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The Use of Medication for the Treatment of Sex Offenders: Ethical Issues and Controversies

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Ethical Issues in Clinical Forensic Psychiatry

Abstract

This chapter covers the topic of the use of medications for the treatment of sex offenders. Alongside giving a historic background, it focuses on the evolvement of the use of “chemical castration” or the use of medications to modify sexual drive. Such medications are currently used either voluntarily or coercively depending on the prevailing legal framework.

Sex offenders quite often are offered medications as a means to increase their autonomy, as an alternative to imprisonment or as a condition for their parole or discharge from hospital settings, with the expectation to improve outcome. The use of such medication for the treatment and management of sex offenders is rarely in isolation and often part of a complex care plan that includes psychotherapeutic and psychological but also social interventions.

In this chapter, we address ethical concerns over the prescription and use of medications to manage sexual arousal and sexual behaviours, especially in prisons and secure hospital settings but also in the community. The focus is on issues around autonomy, capacity, consent, coercion, rationale and medical responsibility.

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  1. Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK

    Artemis Igoumenou

  2. Barnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust, London, UK

    Artemis Igoumenou

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    Artemis Igoumenou

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Igoumenou, A. (2020). The Use of Medication for the Treatment of Sex Offenders: Ethical Issues and Controversies. In: Igoumenou, A. (eds) Ethical Issues in Clinical Forensic Psychiatry . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37301-6_4

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