Would you support castration for sex offenders - first time or repeat offenders?

As I’ve said earlier I think castration wouldn’t help the problem that I think is a lot more psychologically rooted in possible past abuse, social conditioning, etc. Also, you’ll get a lot of answers having to do with random violence from people who, ironically, are against violence for children. I don’t think that’s the answer either.

You must have to consider that “sex offender” is a broad term. Even if someone who was 19 had consensual sex with a 17 year old; years ago, they must register as a sex offender for committing statutory rape. The minimum amount of time that anyone has to register as an offender is 20 years even for something (like my example) that many would not necessarily consider to be a “crime”. I know what you mean, however, regaurding the question from earlier today. Back to the topic at hand…

We don’t cut off fingers and hands for stealing in most places today (like here in the U.S.), so I would say no to dismembering anyone for anything…I mean, taking part of their body, even though they used it for all the wrong reasons is just bad, bad, BAD! I think they should definitely get more severe punishments, though. And even those on therapy and drugs to treat their “illness” should be closely monitored at all times!

I just asked…..I promise….i’m not going to a knife and lorena bobbett somebody.
Does any country cut it off??

just need to know you fluthers think….

Absolutely not. The intention is for them to realize and learn from their actions and/or mistakes. Not to turn them into greater monsters.

How, some form of humane punishment and program to get them through some form of learning.

Actually, I don’t support castration for sex offenders, period. First, we live in a civilized society, physical mutilation is not the answer——it’s barbaric. Yes, the crime was barbaric too, but two wrongs don’t make a right. It just sinks us lower. Second, it’s the brain of the offender, not the gonads, that continue to drive the person to commit such acts. The habit or need to do this is so deeply ingrained in the offender’s brain that simply castrating the offender will still not take away the impulse to rape and/or kill. Many studies have shown this. Castrated offenders continue to feel a need to assault and degrade——the castration might take away some of the urges, but that’s only an immediate effect. Long term effects of castration are less significant.

How bout caneing (sp?). Seems to work in Singapore. No mutilation…well not much.

@plethora When you say ‘seems to work’ what do you mean?

@MRSHINYSHOES Awesome answer! Couldn’t have put it better myself :)

@MRSHINYSHOES

I second the above!

Let them keep their gonads, but keep them imprisoned.

None of this BS of letting them back out in society.

If a pedophile is convicted, thats a one strike your out….. forever! IMO.

Hell yes, I support it. Chemical or otherwise.

I agree with not sexually mutilating anyone.

If you turn him from a pointer to a setter, is he then a poinsetter?

In the case of pedophiles, if released into the general population and it gets out. the man will probably not survive long. He will get beaten, raped, shanked and mistreated every way he turns. Almost more cruel than castration.

There’s always chemical castration. At least this way they get to keep their family jewels.

This is stupid. The reason pedophiles go after kids is that they want closeness with kids just the same way people go after adults who excite them. If you take away a straight male’s genitals he will still try to get with a woman. He will use other methods of achieving the sexual excitement and release.
So will a pedophile. So, morality aside, it wouldn’t make any difference. Duh and duh.

CUT THAT SHIT OFF

@ All those who support castration for sex offenders——-And what about female sex offenders? They exist, but in much smaller numbers than men. If we castrate male sex offenders, that means we would have to enforce legislation to “castrate” female sex offenders too. That would only be fair. So do we cut off an offending woman’s breasts or cut out her ovaries? Why not? We can’t legislate one means of physical punishment for certain offenders by sex and not legislate the other. We must be very careful of what we expouse in the law. The law was made to treat everyone equally and with justice. If we physically castrate a man for sexually offending someone, we have to do the same for a woman (though technically it wouldn’t be castration, instead it would be cutting off the clitoris or spaying the ovaries). Both ways, it’s not right.

I would say no, only because sometimes courts make mistakes, and convict innocent people.

@filmfann Is there any place on the internet that shows how much DNA evidence, not eyewitnesses or line-ups, have stopped false imprisonments?

Pills (which are in some cases prescribed for such people) are very different from castration. Castration is mutilation of the human body, which is unacceptable under any circumstances. I would not agree with it, even for a serial rapist. No wonder it’s unconstitutional in most countries.

Losing a breast (or also your penis, ovaries, arm or leg) to illness is not the same as someone just coming and chopping it off. Yes, people are amputated all the time, but this is to save their lives, not to punish them.

Besides, as Simone said, the problem is psychological and not physical. The offender would probably get even worse (and far more imaginative) after that.

It’s funny, we put the scarlet letter on them, They are marked on the map. many in SF are homless. 42% do offend again. Why do we let the repeat offenders out? Where is the chemical enforcement? They get public humiliation probably worse than castration. If they were in jails, they would not get that? i dont hear of those RX being used.
and how do they enforce the taking of meds? Lots of folks dont take their meds.

Actually there was a castration study conducted on sex offenders.

In exchange for a reduction in their prison sentences, 157 sex offenders were castrated.

Of these 157, only 3 re-offended once released. Which was a significant result, castration did successfully reduce the sexual appetite of these men, and thus reduced their sexual violence.

…......Maybe it is an option, If they choose the procedure. I’m sure if it meant knocking 10 years off a sentence there would be some takers. I don’t think that it would be right to force castration on any man…...But it would be successful…...

No, I do not agree with this. I do not agree they should be imprisoned forever either. People are capable of changing and they deserve the chance to do so. They need support and help, they do not need to be abandoned by society.

Sexual abuse can be caused with much more than just a shlong. Case in point, cutting off something prolly won’t stop an offender, especially not when sex offenders usually owe their problem to some deep rooted psychological problem. Incidentally, rape is usually about anything but sexual desires. :/

@free_fallin The most devious sexual crimes occur as a result of sexual appetites that are set from a very, very young age. Some people (mostly men) can be rehabilited, such as some who are in prison for raping an adult (male or female), for example. But that’s because the motivaton behind the crime wasn’t sexual. It was about control. Those are two totally different animals. One can be cured. The other cannot.

A child molester will always be attracted to children. It is permanently set in their psychological make-up. You can’t beat it out of them, counsel it out of them, threaten it out of them, or lengthy-prison-sentence it out of them. It is as pointless as trying to change a gay person into a straight person. It will never happen. In the end, these offenders will lie to you, maybe even lie to themselves, just to find peace with it. They know they cannot change it, but it took the rest of us hundreds of years to discover that.

They can feel the absolute lack of change inside themselves, even after recent decades of intense counseling, so they end up feeling guilty about that, too. Eventually, they give up all hope, accept that they are monsters, and end up playing the counseling game, because there is nothing they can do about it. Expecting a person to do something they are incapable of, and punishing them for decades because of it, is a horribly inhumane way of dealing with this. That, in itself, is cruel and unusual punishment!

DNA evidence won’t help the falsely accused from the days of yore, nor will finally understanding how the brains of sexual deviants works differently than a normal brain help those who are currently imprisoned, but it’s a damn good start. With those two diagnostic tools, one day this will be effectively handled. Police now accept that eye witness accounts and line-ups is a horrendously flawed and unreliable way to locate the real perpertator.

But with the exhorbitant cost of provide clothing, housing and food to each inmate, when they could be out earning thier own living, outweighs the miserable failure of the mentality behind the system which we currently employ. The “lock em up and throw away the key” mentality has only served to punish communities by forcing heavier and heavier tax burdens on them, even though they haven’t done anything wrong, themselves. We’re victimizing every single society for the ills of the few. This is unacceptable.

Castration, as a diametrically opposed alternative to imprisonment, is presented to the accused as a choice. Every inmate has the right to choose it, or not. How much more fair could we be? The criminal goes from being a burden, to becoming a productive citizen. He is rewarded for his decision by being given his freedom. Castration is a reward, not a punishment.

@phillis You won’t change my mind. I’m a victim of several rapes and molestations and I still don’t believe in capital punishment; I’m all for rehabilitation.

@free_fallin You mistake my intent. I would never presume that I am so powerful that I could change another human being’s mind one iota. It is noteworthy that you mentioned capital punishment, because I never mentioned that at all. Where is that dialog coming from? I accomplished what I set out to do, which was present the other side of the debate, not as another of your attackers. That is all. I am very sorry for the torment you have gone through. I went through it, too, with my mother. She was supposed to love me and cherish me, but she didn’t. Sucks to be me, I suppose, right? Your defenses are rather high, so I feel safe in assuming you are not yet over it. I sincerely wish you peace with it.

@free_fallin Thats nice, but some people can never be rehabilitated and we need to protect society from these dangerous people, not let them back onto the streets because we see too much of our own humanity inside them. Some of these offenders are worse than animals, they’ve chosen to give up what little humanity they had.

Anyways, I don’t support castration for two reasons. Number one, the possibility of a wrongful conviction, and number two, a truly depraved rapist will find other ways to get his satisfaction even if he’s castrated. It’s not about sex, its about power.

If the offense is against children, particularly with violence involved, I believe that voluntary chemical castration, is appropriate and may be helpful. If there is a second offense, I’d advocate placing the offender in the general population of a prison and let his “peers” take care of him.

@eden2eve… great answer, and welcome.

For many (most?) of them, I doubt that castration would deter them. It might only make them more creative. Rape is not about lust, it’s about power and control, as well as having a hatred of women. You cannot castrate that sort of thing out of anyone.