UK will roll out chemical castration for sex offenders | CNN
www.cnn.com
The British government is to rollout the use of medication to suppress the sex drive of sex offenders, as part of a package of measures to reduce the risk of reoffending and alleviate the pressures on the prison system, which is running out of space.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said so-called chemical castration would be used in 20 prisons in two regions and that she was considering making it mandatory.

        • IncorrigibleDirigible [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
          4·
          3 days ago

          They did allude to capital punishment though. I’m not one for revenge based “justice” personally so murdering people doesn’t sit well with me. I’m probably in the minority though since seeing perceived wrongdoers suffer is a huge dopamine release for primates. I believe in a non punitive rehab/reeducation/quarantine approach to deviant/nonconforming behaviors (the things we currently label as “crime”). Neurobiology calls into question some deeply ingrained societal modes and the info is relatively new and not commonly known. I’m also not too keen on the meritocratic approach to conforming behaviors. It’s pretty crap to punish people for poor impulse control and it’s pretty crap to reward people for having been born into circumstances that allow them to exercise impulse control, since those factors are mediated by genetics and environmental interaction. Prenatal and early childhood mostly in fact. I like the analogy of taking away a child’s toys because they caught a cold. Just doesn’t seem reasonable. Creating material conditions to ensure that people don’t experience high levels of prenatal and childhood stress seems like the only real actual solution.

            • IncorrigibleDirigible [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
              4·
              3 days ago

              I disagree. Actions are regulated by the areas of the brain directly responsible for just that. I may have had a different opinion when my understanding of how our decision making actually functions was less informed, but it definitely IS an impulse not being controlled. There is no other mystical moral ingredient that you can shoehorn into the equation. Free will is nonsense and attempting to discourage people through threats of punishment doesn’t work. My own half brother was a repeat offending criminal and NO amount of consequences ever stopped him and now he’s dead from his own lack of impulse control. I think it’s exactly accurate to describe any behavior in functional terms.