Chemical castration as a treatment Flashcards
Chemical castration as a treatment
how do hormones cause aggressive behaviour
biology
an imbalemce of hormones causes aggresson
some hormones interfere with the amygdala causing increased levels of aggression such as Testosterone
Chemical castration as a treatment
whats an anti-androgen and how link to hormone therapy
• Anti-androgens lower testosterone levels leading to a decrease in deviant and non-deviant sexual urges
hormone therapy
• a type of pharmacotherapy
• use medication to reduce levels of testosterone
• these medications are either hormones with anti-andronic effects
• hormones that just decrease the functioning of testosterone or just breaks down the testosterone and stops more testosterone from being produced
• e.g. for decreasing the functioning of testosterone: the female hormone: medroxyprogesterone (MPA for those with human tounges)
Chemical castration as a treatment
why hormone therapy used with criminal and what criminals
Hormone therapy is used to reduce aggression and to maintain “normal” sexual drives
And it’s suppresses deviant behaviors
It’s less invasive and more ethical using physical castration
Hormone therapies used with different types of offenders for example: sex offenders (usually male)
this helps them reduce aggression and decreases their deviant and non-devient sexual urges, decreases their sex drive and stops them re-offending
Chemical castration as a treatment
MPA what is it and side effects
MPA is a female hormone that decreases the functioning of testosterone by breaking it down and eliminating it
• it also inhibits the production of luteinising hormone via the pituitary gland, which then inhibits the production of testosterone
• this decreases: erotic fantasies, erections, ejaculation, sex drive, deviant sexual behavior.
• sometimes it stops paraphilic behavior
SIDE EFFECTS
side effects of MPA include (inhales) : breast enlargement, osteoporosis, depression, weight gain, lethargy, sweats, nightmares, leg cramps
but no feminization reported thus far - berlin et al 1981
People tend to decline MPA due to its many side effects or not completing the therapy after initially agreeing to do so after hearing about/ experienceing the side effects
The USA uses MPA (ofc it does)
Chemical castration as a treatment
CPA what is it and side effects
CPA quickly reduces sex drive, sexual deviencies and deviant fantasies
Side effects of CPA include liver dysfunction (that’s it)
CPA used in Canada and Europe
Chemical castration as a treatment
How is it done
step
by
step
MPA:
Inject tramuscularly (into arm muccles) in dosages of 300-400mg ever 7-10 days
To stop taking the hormone therapy simply stop using it (no slowly decreasing it)
Once you stopped using hormone therapy the effects of it also stop meaning sex driving creases etc but sometimes some of the effects may stay
Side effects may or may not stop immediately after going off the drug or they may stay around for a bit like the normal effects
Chemical castration as a treatment
Strength
Supporting studdys
Maletzky (2006)
They found that MPA reduced recividism
and out of the 79 people who received MPA there were very few new offences of which even fewer were sexual in nature
meaning that they found that MPA reduces recividism and reduces sexual drive
Meaning that this study supports the use of chemical castration as a treatment for criminal
Chemical castration as a treatment
Strengths
expence
Chemical castration is cheap in the short term as you simply have to only pay for the drug
Chemical castration as a treatment
Strengths
reasoning
Treats sex offenders by reducing: recidivism, sexual Drive, sexual fantasies, sexual impulses and urges and aggression
Chemical castration as a treatment
Strengths
aplications
It’s used in probation and in prisons for very violent sex offenders to decrease this he will drive and so they don’t re-offend
Chemical castration as a treatment
Weaknesses
Side effects
CPA: liver dysfunction
MPA: breast enlargement, osteoporosis, depression, weight gain, lethargy, sweats, nightmare, leg cramps
• it decreases the effect of testosterone which is a very important hormone for developing and the function of the body therefore reducing it’s effects or stopping the production of it maybe bad for the development and functioning of the body especially in men
• people may take antidepressants for the side effect of MPA which is depression this may have an effect on the treatment effectiveness
These side effects as you can see incredibly bad and pretty bad
And we’ll leave significant effect and changes as well as physical and psychological pain on the patient which isn’t very ethical
The side effects are so bad people are likely to drop out and therefore not take the treatment
• anger management programs have no side effects meaning that they are already better than chemical castration which does have many side effects
Chemical castration as a treatment
weakness
diff treatments (physical castraion and amps)
and ethics
2010 british guy
social control
Ethics
• in 2010 the some guy in the UK had ethical concerns on the side effects of hormone treatments and stated that it seemed morally wrong
• as it causes changes and physical pain and psychological pain to the participant which isn’t very ethical
Anger management programs have no side effect at all therefore they’re much more ethical than chemical castration
Chemical castration is a form of social control by physically altering somebody so they don’t do something which is immoral as they should be taught how to not be a criminal and not force it upon someone
Chemical castration as a treatment
strengths
ethics
• Chemical castration is not as bad as physical castration as while it has got many side effects chemical castration does not do as severe permanent damage it’s physical castration which permanently stops the production of testosterone
Chemical castration as a treatment
weakness
time
• While chemical castration is cheap it is only effective in the short term while the medication is being taken
• anger management programs while a more expensive do last long term and trains people to be able to control their anger themselves something that chemical castration cannot do
Chemical castration as a treatment
overall judgment
• wall chemical castration is effective as maletzky 2006 has proven that it works in real life it isn’t efficient as it is only effective in the short term
there are side effects which makes it unsafe and it is morally questionable with with the whole bad side effects which decreases the chance of them staying on their medication
Compare that with anger management programs which are
less effective depending on the willingness of the patients to be treated
it does however last long term with teaching participants how to control their own anger
it has no side effects
Put that long term this is key as it means that the effects of the treatment will last over time increasing the chance of it reducing recidivism
therefore
Overall is not the most effective treatment for criminals however
By combining chemical castration and anger management programs
it neglects the weaknesses of both meaning it decreases the patient’s sex drive and urges so there are no distractions while the anger management program is taking place
so they can learn how to control the anger which will last long term
And therefore more effectively reduce recividism
