![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1It's time to open up the Coffee House section of the tavern, brew a couple pots of joe, some decaf, and heat up some water for tea or cocoa. Help yourself as we debate this week's question: Should convicted pedophiles be sentenced to death?
Background info: I'm sure that everyone out there would agree that sexual abuse of minors is a big problem in our society. From the scandal involving many Catholic priests to fathers committing incest with their daughters, the problem has been around for years, and it is usually kept quiet.
More often than not, the perpetrators are male, but there have been some female sexual abusers out there. I recently heard of a case in Florida involving a 41-year-old nanny who exposed herself to a 4-year-old in her charge while they were watching a James Bond movie, and the boy asked his nanny to strip down.
And despite the stereotype, there are more heterosexual male abusers than homosexual males. (I wish I could produce some statistics to back this up.)
The victims of this crime -- actually, I prefer the term "survivors" -- often develop self-esteem issues, sexual dysfunction or aversion, trust issues, or repressed rage and anger. Sometimes it only comes out after years of therapy. Meanwhile, the perpetrator gets off scot-free if they're not caught.
The survivors are left to suffer in silence, because they're too afraid to speak up. Life becomes a living hell for them. Many of us know of at least one sexual abuse survivor. As one such survivor said in an LJ post she made last summer, "No more pity. No more shame. No more silence." There were over 1000 comments to the entry.
What causes people to do this? Is it repressed sexual energy that comes out sideways? Is it the dogma of some religions that put such a stranglehold on sex and sexuality? Or is it an overly violent way of asserting control?
Pros: Making this a capital offense, tantamount to murder, might be a big deterrent to these crimes. It might even end the problem of pedophilia in our society. A person's first offense would be their last. This would show that our sociaty has zero tolerance for this type of activity.
Cons: Is the death penalty appropriate for a person's first offense? And what if the accused person is really innocent? I personally know two people who have been formally charged and/or convicted of this crime, and two others who haven't but should have. And what about the statute of limitations? Is there one? And if not, should there be one?
(Note: I'm going to initially set all comments on this topic to "screened" for 7 days in an attempt to increase feedback on the topic. If you don't want your comment unscreened, please indicate it in the comments.)
Background info: I'm sure that everyone out there would agree that sexual abuse of minors is a big problem in our society. From the scandal involving many Catholic priests to fathers committing incest with their daughters, the problem has been around for years, and it is usually kept quiet.
More often than not, the perpetrators are male, but there have been some female sexual abusers out there. I recently heard of a case in Florida involving a 41-year-old nanny who exposed herself to a 4-year-old in her charge while they were watching a James Bond movie, and the boy asked his nanny to strip down.
And despite the stereotype, there are more heterosexual male abusers than homosexual males. (I wish I could produce some statistics to back this up.)
The victims of this crime -- actually, I prefer the term "survivors" -- often develop self-esteem issues, sexual dysfunction or aversion, trust issues, or repressed rage and anger. Sometimes it only comes out after years of therapy. Meanwhile, the perpetrator gets off scot-free if they're not caught.
The survivors are left to suffer in silence, because they're too afraid to speak up. Life becomes a living hell for them. Many of us know of at least one sexual abuse survivor. As one such survivor said in an LJ post she made last summer, "No more pity. No more shame. No more silence." There were over 1000 comments to the entry.
What causes people to do this? Is it repressed sexual energy that comes out sideways? Is it the dogma of some religions that put such a stranglehold on sex and sexuality? Or is it an overly violent way of asserting control?
Pros: Making this a capital offense, tantamount to murder, might be a big deterrent to these crimes. It might even end the problem of pedophilia in our society. A person's first offense would be their last. This would show that our sociaty has zero tolerance for this type of activity.
Cons: Is the death penalty appropriate for a person's first offense? And what if the accused person is really innocent? I personally know two people who have been formally charged and/or convicted of this crime, and two others who haven't but should have. And what about the statute of limitations? Is there one? And if not, should there be one?
(Note: I'm going to initially set all comments on this topic to "screened" for 7 days in an attempt to increase feedback on the topic. If you don't want your comment unscreened, please indicate it in the comments.)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-02-08 06:00 am (UTC)If the predator's prey is single digits, roast his (or her) ass.
10 - 14 (give or take) depending upon how messed up the child is...
13 +... well, that's where it gets fuzzy. *I* was trying to talk my boyfriend into it (who was 4 yrs older) starting at 14. Took two years of ... um... persuasion.
Basically, preteen and fry them. I must admit to a bias though, as I am a mommy.
Death penalty
Date: 2005-02-08 05:13 pm (UTC)KG
no subject
Date: 2005-02-08 05:49 pm (UTC)Perhaps offering the option of assisted suicide would make sense, however.
"no" to death penalty for pedophiles
Date: 2005-02-14 11:37 pm (UTC)The death penalty? Well, on the one hand, that would certainly cut down on recidivism. :-) But otherwise, I find it quite inappropriate. Keep in mind, the death penalty isn't a deterrent to murder/rape/etc. *now* (except in very limited scenarios); I'd expect pedophiles have even less ability to be "deterred".
Basically, if society starts enforcing pedophilia laws with the death penalty, we get all the same problems we get currently with the death penalty not being applied fairly (class differential, errors in the justice system). Only more so. And not just because sex crimes may be of a "different nature" (less voluntary/controllable) than current capital crimes. Also because, from my background in cognitive psychology, I have *big* *big* problems with the entire concept of "recovered memories", i.e. that previously-repressed memories can be "brought back", fully reliable and unadulterated... often, sometime after the statute of limitations otherwise would have expired.