Abstract
Sex offenses to children or young adolescents have become a growing public concern. Chemical castration is currently considered as the best available societal response to child sex abuse. It abolishes testosterone secretion, its effects are reversible and side effects are minor. It has been argued that offering convicted sex offenders with the possibility to be treated may be in contradiction with the bioethics principle of autonomy because the person has really no other choice -- the alternative is usually a lengthy confinement sentence. In view of this controversy, we explored lay people’s and physicians’ views regarding the acceptability of chemical castration. Fifty participants (among them five physicians) judged the acceptability of castration in each of 36 scenarios consisting of all combinations of four factors: aggressor’s age (21 vs. 41-year old); (b) victim(s)’ age (5, 8, or 14-year old); (c) aggressor’s psychiatric status (no psychiatric antecedents, suffers from sexual deviation, or recidivist); and (d) family’s attitude (hostile to any kind of castration vs. approve castration). Participants’ ratings of acceptability were, on the average, very high, and 68% of participants considered that chemical castration was fully justified in all the cases that were shown. A small minority (8%) considered that first time offenders of young adolescents, without psychiatric antecedents, should not be chemically castrated. Another minority position (24%) expressed doubts regarding chemical castration of first time offenders without antecedents but they never strongly opposed it. Implications for bioethics are discussed.
Highlights
Sex offenses to children or young adolescents have become a growing public concern
Cincuenta participantes juzgaron la aceptabilidad de la castración en cada uno de los 36 escenarios que constituían toda las posibles combinaciones de cuatro factores: edad del agresor (21 y 41 años de edad), (b) edad de la víctima (5, 8 o 14 años de edad), (c) estado psiquiátrico del agresor, y (d) actitud de la familia
Since the 70’s, sex offenses to children or young adolescents have — their prevalence has tended to decline in recent years— become a growing public concern (Putnam, 2003)
Summary
The 50 participants were unpaid volunteers from the region of Toulouse, France, who were informed about the goals of the study and gave their consent. The lay people were approached by two trained research assistants while they were walking along the main sidewalks of Toulouse. The professionals were contacted at the hospital
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
