Society's Reaction to Sex Offenders 303Second, Depo-Provera is not FDA-approved for chemical castration. Third, judges,
not physicians, will be making the ultimate decision as to whether an offender
should be given the drug and when the drug can be discontinued. Fourth, there
are serious side effects from Depo-Provera which include diabetes, gallstones, hy-
pertension, fatigue, weight gain, nightmares, and muscle weakness. For this reason,
the chemical castration law can be viewed as judges practicing medicine without a
license.
Perhaps one of the most important opposing arguments to the chemical cas-
tration law is that it will not curb recidivism in many offenders. The treatment
strategy that has the best effect on curbing recidivism among sexual offenders is
cognitive-behavioral therapy with a relapse prevention plan (Laws, 1989). Chem-
ical castration does nothing to treat the psychological roots of sexually aberrant
behavior. Numerous sexual offenders do not offend as a result of an overactive sex
drive. Many offenders commit sexual offenses for reasons that have nothing to do
with sex such as power, control, and anger. In fact, when comparing untreated
sexual offenders to those who received sex-offender treatment, the recidivism rate
drops from 18.5% to approximately 10.9% (Alexander, 1997). This clearly demon-
strates that treatment can effectively reduce recidivism among sexual offenders.Forensic Psychology and Policy Implications
There is a great need for forensic psychologists to provide information to the pub-
lic and legislature regarding sexual offenders and their recidivism and treatment.
It appears that several of the recent actions taken against sexual offenders will be
ineffective in accomplishing the goal of protecting society. Cordoba and Chapel
(1983) acknowledge that society is more willing to allow sex offenders back into
the community if they have undergone antiandrogen therapy (chemical castration).
It is important, however, to examine whether such measures are based simply on
emotion and community misperceptions or whether thorough research was con-
ducted to support their implementation. It appears that there is a direct conflict
between society's outcry for severe punishment of sex offenders and mental health
experts who maintain that there is effective treatment for such individuals. Given
this conflict, the legislature has attempted to satisfy both sides through legally sanc-
tioned penal and civil commitments.
Chemical castration, community notification, registration, and the Sexually Vi-
olent Predator Act are all aimed at protecting society from sex offenders who are
likely to recidivate upon release from prison. In lobbying the chemical castration bill
in California, proponents stated that recidivism would drop from almost 100 to 2%
(E. Moses, 1996). In reviewing the literature on recidivism among sexual offenders,
no study documents that recidivism occurs in almost 100% of the cases (Proulx
et ai, 1997). This illustrates the public's misperceptions about sexual offenders and
specifically about their likelihood for reoffense. Furthermore, policy makers should