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Debate:Sex Offenders, Castration of
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[  ][  ][  ][  ][  ]Should men found guilty of sex crimes be chemically castrated? |
This article is based on a Debatabase entry written by Richard Mott. Because this document can be modified by any registered user of this site, its contents should be cited with care.
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[ ]Background and Context of Debate:Many people consider sexual abuse one of the worst crimes a person can commit. In these circumstances, it has been proposed by some that such an offender should be punished, normally in addition to a jail term, by castration. Castration the removal of the sex glands, and is normally defined in this kind of debate as a chemical process, using hormones to render them impotent. What is to be counted as a sufficiently serious ‘sex crime’, the type of castration to be used, and the circumstance under which it would operate all need to be defined by the proposition. |
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[ ][  ][  ][  ][  ]Due punishment: Does the penalty of chemical castration have the potential to fit certain sex offenses? | |
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[  ][ ]YesA sexual offence is one of the worst kinds of crime, damaging its victim both physically and psychologically: For such a horrific crime, a suitable punishment is needed. Castration fits the bill perfectly. It has been shown that for many sex offenders, the crime is caused by both psychological and physical urges – no rational counselling will prevent a repetition of the crime. Thus castration does not only stop further crimes by the offender (one of the main purposes of any punishment), but it is a strong deterrent for prospective offenders. |
[ ][ ]NoOur legal system works on the basis of non-physical punishments for crimes committed: We have done away with the barbaric practice of using physical pain or disfigurement as a punishment for other crimes in favour of a more enlightened system of reforming the offender in prison. What would happen if the suspect was later acquitted ? – the process could not be reversed. When the death penalty was applied, many people were found to be innocent subsequent to their execution – the same could happen here. Imprisonment and counselling to prevent re-offence would be far more effective. |
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[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][  ]Saving offenders from themselves: Would castration be capable of saving offenders from themselves? | |
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[ ][ ]YesCastration will help the offenders themselves, by freeing them from the urges that motivate them to re-offend: Court testimony has shown that many sexual criminals would dearly like to be free of these urges, but cannot control their actions, much like a heroin addict cannot control theirs. Thus a chemical cure for these urges will free the offender. |
[ ][ ]NoEven if castration is combined with a jail term, it is still a far cruder and less effective treatment than prolonged psychotherapy: The argument that castration should be performed to "help the offender", runs the risk of being "soft" on the offender: |
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[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]Public anxiety: Would castration help relax public anxieties over sex offenders in society? | |
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[ ][ ]YesCastration will help put at ease the public and their widespread hysteria about the crimes of a sexual nature: At the moment, there is a massive stigmatisation of sexual offenders, with them being ‘named and shamed’ publicly (for example, by the News of the World newspaper in Britain in the summer of 2000), and hounded off their estates by mobs (as can be seen from the events after the News of The World campaign ). They are also subject to a large amount of violence in prison from other inmates. If castration is introduced, the public would know that these people are no longer a threat, and they would be allowed to get on with their lives. Castration removes both the public stigmatisation and personal suffering of sexual offenders, and should be embraced by the penal system. |
[ ][ ]NoCastration would not end public anxiety: The proposition has admitted that witch hunts take place over sexual offenders, and these are by definition not motivated by rational considerations. Just as declaring a mass murderer rehabilitated would not put his neighbours at ease. Also, the prison violence, and indeed other violence, is not so much motivated by a fear of re-offence as by the desire to punish further for the original crime. Castration would not help under these circumstances. It is an unproven and unsubtle method that deserves no place in a modern penal system. |
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[ ]Motions
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