Do you think that a serial murder/rapist can or should be rehabilitated? Is there any known serial murder/rapist that have been successfully rehabilitated?
My personal oppinion is: We should try and keep the idea open. I am not a psychologist nor do i study it, I think it’s just.
Albeaver89 wrote the following post at Mon, Jul 16 2012 2:50 PM:
That would be up to the victims or their heirs to choose. Under veridical law, the victims or their heirs (in case the victims are deceased or of unsound mind) have the right of proportional punishment.
However, if one wants to actually understand the nature of serial murder–and indeed, the world we live in–then one must familiarize oneself with the below book:
David McGowan, Programmed to Kill: The Politics of Serial Murder (Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, Inc., 2004), ISBN 0595326404. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0595326404
Why should I care, so long as neither I nor anyone else is forced to interact with them beyond the level we choose to ourselves? What does rehabilitation mean anyway? It’s quite possibly a completely empty concept. Someone may not be a danger anymore after having committed a crime, but does that mean they’re different? Are they no longer a danger because they fear punishment or because they truly changed and became moral and ethical? Is it possible to tell the difference and does it matter? What’s the practical difference between someone who wants to kill you and doesn’t, and someone who doesn’t want to kill you at all? Does a rehabilitated rapist become a nonrapist at some point? How would his previous victim feel about that relabeling? What if his victim forgives him? What if they don’t, is that relevant to their rehabilitation?
I find the idea sort of derranged. Who cares? If we were free and it were possible for people to ‘rehabiliate’ and re enter society, I’m sure it would happen. If not, I’m sure we’d find out. In any case I fail to see any truly clear meaning to what rehabilitation actually means and entails.