British Columbia orders permanent end to sex arousal tests on teens

[TechMan]

http://www.vancouversun.com/orders+permanent+arousal+tests+teens+after+technician+charged/3338252/story.html

Tests were performed by the Youth Forensic Psychiatric Service, which involved hooking up a "penile plesthysmograph" to the private parts of boys, ages 12-17 to measure their sexual response.  They were then shown a variety semi-nude to nude photos of adults, children and infants.  There were also stories that went along the the images about coercive or forced intercourse. This was suppose to determine if the offender had gained control over his sexual impulses through the treatment that was given.  The test was also suppose to predict if the child would re-offend.

The test were shutdown after a technician who worked with the above test was arrested on unrelated sexual charges.  Apparently these tests have been going on for 20 years.

My question is how much mental damage did it do to the boys to go through this test?  I actually find this very repugnant and the fact that it was allowed to go on for so long.

ETA Bold to above text.

[lee n. field]

boys, ages 12-17

That's insane.  I remember that period in life.  Mr. Happy would perk up any old time, for any old reason or none at all.

[HankB]

The guy who came up with this "test" is one sick puppy . . . as are those who administer the "test."

The respondent at the paper who termed this "witch doctor junk science" nailed it.

[Balog]

Wait, why are they testing these kids? Were they convicted of sexual crimes or something?

[TechMan]

Wait, why are they testing these kids? Were they convicted of sexual crimes or something?

Balog, the story doesn't state as to what crimes the offenders where convicted of.  If you read the 5th paragraph in the article you could draw an inference that the crime was sexually related.

[Balog]

They have a lot of 12 y/o rapists in British Columbia? Something about this story doesn't smell right.

[Jamisjockey]

They have a lot of 12 y/o rapists in British Columbia? Something about this story doesn't smell right.

The whole thing smells bad. Smells like mental health treatment under socialized medicine.  Check your rights with the receptionist and put on your gown, citizen!

[Balog]

The whole thing smells bad. Smells like mental health treatment under socialized medicine.  Check your rights with the receptionist and put on your gown, citizen!

Well, America has forced treatment for sex offenders too, so you might wanna slow that high horse down a second. This story is just so purposefully vague and sensationalistic I'm very suspicious.

[HankB]

They have a lot of 12 y/o rapists in British Columbia? Something about this story doesn't smell right.

More likely they have a some pervs who like to wire up the private parts of minors. (Note that one of the techs was arrested for a "sexual offence.")

[MillCreek]

I have known several physicians over the years who specialize in the treatment of sex offenders.  I know that this test is very commonly used in the field and has been validated in the medical literature.  Do a Medline search and see.  

People under the age of 18 can be sex offenders too.  Why would you object to this form of testing?  And as Balog noted above, this is not unique to Canada.  It is very commonly done in the States and other industrialized countries. 

[MicroBalrog]

Well, America has forced treatment for sex offenders too, so you might wanna slow that high horse down a second. This story is just so purposefully vague and sensationalistic I'm very suspicious.

Fourteen-year-old sex-offenders?

[Monkeyleg]

Fourteen-year-old sex-offenders?

In Milwaukee there were stories in the news involving eight year-old rapists. Young teenage male rapists aren't uncommon.

[T.O.M.]

I spend at least half of my work life in juvenile court.  There are way too many sex offenders.  Majority are male, but both genders are well represented.  Sadly, they generally pick younger children as victims.  Force is rarely used.  It's grooming behaviors, followed by opportunism.

[230RN]

So what kind of device do they use to measure the corresponding response in women and girls?

...mmmmmnever mind.

[280plus]

I spend at least half of my work life in juvenile court.  There are way too many sex offenders.  Majority are male, but both genders are well represented.  Sadly, they generally pick younger children as victims.  Force is rarely used.  It's grooming behaviors, followed by opportunism.

Have you found that the number of cases per year (for example) has trended up over the life your career? My thought being increased awareness has resulted in more cases over the more recent years.

[Hawkmoon]

So some mental midget with an MD in psychiatric medicine convinced a bunch of other people that it should be possible to learn to control something that is essentially an autonomic response? And if they hadn't "learned" to control it they were considered to have failed the program?

Whoever came up with that should be locked away in a rubber room and not allowed to touch any sharp implements.

[Balog]

I believe the point is to measure if the response is triggered by certain things.

[MicroBalrog]

In Milwaukee there were stories in the news involving eight year-old rapists. Young teenage male rapists aren't uncommon.

Do you think that my point is that teenage sex offenders don't exist?

No, my point is entirely different.

[Stand_watie]

"Kiddie fiddler uncle/neighbor/cub scout leader molests young boys...at adolescence young boys start molesting little brother/sister/neighbor kid..."

     This is a story as old as the hills, and as predictable. The sad thing is when we catch it, that we don't lock up the adult offenders (and some of the juvenile offenders depending on the severity)forever. And so the cycle continues. We know when we release these people that they are broken beyond fixing, and yet release them anyway knowing that they will, sooner or later, destroy another child's life.

     Matthew 18 is for those who believe the "Christian" way to treat predatory criminals is with lax penalties.

"6But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

 7"Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! 8If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell."

     

[MillCreek]

So some mental midget with an MD in psychiatric medicine convinced a bunch of other people that it should be possible to learn to control something that is essentially an autonomic response? And if they hadn't "learned" to control it they were considered to have failed the program?

Whoever came up with that should be locked away in a rubber room and not allowed to touch any sharp implements.

It is more to measure your response to various stimuli.  It is an autonomic response only to what you are attracted to.  For example, you could hook me up to this device and show me pornography involving children, animals or gay men, and there would be no response.  Show me pornography involving straight women, and there would be a response, because I am attracted to straight women.  

Once they determine what triggers a response, then they can focus on strategies for the patient in terms of controlling an inappropriate response.  The reason why they use the device is that relying on the patient to truthfully report what they respond to sexually is notoriously inaccurate.  The patient cannot generally control an autonomic response to what stimulates them, but the hope of treating sex offenders is that they can be taught not to act on that stimulation in inappropriate ways.  Based on my reading in the field and talking with a lot of physicians over the years, no one anymore uses the word 'cure', they now focus on controlling how you act upon the stimuli.  

I have actually followed this closely because Washington was one of the bellweather states in civil committment of sex offenders after completing their prison sentences.  A very small number of offenders have been released from the civil committment and most of them are doing successfully right now.  So the technology and treatment of sex offenders has been written up a lot in the local media over the years.  

[Monkeyleg]

Do you think that my point is that teenage sex offenders don't exist?

No, my point is entirely different.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. Please elaborate on your point.

[Hawkmoon]

I believe the point is to measure if the response is triggered by certain things.

You mean like ... nekked wimmin? 

[Balog]

You mean like ... nekked wimmin? 

Like sexualized images of small children and stories about rape, in this particular case.

[280plus]

A little Clockwork Orange-y if you think about it. What a movie... 

[vaskidmark]

A little Clockwork Orange-y if you think about it. What a movie... 

Not no more.

When this first came up [No, I'm not sorry for the bad pun] in the sex-offender treatment field there were a bunch of witchdoctors who thought that the application of negative stimulii (noxious smells, cold water, hot water, electric shock, etc.) would cause offenders to become negatively conditioned - in other words be turned off by what used to stimulate them.  After years of finding out that all that negative stimulii did was create a whole new batch of turn-ons, they gave up on that track.

However, it is legitimate and useful, well-documented by repeatable experimentation, in finding out "trigger thoughts" that sex offenders may otherwise try - usually sucessfully - to conceal from forensic inquiry.  Combining this information with GPS-associated electronic monitoring - especially real-time alerts - can provide a degree of control over sex offenders that would otherwise be unavailable.

You do NOT want to hear the just-among-us-forensic-examiners sories about penile plesthysmography.  After over a decade of working in the field of treating sexual abusers of children I had become pretty immune (no longer retching and having weeks-long nightmares and waking terrors) to quite a lot of the sickness.  Those stories took be back to day #1 of trying to cope.

stay safe.