Clockwork Orange idea

#1

I think with advances in the future, it would be possible to literally control the thoughts of people. We could in principle achieve 0% recidivism without killing the convicted.

Clockwork Orange gave me some pretty good ideas (without the dystopian twist). What are your thoughts on the idea of forcing CSA perpetrators to be reprogrammed in such a way that they would never harm a child again? There is a reason why innocent people like us would never harm a child, and why the perpetrators do such harm. Idea is to identify the causes that lead them to have the willingness to behave in a certain way and forcibly modify their thoughts so the sexual and violent recidivism will be 0%.

Do you believe we should extend this sort of sentencing beyond contact offenses? Such as child pornography related offenses.

#2

Regardless of the perpetrator’s crimes and nature, wouldn’t that be a human rights violation? Don’t get me wrong, I like your idea, and would almost want to implement it in another manner, but what if it was misused or abused? What if people were targeted on even the slightest suspicions? What of those who want to overcome their seemingly raunchy desires, but are labelled and detained without even being given a chance? What would be the rules and regulations behind this system? I’d be dying to know, literally.

#3

They never were able to cure Alex of his thoughts. But we know that we can change people’s actions, and that it doesn’t require any sort of dehumanizing mind control. In fact that could be counterproductive. For example, research has shown that tools like polygraphs (lie detectors) result in worse rehabilitation outcomes, not better. Treating perpetrators or would-be perpetrators begins by recognising that they are human beings and treating them as such.

#4

Alabama punishes offenders with chemical castration. It’s a similar approach. I don’t believe there’s any evidence showing that these drugs decrease recidivism. Some pedophiles benefit from a lower sex drive but it doesn’t remove the emotional attraction to kids.

We won’t have mind-control devices in a long time because decision-making is so complex.