eir own. Religious activity, while potentially positive, isthe perfect situation in which to reoffend. The pastor should be contacted to confirm the offenderis not alone with children. Most of these considerations do not apply to other classes of criminalsunder supervision. However, even with treatment, community notification, and supervision it issaid that as long the sex offender is on the street, there is very little that can be done to preventhim of her from committing a new offense(Sampson 99). This disturbing realization has led to athird preventative option. Castration has been used throughout history to prevent undesirable procreation and topunish criminals. In 1892, Switzerland became the first European country the castrate a sexoffender. Most other European countries followed suit except those such as Spain, Belgium,France, and Portugal which are predominantly Catholic, because of that religion’s conflict withthe practice. Today, with the high recidivism rate of sex offenders on the forefront, manycountries have returned to castration laws as a means to punish habitual sex offenders and, moreimportantly, to deter them from reoffending. Two types of castration are being utilized, surgicaland chemical. Surgical castration involves the removal of a man’s testosterone-producingtesticles to suppress his sex drive. This procedure reduces a man’s sex drive to a level similar tothat before puberty. Side effects include loss of facial and body hair, increased perspiration,weight gain, and the softening of the skin. Positive side effects include a recidivism rate forcastrated offenders of only three percent, as opposed to a forty-six percent recidivism rate for sexoffenders who have not been castrated. Thousands of sex offenders who were surgicallycastrated in Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Holland, and Czechoslovakia have only a 2.2percent recidivism rate. Although it has proven to be effective, ...
