80 independent comparisons between treated and untreated offenders. treated offenders showed 37% less sexual recidivism compared to the control groups. Organic treatments such as
In the United States, required surgical or chemical castration is something that is not really considered as a form of punishment or a method of rehabilitation for sexual offenders. The reason for this