NCJ Number
230810
Date Published
2010
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines the impact of rights protection on penal policy and community protection in the United Kingdom (UK) in three areas: indeterminate sentencing, the sex offender register, and the use of pharmacotherapy.
Abstract
The chapter argues that if dignity is accepted as the basis for rights protection, then offenders are entitled as human beings to a similar minimum level of protection as others; however, in some circumstances, the state has attempted to justify the limitation of offender rights on the grounds of dangerousness. Dangerousness and risk have been used interchangeably in social, criminological, and legal literature in order to justify the imposition of restriction and longer sentences on sex offenders. The new risk penalism has been driven not only by a focus on risk by policymakers and theorists but also by the perception and fear of risk held by the public. The cultural understanding of risk has led to legislative and policy changes that focus on regulating the perceived dangerousness of sex offenders. Although instruments that assess risk and dangerousness have arguably become more effective and consider offender needs, there are still difficulties in assessing high-risk offenders. The use of risk and dangerousness move the penal system further from traditional notions of proportionate punishment that focuses on the harms a person has done to the prevention of acts that might occur in the future. Against this trend, the chapter discusses how various human rights promoted under the European Convention of Human Rights and the UK's Human Rights Act are eroded under the penal policies of indeterminate sentencing, the sex offender register, and the use of pharmacotherapy to diminish the sex drive of sex offenders. 6 notes and 30 references