There were two recent posts concerning the use of treatment for convicts. First, from CrimProf, there is an article about developments in the United States:
"You're in a treatment program - a really rough treatment that, for a guy like you, has a chance of saving your life," O'Neill admonished one nervous defendant who had missed therapy because of his girlfriend's illness. "Get back with the program."
Across the nation, similar scenes are playing out regularly as more judges embrace the concept of specialized courts, where the idea is to mix punishment with treatment in cases where criminal behavior is the result of addiction or mental-health problems.
Philadelphia - while perhaps better known for the old Eagles Court for unruly fans - has a range of special courts. There are a drug court, a truancy court, a treatment court for juveniles, a domestic-violence misdemeanor court, a "community court" for nuisance crimes, a gun court that emphasizes anger-management treatment, and, starting just last week, a DUI court. A mental-health court is being explored.
The region's counties also have begun to embrace the concept. Chester County has had a drug court since 1997, Delaware County is contemplating one, and Bucks County is mulling a hybrid court that would handle drug and DUI defendants and perhaps defendants with mental-health issues. Montgomery County's drug court began last year.
"Treatment courts are the rage now," said Bucks County Court Administrator Douglas R. Praul, adding that officials are still in the talking stage of how to proceed.
Notably, sex offenders aren't included among the many populations being targeted by treatment courts. It seems that it is only trendy to "treat" sex offenders when it is part of a post-release civil commitment program. Corrections Sentencing has the details on a different story with treatment in England:
Plans to offer more drug treatments to child sex offenders to try to stop them committing further crimes have been announced by the Home Office.
The treatment involving libido-reducing drugs or anti-depressants would be taken on a voluntary basis.
Parents will also be able to ask for checks on whether new partners or people dealing with their children are known sex offenders.
It would be an offence to disclose the information to others.
While the evidence is still unclear about the efficacy of different treatment options for sex offenders, I find it remarkable that in America, treatment is considered more appropriate for gun crimes than for sex crimes. And the difference between England and the U.S. in terms of sex offender law continues to be significant.
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