Crime and Behaviour by Majeed Khader

Author:Majeed Khader [Khader, Majeed]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Criminology, Psychology, Applied Psychology, Political Science, Terrorism, Psychopathology, General
ISBN: 9789813279353
Google: -EXYDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: World Scientific
Published: 2019-06-24T05:14:23+00:00

Medical approaches

Do medical and biological approaches work? Two biological interventions are surgical castration and hormonal medication. Lösel and Schmucker (2005) concluded that both these methods did have good effects on recidivism rates. They argued that biological interventions combined with psychological treatments might achieve maximal effect. On the other hand, in a review by Khan et al. (2015) titled Pharmacological Interventions for those who have Sexually Offended or are at Risk of Offending, the authors noted that medications have in fact been used to treat sex offenders (i.e., ‘anti-libidinal’ medications) by limiting the sexual drive (libido). There are two types of medications: (1) those that work by suppressing testosterone (e.g., progestogens, antiandrogens, and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues); and (2) those that reduce sexual drive by other mechanisms, i.e., antipsychotics and serotonergic antidepressants (SSRIs). The authors examined seven randomised trials involving 138 participants. Controls included placebo (five studies), psychological treatment (one study), and a combination of psychological and pharmacological treatment (one study). Five studies took place in the community and two in a secure hospital. Results showed that no re-offending occurred during one study at a two-year follow-up for the intervention group (n = 10). Another showed a 20% rate of re-offending among those in the combined treatment group (n = 15). Two studies did not report re-offending rates. Three community studies did not formally report re-offending at all, focusing largely on ‘abnormal sexual activity’. Considering these results, the authors concluded that,

“These seven trials (published more than 20 years ago), examining only a limited number of drugs, provide an inadequate evidence base to guide practice. Not only were the trials small, but they also were of short duration, included varied participants, and none trailed the newer drugs currently in use, particularly SSRIs or GnRH analogues. The results of this review, therefore, do not allow firm conclusions to be drawn regarding pharmacological interventions as an effective intervention for reducing sexual offending.” (p. 3)

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