Castration for sex offenders?

Col_M · 19 Jan 2012 at 11:29

I was just browsing some news today when I read this...
www.ceskapozice.cz/en/news/society/czechs-continue-surgical-castration-sex-offenders-studies-sought
TL;DR: The Czech Republic is one of the few countries in Europe that castrate sex offenders surgically and chemically, however it requires a written request from the offender or carer, analysis from an expert and the go ahead from a court.

Now I often see people here with quite aggressive opinions of punishment of sex offenders be it rapists, paedophiles etc. but what is the general consensus of people here?

I certainly wouldn't agree with compulsory castration against the will of the offender. However if a sex offender is aware of their problem, they are a danger to the public due to their inability to control their urges and request the procedure or drugs then I can't help thinking if it's their choice then it's fine by me.

TommyV · 19 Jan 2012 at 11:33

That's awesome.

[FnG]magnolia · 19 Jan 2012 at 11:36

Now I often see people here with quite aggressive opinions of punishment of sex offenders be it rapists, paedophiles etc.

Yup.

but what is the general consensus of people here?

What you just posted.

e : And I'm full of edits tonight, whoop! That's not to say say that we all agree with either of the two above points, just that most GD'ers do. Vehemently so.

Castiel · 19 Jan 2012 at 11:37

[FnG]magnolia;21069147 said:
Yup.

What you just posted.

Yep!

Burnsy2023 · 19 Jan 2012 at 11:38

I can't see how it helps. It doesn't stop them raping someone.

elmarko · 19 Jan 2012 at 11:38

It's a difficult one, how easy is it to establish they are of sound body & mind to make the decision when they are a sex offender to begin with (which usually shows signs of a disturbed mind).

If they were fully capable of making the rational choice, aware of the consequences I'd guess it may be for the best - the people requesting this perhaps feel some genuine guilt but are aware of the urges they can't control - but wish to return to society.

It's better than locking them up forever & it's also better than letting dangerous people with these urges back into society - so perhaps it's the best out of a bad selection.

Ideally we could prevent it from occurring the first place (by understanding the underline causes of the behaviour), but that's clearly not always possible.

I'd have to study the subject further to give a more informed point of view.

shoes · 19 Jan 2012 at 11:38

Personally I think it should be down to the victim, not the offender. How many people actually take up this offer do you think?

Burnsy2023 · 19 Jan 2012 at 11:39

shoes said:
Personally I think it should be down to the victim, not the offender.

That is a terrible, terrible idea. Victims shouldn't have any say in the punishment handed out by a judicial system.

Deadbeat · 19 Jan 2012 at 11:40

Burnsy2023 said:
I can't see how it helps. It doesn't stop them raping someone.

Castrating a sex offender doesn't stop them raping someone? :confused:

DanielMMS · 19 Jan 2012 at 11:40

Compulsory surgical castration without anaesthetic to be carried out by the person against whom the sexual offence was committed.

elmarko · 19 Jan 2012 at 11:41

Burnsy2023 said:
I can't see how it helps. It doesn't stop them raping someone.

Are you sure about that.

Chemical castration (not permanent type).

"When used on men, these drugs can reduce sex drive, compulsive sexual fantasies, and capacity for sexual arousal"

Col_M · 19 Jan 2012 at 11:43

Burnsy2023 said:
I can't see how it helps. It doesn't stop them raping someone.

My understanding of it is without any sex hormones, sex drive is non existent and the offender would get no desire to commit any of these offences in the future. It will also reduce their aggressiveness due to the lack of testosterone.

elmarko · 19 Jan 2012 at 11:43

DanielMMS said:
Compulsory surgical castration without anaesthetic to be carried out by the person against whom the sexual offence was committed.

Because I'm sure rape victims would like to get involved in another violent act with the person in question.

There is also the point that our system of law is not perfect, we have mistrials & people send down for crimes they did not commit - this is why incarceration is the best choice, as it means they can be let out (if ever found innocent).

The same argument applies to the death penalty.

DanielMMS · 19 Jan 2012 at 11:44

elmarko1234 said:
Are you sure about that.

Chemical castration (not permanent type).

"When used on men, these drugs can reduce sex drive, compulsive sexual fantasies, and capacity for sexual arousal"

But chemical castration is only effective for the period of treatment, ie for as long as the person takes the drugs. So at any point the offender could choose to stop the treatment - this would be very difficult to police.

NB: despite my earlier post, I don't agree with castration

shoes · 19 Jan 2012 at 11:46

Burnsy2023 said:
That is a terrible, terrible idea. Victims shouldn't have any say in the punishment handed out by a judicial system.

And you've just identified exactly why we have such a pathetic and backwards judicial system in the UK.

Saying that, if somone raped my mother/wife/daughter then chemical castration would certainly be well worth taking up, and preferably before I got to them with the angle grinder.

Brookert · 19 Jan 2012 at 11:47

shoes said:
And you've just identified exactly why we have such a pathetic and backwards judicial system in the UK.

You cannot tust a victim to make a rational decision on a punishment, thats just ridiculous.

drunkenmaster · 19 Jan 2012 at 11:48

elmarko1234 said:
Because I'm sure rape victims would like to get involved in another violent act with the person in question.

There is also the point that our system of law is not perfect, we have mistrials & people send down for crimes they did not commit - this is why incarceration is the best choice, as it means they can be let out (if ever found innocent).

The same argument applies to the death penalty.

Not really, end of the day if I was found guilty of a murder I didn't commit, would I prefer to go 60 years in jail, potentially getting raped or beaten up on a regular basis, or just have it end in a few years... killed, hopefully painlessly, or 60 years of basically physical and mental torture...... yeah the death penalty is really cruel.

Deadbeat · 19 Jan 2012 at 11:48

Brookert said:
You cannot tust a victim to make a rational decision on a punishment, thats just ridiculous.

This. Sad to say, victims are the least capable people when it comes to metering out just and appropriate punishment to criminals.

Edit:

drunkenmaster said:
Not really, end of the day if I was found guilty of a murder I didn't commit, would I prefer to go 60 years in jail, potentially getting raped or beaten up on a regular basis, or just have it end in a few years... killed, hopefully painlessly, or 60 years of basically physical and mental torture...... yeah the death penalty is really cruel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argumentum_ad_absurdum

Liquiduk · 19 Jan 2012 at 11:48

Chemical castration is a possibility but you can't remove the motive or the way someone thinks through removing a penis.

elmarko · 19 Jan 2012 at 11:49

DanielMMS said:
But chemical castration is only effective for the period of treatment, ie for as long as the person takes the drugs. So at any point the offender could choose to stop the treatment - this would be very difficult to police.

NB: despite my earlier post, I don't agree with castration

Actually it's easy to police, as it requires injections (performed by a doctor) on a 6 monthly basis - you can quite easily tell by who misses the appointments.

(according to a few sources I just read up on).