Can child molesters be rehabilitated?????

[southcitymom]

This really does just make my day. I thought there was no way in you know what of getting a law like that passed. Now I have hope.

See...change CAN happen...sometimes it's just slow going.

 

[Glow]

As a society we can barely understand and deal with mental disorders of any kind. Not to long ago people who were schizophrenic were thought to be possessed. Now a few hundred years later we know better but we still have only scratched the surface on that one mental disorder as well as many other aberrations of the mind. Literally, the mind is the last truly unexplored frontier.

As of now we know next to nothing about how a pedophile gets to be that way. There are some hypothesis about physio-socio environment but no one has come forward with anything concrete such as a gene marker for example. Because of lack of knowledge this horrific pathology is shrouded in the vagueness of the time we happen to be living in right now.

Pedophiles have a high rate of recidivism. That is even after intensive therapy. That is the best case scenario. Addressing this mental disorder as a crime sends them to prison (if they are caught) but that does nothing whatsoever to treat the condition.

As much as I hate to write anyone off as hopeless, I think this is the reality until and unless we know more later about how this pathology functions.

These people prey on the most innocent and vulnerable of society. They dont change and they cannot be helped. In my opinion this would be a good argument for use of the death penalty in todays society.

 

[Roxye]

For the most part no.

But there are always exception to the rules.

Not many, of course, but I think (can't remember for sure) there is one guy that court TV uses a lot when discussing molestors. He is currently writing books and teaching others how to spot, other molestors. Gawd I wish I knew his name. But ya know, how do we really know he is reformed?

Reformed or not, they still don't need to have access to children ever. Even if they have been 'reformed' for 50 years.

 

[Indy Gal]

See...change CAN happen...sometimes it's just slow going.

Every one every where start writing you letters today.Quistion to our ever so nice mod jeana... can we start a petion on here for something like that. I am new and dont know all the rules...so sorry

 

[Jeana (DP)]

As a society we can barely understand and deal with mental disorders of any kind. Not to long ago people who were schizophrenic were thought to be possessed. Now a few hundred years later we know better but we still have only scratched the surface on that one mental disorder as well as many other aberrations of the mind. Literally, the mind is the last truly unexplored frontier.

As of now we know next to nothing about how a pedophile gets to be that way. There are some hypothesis about physio-socio environment but no one has come forward with anything concrete such as a gene marker for example. Because of lack of knowledge this horrific pathology is shrouded in the vagueness of the time we happen to be living in right now.

Pedophiles have a high rate of recidivism. That is even after intensive therapy. That is the best case scenario. Addressing this mental disorder as a crime sends them to prison (if they are caught) but that does nothing whatsoever to treat the condition.

As much as I hate to write anyone off as hopeless, I think this is the reality until and unless we know more later about how this pathology functions.

These people prey on the most innocent and vulnerable of society. They dont change and they cannot be helped. In my opinion this would be a good argument for use of the death penalty in todays society.

Post of the day!!! Good work.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

Every one every where start writing you letters today.Quistion to our ever so nice mod jeana... can we start a petion on here for something like that. I am new and dont know all the rules...so sorry

Yes, but I'm not sure how much good it would do without "real" names, etc. You could type up a form for posters to copy and fill in and send to their state reps. What do you think about that?

 

[Peter Hamilton]

well,I voted NO on the poll,keeping it unanimous----and everytime I see that former child molester Goldenflame on the news channels,doling out his "expertise",my nausea is not far behind

 

[Details]

...Politicians in primarily southern U.S. states have passed laws that expand the use of the death penalty to include repeat child sex offenders -- a move mental health professionals say is ineffective in stopping molestation ...

How many dead child molesters do mental health professionals think have molested more children?

But I'll settle for LWOP, on the first strike easily for the bad ones.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

How many dead child molesters do mental health professionals think have molested more children?

But I'll settle for LWOP, on the first strike easily for the bad ones.

HaHa!!! some of them might try to come up with one or two. :innocent:

 

[Old Broad]

I work with pedophiles and there has never been one who I would ever turn my back on if a child was 1000 ft away. Some can seem very sincere in saying they are sorry for past deeds and are working on changing, but the impulse and the thoughts are always there just waiting to bubble up to the surface. They have learned to put on the "normal face" until the right opportunity comes along.
Some people can not grasp the fact that they are not the same as you or I, no one can be that sick, but they are. One woman at work thought it was sweet how one man liked to hear about her daughter and asked if he could have a picture of her, the stupid woman actually gave him one and looked at us in disbelief when we tried our best to explain just what he would be doing with the picture of her young daughter.
If we honestly do want to protect society then they have to be stopped not given chance after chance.

OB

 

[Details]

I really think it's very sad - some of them are sincere and wish they could change. But it's not a matter of willpower or whatever. They're broken, and we don't know any way to fix them, and they just can't be free in society, somehow their actions must be controlled to keep them away from children.

 

[Reader]

I voted NO. In Florida, we also have a program that keeps the sex offenders, of any type, confined after they complete their prison sentences, if a mental exam shows they are still a danger to the public.

They are suppose to receive treatment in this special mental health facility and can only be released when they improve to the point where they are no longer a danger to society.

Hint: very few are ever released.

 

[sabego]

I voted no and will add that I have thought for sometime that if they lost their eyesight the world would be a safer place. I know it sounds cruel, but what they do is much worse!

Sabego

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

I work with pedophiles and there has never been one who I would ever turn my back on if a child was 1000 ft away. Some can seem very sincere in saying they are sorry for past deeds and are working on changing, but the impulse and the thoughts are always there just waiting to bubble up to the surface. They have learned to put on the "normal face" until the right opportunity comes along.
Some people can not grasp the fact that they are not the same as you or I, no one can be that sick, but they are. One woman at work thought it was sweet how one man liked to hear about her daughter and asked if he could have a picture of her, the stupid woman actually gave him one and looked at us in disbelief when we tried our best to explain just what he would be doing with the picture of her young daughter.
If we honestly do want to protect society then they have to be stopped not given chance after chance.

OB

People like your co-worker are the bread & butter of pedophiles. They have no problem manipulating and exploiting naiive people. (Although once you have children you surrender your right to be called naiive and are officially regulated to the "stupid" category.)

 

[dark_shadows]

No.
Sex offenders cannot be rehabilitated.

 

[Amraann]

I voted NO. In Florida, we also have a program that keeps the sex offenders, of any type, confined after they complete their prison sentences, if a mental exam shows they are still a danger to the public.

They are suppose to receive treatment in this special mental health facility and can only be released when they improve to the point where they are no longer a danger to society.

Hint: very few are ever released.

Are you living in the same Florida I am??
We are like the capitol of letting child molesters go!
Think Jessica Lunsford? And Karli B. (forget her last name sorry)

I vote HELL NO. And if there is some slight remote chance it is possible I am sure not willing to test the theory. So let the scum bags rot. Really its the safe bet. Who suffers from it??

 

[southcitymom]

I voted no and will add that I have thought for sometime that if they lost their eyesight the world would be a safer place. I know it sounds cruel, but what they do is much worse!

Sabego

Now THAT'S thinking outside of the box....I like it!

 

[Reader]

Are you living in the same Florida I am??
We are like the capitol of letting child molesters go!
Think Jessica Lunsford? And Karli B. (forget her last name sorry)

I vote HELL NO. And if there is some slight remote chance it is possible I am sure not willing to test the theory. So let the scum bags rot. Really its the safe bet. Who suffers from it??

Yes, those cases were horrible and those men should not have been out on the street, although I don't think Carli Brucia's killer, Joseph Smith, had been convicted as a sexual predator before.

However, there are good Florida laws for sexual predators, including the Jimmy Ryce Act which is the one that started the commitment program after their prison sentence is completed. However, a lot of them are not funded adequately so are not as successful as possible. According to the OPPAGA report for 2004, 5% of the offenders that were released from the commitment program have reoffended.

Here are a couple of good sites with information about Fl. sexual predator laws and a link to a flowchart about the commitment process. As of 6/30/06, 940 had been recommended for this program and 532 are held. As least those are off the street for now, but I agree much more needs to be done.

http://www.oppaga.state.fl.us/profiles/1079/

"In addition to sexual offenders and sexual predators, the law defines a third category, sexually violent predators. The Jimmy Ryce Involuntary Civil Commitment for Sexually Violent Predators' Treatment and Care Act provides for the civil confinement of a group of sexual offenders who are found likely to engage in future acts of sexual violence if they are not confined in a secure facility for long-term control, care and treatment. The Florida Legislature passed this act in 1998 to protect the public by keeping those sexual predators from reentering society until they have been judged fit for release from custody."

http://edr.state.fl.us/criminal jus...ally violent predator program information.htm

 

[Bobbisangel]

Has anyone here ever seen the Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgewick movie called The Woodsman? It touches on this topic.

Is it out on DVD? I think they are both great actors.

 

[Bobbisangel]

DEATH PENALTY:
U.S. States Widen Scope for Executions

NEW YORK, Aug 28 (IPS) - Politicians in primarily southern U.S. states have passed laws that expand the use of the death penalty to include repeat child sex offenders -- a move mental health professionals say is ineffective in stopping molestation and abolitionists believe ultimately will be ruled unconstitutional.

Despite the warnings, though, two states, South Carolina and Oklahoma, this summer enacted laws that allow repeat child sex offenders to be put to death. They join Louisiana, Florida, and Montana, which already have similar laws on their books.
The governors of both Oklahoma and South Carolina argued that the sexual abuse of children is as bad as murder because molestation causes permanent damage to the life of the child.

more at:

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=34488

Good for those governers. They have the guts to stand up and do what is right regardless of what others might think. They are putting children first. I wish the rest of these guttless wonders would follow suit.