There are still many different views and opinions regarding the imposition of the death penalty for rape of children within the family. Describe the consequences of the death penalty for children who are victims of sexual abuse committed by a family member. The modern abolitionist movement began in the 18th century with the writings of European theorists Montesquieu and Voltaire.
In 1987, the Philippines became the first Asian country in modern times to abolish the death penalty. But only a year after its abolition, the military began lobbying for the restoration of the death penalty for crimes committed by the CPP/NPA. Presentation of integrative studies, in this case narrative reviews on the effectiveness of the death penalty; and.
The majority of assessed children (approximately 60% to 70%) have a diagnosis of sexual abuse (CPU Annual Reports 1997 to 2002). Recent studies in the late 1990s suggest that the death penalty has no deterrent effect and may instead have a brutalizing effect. Proponents of the death penalty argue that at least the offender is prevented from committing the crime again.
Retentionists claim that the death penalty serves an important purpose in promoting the stability of a law-governed society. The opinion of an informed public will certainly differ significantly from that of a public unaware of the effects and consequences of the death penalty. Most people express doubts about the death penalty when they learn about the problems that face its implementation.
It is sometimes argued by supporters of the death penalty that the death penalty is necessary to assuage the grief suffered by the family of the murdered victim. What are the effects of the death penalty on child survivors of sexual abuse committed by a family member? We present four case studies to illustrate the conflicting reactions of MUFI patients to the potential application of the death penalty in their cases.
The different outcomes suggested in these cases demonstrate the need for clinical practitioners to be aware of the consequences of the death penalty in domestic child rape cases. Father said he was in favor of death penalty for others but not for his own son ("hindi aka pumapayag sa Death Penalty para sa anak ko pero sa ibang tao payag aka"). In case #4 below, Sabrina and Justina appealed for clemency when they heard about the death penalty for their father.
Doctors confirm that the death penalty for familial rape of children can deter children from reporting abuse.
Cases of child sexual abuse that reach the courts grossly underestimate the true extent of the problem. CSAAS can manifest itself in any case, regardless of the punishment for the crime, and is a constant clinical concern for physicians. Although we cannot estimate the exact number of children who do not report due to fear of retribution from their families or remorse from the perpetrator, the PGH-CPU has had experience with a number of patients who withdrew complaints or refused to enter serve. charges due to the death penalty.
Some of the cases cited earlier are also illustrative of the manifestations of CSMS in its various stages. Despite varied responses to the mandatory death penalty for familial child rape, one common thread in all family and child responses to the existence of the death penalty is that of added stress and complexity rather than normalization of the family unit. Case #7 below highlights the extensive measures some families must take to ensure children's safety while avoiding the death penalty.
Cases like these suggest that the death penalty has the potential to cause more stress for families than to facilitate recovery. Both were brought to the CPU for evaluation and then placed in a shelter. Mother was able to get children out of the shelter by saying that the girts would live with a relative, Mother did not believe that they were abused. The children were traced to the island province one year later through the efforts of the CPU Social Worker.
At best, these illustrative examples show varying responses to the introduction of the death penalty, with most not in favor of it. Does the mandatory death penalty for domestic child rape benefit child victims when we apply reasonable standards of clinical decision-making. However, the death penalty itself, or even the specter of it potentially imposed, also has "harmful" effects, including non-disclosure, withdrawal, psychological consequences, family stress and child abandonment, among others.
The evidence cited above illustrates how a child's safety from re-abuse cannot be guaranteed by the imposition of the mandatory death penalty. The death penalty does not fulfill the need for healing and development of the child and his family. From a medical perspective - medical diagnosis with a prescribed health plan - the mandatory death penalty is not indicated as an integral part of the intervention and reintegration nursing plans for children diagnosed with familial child rape (sexual abuse).
In most countries in the world, care for children and families who survive familial child rape is provided without the use of the death penalty. The mandatory imposition of the death penalty does not take into account the right of children to participate in decision-making that affects them.
The mandatory imposition
Dictum: Using best available evidence
Preventive health care: coordinate with law enforcement and social work services to ensure the child is safe from further abuse. Reintegration health care: follow-up health care; monitor consequences, facilitate reintegration of child into family, foster home or foster care. In an earlier treatise by the first author (Madrid 2001) on the Mandatory Death Penalty, the following alternatives were recommended.
Provide a moratorium on death penalty executions until the appropriate multidisciplinary management of familial child rape is determined. Make the punishment for familial child rape consistent with the punishment for non-familial child rape. The multidisciplinary approach to determine strategies to address the causes and associated problems of familial child rape needs to be studied.
What are the long term effects of the Death Penalty on the surviving family, especially the child victims. 34; Challenging Deterrence: New Insights into the Death Penalty from Panel Data." University of Pittsburgh Law Review (Winter 1999). 34; Deterrence, Brutality, and the Death Penalty: Another Examination of the Reversal of Capital Punishment death from Oklahoma.” Criminology 36:4.
34;Sentencing for life: Americans embrace alternative to the death penalty." www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/dpic.07 .html. 34;Persistent flaws in econometric studies of the deterrence effect of the death penalty." Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review.
