" Then came the most renowned case in 1975. Two cellmates offered themselves to be castrated in order to be granted probation. The judge believed it might help his or her chances, but no doctor could be found to perform the operation. Therefore, the two men were sentenced to statutory terms in State Prison. " this episode wrote an end to the issue of voluntary castration in Sand Diego." Yet, physical and chemical castration, and dealing with sex offenders in general, is a highly debated topic among society today (Linsky, 1989).
There are generally four main goals involved in the sentencing process. These include deterrence, retribution, incarceration, and rehabilitation. In "An illogical sanction: why castration is a bad solution to treating sex offenders," the four theories are defined and also detailed concerning how castration satisfies each area (Sluder & Roberts, 1993).
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General deterrence is not created by the use of castration. This is because those who have been castrated, as opposed to imprisoned, have voluntarily chosen to do so. Secondly, there is no real guarantee of a conviction in a sex offense because of complex legal challenges, not to mention that rape could be one the most under-reported crime. Specific deterrence is a flawed notion, also. Some medical instances have shown that castrated men have often been able to continue sexual behavior for up a year after the surgery (Sluder & Roberts, 1993). A man is still perfectly capable of an erection, even though semen is no longer produced (Lacayo, 1992). Also, sexual assault can involve .
other acts such as oral-genital contact, digital stimulation, and/or sodomy with inanimate objects (Sluder & Roberts, 1993). In the Alberta Report from May 8, 2000, Jacques Belanger stated that physical castration might not be an adequate solution to pedophilia because such activities usually involve more than just touching the genitals (Smithson).