Castration is one of the options offered as a type of punishment/treatment for convicted sex offenders. Castration can be divided into two distinct categories: chemical or surgical. Surgical castration is the removal of a man's testicles, with the aim of reducing his testosterone levels, thereby leading to a reduction in sexual desire (Stone et al., 2000). Chemical castration is an injection of an antidrogen that stops the brain from producing hormones that stimulate the testicles to produce testosterone (Harrison, 2008, Stone et al., 2000). Like surgical castration, the goal of chemical castration is to lower testosterone levels and limit sexual deviance (Stone et al., 2000). One could argue that castration would be a good punishment for sex offenders, but it does not take into account the psychological aspects of sexual assault. The act of rape is much more than the forcible penetration of a penis into a vagina and the use of castration as treatment or punishment for sexual crimes does not resolve the mental problems of the offender or the legal implications of such an act . The act of castration dates back centuries. In ancient times, castrated men were used to guard women's quarters or as chamberlains in noble houses (Scott and Holmberg, 2003). In the 18th century, young boys in choirs were castrated at puberty in order to preserve their high voices (Scott, & Holmberg, 2003). Young boys who underwent this procedure were known as castrati (Scott, & Holmberg, 2003). The early 20th century saw the eugenics movement, which was the forced sterilization of people with undesirable traits so that they would not pollute the gene pool with their defective (...... middle of paper ..... .ts and demographic characteristics. Behavioral Sciences & The Law, 28(6), 832-849. doi:10.1002/bsl.959Punishment and Society, 2(4), 417. , CL and Holmberg. , T. (2003). Castration of sex offenders: Prisoners' rights versus public safety. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law, 31(4), 502-509.Stone, T., Winslade, W.J. Klugman, CM (2000). 1<83::AID-BSL379>3.0.CO;2-WWeinberger, LE, Sreenivasan, S., Garrick, T., & Osran, H. (2005). Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law, 33(1), 16-36.