There is a thread currently being discussed in great debates dealing with the issue of castrating sex offenders. The thread deals mainly with the issues of the morality and ethics of this form of punishment. After reading the thread I searched the web looking for some more information on this subject, but I found mostly essays either urging the use of castration or its abolition. I did not find what I wanted. That is:
Is castration effective as a means of reducing the recidivism rate of sexual predators?
It seems to me that the whole debate would be rendered moot if there is no effect. So I ask the teeming millions for help. Please note, I do not want this to become a debate. That thread is already going. I want numbers. I want to see some studies and some data. I appreciate any help you could provide. Thanks,
I can say with great certainty that castration is less effective than my preferred punishment for serious sex offenders. I think execution is far more effective at curtailing any such behavior.
Seriously, since castration is not a common punishment in such cases, the kind of data you are seeking is going to be skewed due to the small sample and short study period. Recidivism is a statistic that needs to be compiled over a very long period of time to be meaningful.
The only facts I think you will be able to prove are that castration is more effective than incarceration and less effective than execution. How it compares to drug therapy and counseling will not be easy to accurately measure.
I really don’t have much of an opinion on this subject, but I have heard a couple of things that won’t help you at all. I heard of one guy who was having pedaphilic(is that a word?) thoughts. He actually requested to be castrated, thinking it would make those feelings and thoughts stop. It supposedly worked for him, although it’s very possible that the effects of the castration were more mental than physical.
But, on the other side, I have heard several psychologists(sorry, can’t remember where) who have said that it’s more of a sick power trip than sexual release, and therefore castration doesn’t do any good.
Basically, what it boils down to is that there will be some type of debate on this subject no matter what. In my opinion, castration may work on some and not on others. I’m not going to get into the morality of it in this thread.
I know this isn’t a whole lot of help, but I’m not sure you’ll find truly objective data anywhere.
I assume we are talking about physical castration here ala what is probably done in parts of the Middle East as opposed to ‘chemical castration’ where drugs are used for behavior modification. Unfortunately, I have nothing in the way of numbers to provide, but my wife does work in healthcare, and myself in pharmaceuticals. And I can certain tell you that patient compliance is horrendous with even life saving drugs in some cases! Imagine giving a rapist a drug to ‘control his urges’, then trusting him to take it regularly. Good luck on that. Again, not trying to turn this into a debate, I’d have to say that ‘chemical castration’ doesn’t work simply because all rapists 10 years down the road will stop taking the drug simply because they’ll forget, or don’t want to, and there is no easy way to monitor this. If we presume they are ‘wired wrong’ and will commit their crime again without this treatment, then I’d say over a long enough period your rate of recurrence would probably be close to 90%
Physical castration (ie removal of the testicles) is not an effective way of eliminating sexual desire. It does eliminate the person’s ability to impregnate someone they rape, which is some benefit, but not very much. Vasectomies and such are very much like castration in actual effects, yet they do not reduce physical desire. Castration would have an effect if the person hadn’t gone through puberty yet, but that would also be rather cruel, and probably bad for their health.
I recall reading an article about this years ago when a judge gave two chaps the option of turning in The Boys or spending fifty years in the clink.
One thing the article stressed is that castration does not necessarily prevent penile erection. Since many sex offenders behave as they do in order to project power and dominance over an individual, rather than for sex, it was speculated that castrated sex offenders might be inclined to recidivism.
On the other hand, castration has a dramatic effect on testosterone production, which in turn is related to aggression. It has long been observed that eunuchs tend to live longer than uncastrated males, and tend to be less aggressive than those of us who still have jewels in the pouch. A denatured sex offender might just be more inclined to see what’s next on Oprah rather than predating upon innocents. I say cut the bastards’ nads off anyway, just to make me feel better about it.
Well, evidently there are no such studies. I thought chemical castration has been in use for some years (I thought ~5) and I was under the impression that castration of sex offenders was done in Europe, but I can’t remember where I heard that. I was hoping someone had put some numbers together. Oh well.
Sewalk, I agree with your preferred treatment of sex offenders, but I doubt our civilized society will go for it.
Yarster, I am specifically curious if eliminating testosterone has a significant effect on sexual predators behavior. I do not really care how it is done for the purpose of seeing if there is an effect, although I share your concerns regarding patients going off meds.
Surel, I am curious if you have any cites for your claim that castration does not reduce sex drive. I realize castrarted men can still perform sexually, but I would wager that they haver a reduced sex drive.
I am also confused about your comparison to vasectomy. In a vasectomy there is no reduction in testosterone production. In castration there is essentially an elimination of testosterone in the individual. Is it your contention that testosterone has no effect on sex drive?
Sofa King, my belief is that castration would reduce libido in these individuals as well as reduce their level of agression. This combined effect might be enouugh to allow them to control themselves.
handy and Diceman, why would someone take a drug that will make them want to commit a crime so heinous? I would imagine that these guys awould be happy not to have the urge to rape children. And if they already have the urge, why take drugs to stimulate the urge?
“Umm, i know that after the operation, a small amount of guys still still do the crime.”
handy, what is the source of this statement? This sounds like the info I am looking for, except I would want to know how small the “small amount” is and how many were in the group that did not “still do the crime”?
First of all, some of you are forgetting that the guy and still use things & they do, like a broom handle, his hands, his mouth etc to do these things to women. After all, its more a power trip than anything else.
"First of all, some of you are forgetting that the guy and still use things & they do, like a broom handle, his hands, his mouth etc to do these things to women. After all, its more a power trip than anything else. "
I am not forgetting that fact. However it is not relevant to the question I asked. I would still like a source for your previous statement though.