Paedophiles and Sex Offenders

[pjm007]

I appreciate this is a touchy subject, but this a spin off from joules99's question about 'Hanging'. What do people (especially parents) think the fate of (forensically proved) paedophiles and sex offenders should be ? I've made my feelings on the subject perfectly clear and you can see these by clicking on the link in the following post. Does anyone else share my views, or am I alone in my 'vigilante' style of thinking ?

[El D]

Sigh.

The single point that all those who favour the death penalty fail to address is that it does not prevent child abuse. It will never stop child abuse. All you are doing is gaining some kind of cathartic satisfaction for their actions. It does not solve any of the issues. The only way in which children will ever be safe, as you so strongly desire (as do us all despite your mud slinging), is to prevent the emergence of such individuals. This can only be done once we understand how they emerge, what motivates them, how to cure them. Think of a garden (society) and the judicial system as the gardener dealing with weeds. All you are doing is standing there cutting their heads off. I certainly wouldn't employ you. You need to understand where they come from, pull up their roots, learn the signs of their growth.

To be perfectly honest, as MargeB has guessed, I actually used to very hardline like most people on here. A small part of me hates these people in the same way that you do even now. But I cannot just give in to such instinctive emotions and remain a rational logical being. The death penalty solves nothing, all that we gain is some vague feeling of having protected society, when in fact we have done very, very little. There are more important reasons and issues than personal satisfaction. We must progress towards a crime free society, not regress backwards to some kind of barbaric mob justice. It is the only way forward. We must put personal emotions and feelings aside and deal with the problems with logic and rationality.

[El D]

Thats not a separate issue that is THE issue because without the understanding that we gain from helping these people we will never eradicate them.

To be honest, seeing the general public feeling satisfied that the problem is being dealt with is a ludicrous reason for killing people, especially when it isn't even doing that. 'Oh the peados dead, yay, job well done folks, lets go back to work. Oh wait there's another one, and thousands we haven't caught. Oh well . . .' - what? The punishment may have been dealt, but it has not made your children any safer. Congratulations.

As for the parents, yes I would ask them. It sounds extremely harsh, you love playing the emotional blackmail card in subsititute for rational argument Phil, but these people do not have any special say in the matter over and above anyone else. It's like saying the victims of drink drivers should write that legislation. In actual fact they are in the worst place possible because they loose rationality in that particular field.

[El D]

You've chosen the easy path Phil, easy to appeal to people's base instincts, noone has to think about the long term or suffer the accusations that come with a non-populist approach, it's a way of thinking you are dealing with the problem but are in effect prolonging it and all the associated evils it produces. That doesn't make it right. I believe that I have shown clearly (with a little help) that this is not a solution to paedophilia. The current judicial system is not perfect and needs work, but the death penalty is effectively state sanctioned murder and I will never, ever, no matter the crime, support it. It's basically an admission that society has failed but cannot deal with its problems in a humane manner. There doesn't seem to be much point continuing posting as we are going round in circles and I do not believe my points are being answered. Noone has come up with a logical argument for the death penalty over and above the necessity of finding how to eradicate personality driven crime.

If you think that murder is a step forward then I pity you. We can and must be more than that.

Regards

[steveb121]

As an adult male survivor of sexual abuse/rape and also as a worker with male survivors of sexual abuse/rape, I just have to add my views on this matter.

Nothing, not even treatment, will stop a sex offender from sexually abusing a child, and in many cases, killing that child, in order to avoid arrest.

No matter what is said in defence or against these paedophiles, nothing saves the child who has been abused and raped, and who grows up thinking theywere to blame, feeling dirty and guilty for no reason and who often end up causing themselves and others harm, through alcohol/drug misuse...crime..violence...self harming..just to name a few issues we suffer as we grow up.

These people lose any human right to live in our community, once they have sexually abused a child and as such, should remain in prison, where they can do no more harm...and should stay there for LIFE

For anyone who reads this post and who is also a survivor of sexual abuse..take a read of my site @

www.survivorsswindon.com

Steve