Haven't found out much about this but I'll keep looking. My guess is castration isn't a factor in recidivism. Sex crimes are primarily (though not exclusively) crimes of violence. Though it doesn't mention "castration," the data on this site is interesting:<br>
<br><a href="http://www.atsa.com/ppOffenderFacts.html">http://www.atsa.com/ppOffenderFacts.html</a><br><br>Actually "recidivism" is ambiguous. In some studies, the recidivism rate for being arrested is 40+%. On the website noted above it says "sexual offense recidivism rates are much lower than commonly
believed, averaging between 14 and 20% over 5-year follow-up periods." (Does this sound right? Sorry if I missed a previous posting of these statistics! It is hard to keep up.) Note the difference between arrest (for any crime) vs. sexual offense recidivism rates.<br>
<br>It is important to keep in mind, however, that to say sex crimes are under-reported is an understatement. On other websites I looked at today, it was claimed that only 1/3 of all sex crimes are reported and that about 80% of rape victims do not report it. So true recidivism rates are difficult to determine.<br>
<br>There is a podcast called Philosophy Bites with an interesting recent interview of Catherine MacKinnon on gender crimes, a very related topic. It is available for free on iTunes or from this website:<br><br><a href="http://www.philosophybites.libsyn.com/">http://www.philosophybites.libsyn.com/</a><br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, May 6, 2011 at 9:00 AM, Tom Hansen <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:thansen@moscow.com">thansen@moscow.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
Just out of curiosity . . .<br>
<br>
Does anybody know if court-ordered castration curtail the possibility of a<br>
pedophile re-offending (especially in the case of a serial pedphile)?<br>
<br>
Just a question.<br>
<br>
Tom Hansen<br>
Moscow, Idaho<br>
<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
On Fri, May 6, 2011 8:48 am, Ron Force wrote:<br>
> I knew someone who unknowingly married a child molester. His mother didn't<br>
> reveal his past, thought "he'd outgrown it", and of course, he didn't<br>
> reveal his record (juvenile, and sealed). A couple of years into the<br>
> marriage, she discovered he'd been molesting friends' children that they<br>
> had tended. She turned him in to the police, and divorced him. He got a<br>
> long stretch in the pen. She got a long stretch in psychotherapy, as did<br>
> the kids. It destroyed her friendships and changed the course of her life.<br>
> She eventually had to leave town.<br>
><br>
> Ugly stuff--I wish science or society had some answers.<br>
><br>
> <br>
> Ron Force<br>
> Moscow Idaho USA<br>
><br>
><br>
> ________________________________<br>
> From: Joe Campbell <<a href="mailto:philosopher.joe@gmail.com">philosopher.joe@gmail.com</a>><br>
> To: Paul Rumelhart <<a href="mailto:godshatter@yahoo.com">godshatter@yahoo.com</a>><br>
> Cc: "<a href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</a>" <<a href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</a>><br>
> Sent: Thursday, May 5, 2011 5:25 PM<br>
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Angry Hens<br>
><br>
><br>
> Above, Paul writes: "I'm glad that his church elders are working with him<br>
> in an attempt to improve his life."<br>
><br>
><br>
> But that is the issue. HOW can the elders improve his life? What is the<br>
> recidivism rate for sex offenders, child molesters? What is the recidivism<br>
> rate for sex offenders or child molesters WHO RECEIVE TREATMENT? But<br>
> somehow we're to believe that Doug Wilson can do better? Holy crap. This<br>
> is the celebration ignorance gone too far.<br>
><br>
> Kai writes: "As I argued before, it is the community's right to choose<br>
> what is socially acceptable."<br>
><br>
> But the pedophile shows that this view is BS. If the community says that<br>
> it is socially acceptable for adults to have sex with children, the<br>
> community is wrong. Period. No amount of philosophy is going to wreck this<br>
> rule.<br>
><br>
><br>
> This is the area where the right wing view of tolerance is shown to go too<br>
> far. Church elders don't have the right to say that they are experts about<br>
> human psychology merely because they are church elders. The idea that<br>
> knowledge is socially constructed and that all viewpoints are equally<br>
> valid is bogus and easily refuted (see pedophilia above). And dangerous.<br>
><br>
> And how dare either of you tell Rose and others to shut up! There are at<br>
> least five of us who find this news interesting and who are thankful for<br>
> it. And two of you who think it is unworthy of public discussion.<br>
><br>
> Let free speech reign and damn those who speak against it! Please use<br>
> delete rather than edit the content of these pages.<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> On Thu, May 5, 2011 at 4:21 PM, Paul Rumelhart <<a href="mailto:godshatter@yahoo.com">godshatter@yahoo.com</a>><br>
> wrote:<br>
><br>
><br>
>><br>
>>> (Sing along Kai, Paul, Dougie, Dale. You must know the words by now.)<br>
>><br>
>>As divisive as you guys seem to be, I still consider myself "on your<br>
>> team", more-or-less. Meaning that I am far more liberal than I am<br>
>> conservative, and have more in common with the "intoleristas" than I do<br>
>> with Kai, Doug, and Dale. . We just disagree on a few things, most of<br>
>> them having to do with the perceived importance of this one church. <br>
>> Though I do acknowledge that I agree with Kai and Dale on some occasions<br>
>> (I haven't seen Doug posting anywhere), mostly having to do with<br>
>> financial matters. It would be nice if we didn't draw so many lines in<br>
>> the sand. We might see areas where we agree, and actually learn some<br>
>> respect for each other.<br>
>><br>
>>Paul<br>
>><br>
>>=======================================================<br>
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>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br>
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>> mailto:<a href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020@moscow.com</a><br>
>>=======================================================<br>
>><br>
><br>
> =======================================================<br>
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> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <br>
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> mailto:<a href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020@moscow.com</a><br>
</div></div>> ==============================================================================================================<br>
<div class="im">> List services made available by First Step Internet,<br>
> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br>
> <a href="http://www.fsr.net" target="_blank">http://www.fsr.net</a><br>
> mailto:<a href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020@moscow.com</a><br>
> =======================================================<br>
<br>
<br>
</div>"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to<br>
changeand the Realist adjusts his sails."<br>
<br>
- Unknown<br>
<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
=======================================================<br>
List services made available by First Step Internet,<br>
serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br>
<a href="http://www.fsr.net" target="_blank">http://www.fsr.net</a><br>
mailto:<a href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020@moscow.com</a><br>
=======================================================<br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br>