Summary:
This week’s blog
entry has led me to an article about chemical castration as a punishment for
child sex crimes. It was the abduction and rape of a seven year old girl that
led South Korea’s President Lee Myung-Bak to take this
sentence into consideration to fight against these child sex crimes.
Chemical castration can be given by injection or taken by mouth. After
administering these medications, it makes it impossible for men to perform
sexual acts. Though the effects are reversible, it is very effective while the
drugs are being administered. Don Grubin, professor of forensic psychiatry at
Newcastle University describes this treatment as “cutting the hand off a
thief”.
Arguments:
Most
people find this method of retribution controversial and argue that though sex
offenders may not be the most “sympathetic group”, this still violates their
human rights. The drugs do what they are designed to do as making the men
unable to perform sexual acts, but they also have side effects such as
osteoporosis, heart problems, and symptoms that resemble female menopause.
Others claim that this drug is acceptable to use if the offender agrees to the
drug in order to help them with control. On the other side of the argument some
argue that without some kind of invasive action the sex offenders will continue
to commit acts that are much worse than chemical castration.
Analysis:
In
my opinion chemical castration is an acceptable form of punishment because it’s
not mutilating like surgical castration, but it does prevent people who are
known to perform sexual acts on children from doing it again while on the
medication. There are side effect to this that I mentioned above, however, I
don’t believe that the side effects that they may or may not experience from
this drug is any comparison to the emotional side effects that comes from being
raped as a child. To me, it just seems like a more effective form of punishment
than sitting in a prison; it will teach them a lesson and protect these innocent
children.
09/07/12
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