Pedophilia
Sarah Khouzam
Professor Seidman
American Government
April 24, 2009 Pedophilia Treatment Opposition suggested that “there is a lot of data going back to the beginning of the last century showing that castration or lowering sex drives in pedophilia decreases sexual behavior, decreases their urges, and decreases their sexual thoughts and fantasies.” If this is such, how could a 2005 study printed in the Journal of the American Academy of psychology and the law, find that between one and ten percent of castrated offenders repeat their crimes. (Goldman) Pedophiles should not under go chemical castration. Chemical castration does not address the issue at hand- that these people need to be psychologically rehabilitated; being chemically castrated, does not provide certainty that this offender will not commit that crime again. Finally, chemically castrating does not protect other people from being victimized. There should be a better alternative in rehabilitating pedophiles. When a person find out they have a disease, does the doctor just give them antibiotics, or does he try to find out what’s causing the disease so it does not come back? The logical answer is to find out the root of the problem and stop it. This is the same with pedophilia, the government shouldn’t keep injecting men with women hormones and pray they stop molesting, they should find out what’s really going on in the heads of these sick people. Giving men drugs such as Depro- provera (or any other type of women hormones) may lower sex drives but it does not actually address the real motive behind the molesting. Florida prosecutor Jerry Burfold told St. Petersburg Times, “I get a lot of people who are impotent that still commit sexual battery. It’s not in their gonads that are causing them to commit sexual battery, it’s their heads.” Andrew Vachhs, juvenile justice advocate, points out “Violent sex offenders are not victims of their heightened sex drives. Predatory pedophiles may be “replaying
Professor Seidman
American Government
April 24, 2009 Pedophilia Treatment Opposition suggested that “there is a lot of data going back to the beginning of the last century showing that castration or lowering sex drives in pedophilia decreases sexual behavior, decreases their urges, and decreases their sexual thoughts and fantasies.” If this is such, how could a 2005 study printed in the Journal of the American Academy of psychology and the law, find that between one and ten percent of castrated offenders repeat their crimes. (Goldman) Pedophiles should not under go chemical castration. Chemical castration does not address the issue at hand- that these people need to be psychologically rehabilitated; being chemically castrated, does not provide certainty that this offender will not commit that crime again. Finally, chemically castrating does not protect other people from being victimized. There should be a better alternative in rehabilitating pedophiles. When a person find out they have a disease, does the doctor just give them antibiotics, or does he try to find out what’s causing the disease so it does not come back? The logical answer is to find out the root of the problem and stop it. This is the same with pedophilia, the government shouldn’t keep injecting men with women hormones and pray they stop molesting, they should find out what’s really going on in the heads of these sick people. Giving men drugs such as Depro- provera (or any other type of women hormones) may lower sex drives but it does not actually address the real motive behind the molesting. Florida prosecutor Jerry Burfold told St. Petersburg Times, “I get a lot of people who are impotent that still commit sexual battery. It’s not in their gonads that are causing them to commit sexual battery, it’s their heads.” Andrew Vachhs, juvenile justice advocate, points out “Violent sex offenders are not victims of their heightened sex drives. Predatory pedophiles may be “replaying