The Ministry of Justice is considering the parole application of a serial rapist known as the "Wolf of Hwakang." Regardless of the ministry's decision, it is unlikely that the controversy surrounding his case will go away.
Much of the debate has focused on whether it is safe to release Yang (楊), the offender, back into society and to allow him to attend National Taiwan University, where he was recently admitted to the school's sociology department. For many, the answer depends on that of another question: "Has Yang, who is considered to be mentally ill, been cured?"
But that question begs yet another -- namely, should "cured" individuals be given parole regardless of their behavior in jail and length of term served?"
Frank Chou (周煌智), chief of the department of adult psychiatry at Kaohsiung Municipal Ki-Suan Psychiatric Hospital, stressed that in the view of psychiatry, "the goal of treatment for sex offenders is to help them achieve control throughout their lifetime rather than to cure them completely.
Joseph Lin (林永頌), a lawyer and human rights activist, said that rehabilitation and parole are flawed in Taiwan. Lin maintains that it would be an injustice if someone who had met the criteria for parole was denied his freedom because society had a strong fear of him.
When the Taipei Prison said that Yang had undergone treatment, the general public seemed to be unclear as to what "treatment" meant. Indeed, treatment of sex offenders within the legal system has a very short history.
A Recent Legal History
The 1994 amendment to the Criminal Code first prescribed that sex offenders could only be paroled once they had undergone compulsory treatment.
But the legislation was problematic. The sex offenses in question -- falling under a dated category called "offenses against morals" (妨害風化) -- actually covered a wide range of different crimes, including rape, indecent exposure, running brothels, selling porn, or having sex with someone under 16.
Many of these crimes obviously did not merit psychiatry and the indiscriminate mandatory treatment became a waste of human and material resources.
The Sexual Assault Prevention Law, Taiwan's first comprehensive legislation aimed at addressing sex offenses beyond crime and punishment, took effect in 1997. The act mandates post-release treatment for sexual assault convicts.
Echoing the spirit of the prevention law, a new set of amendments to the Criminal Code passed the legislature in 1999. The amendment defines the category of sexual assault offenses and, among other things, changed the compulsory treatment for all sex-related offenders introduced with the 1994 amendment.
The 1999 amendment requires that sex offenders be subject to assessment prior to court judgement. If deemed in need of treatment, the offender must be treated in an institution before beginning to serve his sentence. The period of treatment is later deducted from the sentence to be served.
Therefore, under the current law, a rapist may receive institutional treatment, in a hospital or affiliated treatment center, before "formally" going to prison. Further treatment is also required after being released.
Yang's Case
Yang was sentenced to 16 years in 1996 for more than 20 counts of rape and other sex offenses. Therefore he was not subject to the before-jail treatment introduced in 1999. However, based on the 1994 Criminal Code, Yang has still received compulsory treatment in prison, according to officials at the Taipei Prison.
"Such sex offenders were interviewed and assessed by a psychiatrist when they first came to the prison, and then took a psychological test administered by a psychologist," said Chen Jung-chang (
"Using the results of the assessment and test, a diagnosis and treatment assessment team of medical experts and social workers then met to discuss whether the offender needed treatment, or what that treatment should entail."
Yang received nine months of group education and six months of group treatment soon after he entered prison, Chen said.
But Chen acknowledged that the groups were often comprised of offenders who committed different crimes and that problems concerning specific crimes were not frequently addressed. He also accepted the argument of some experts that institutional treatment is much more effective immediately before release than it is at the start of a jail term.
But Chen did emphasize that there is continuous psychological treatment while a person is serving his sentence and that sex offenders are also given treatment before they are paroled.
Treatment
According to a bylaw of the Sexual Assault Prevention Law, released sexual assault convicts, after being assessed by a local government sexual assault and violence prevention committee, are required to continue undergoing psychological treatment for at least an hour-and-a-half per week.
A Taipei health bureau official who gave the surname Chan (詹), said it is still difficult to judge whether such treatment is effective.
"The function of the police and probation officers must be taken into account [referring to how offenders might be afraid of having their parole repealed, and therefore withhold information during treatment], therefore whether treatment prevents recidivism is hard to ascertain," she said.
Chan did express confidence in those who run treatment programs.
"So far, at least in Taipei City, I think the coordination between medical staff, social worker, police officers and probation officers is quite good, and the operation of the current system is fine."
Chan's comments seem to echo Frank Chou's point that "control" is more important than "cure" in the prevention of repeat offenses.
Chou said he believes that the treatment and education program is sufficient.
"The major point is how to ensure the offenders attend the program," he said. "Some high-risk offenders tend to avoid attending therapy, and it those who are less likely to become repeat offenders than those with a high attendance rate." He suggested that guidelines prescribing tougher rules for withdrawing parole be set up "so the offenders could be deterred from being uncooperative."
Once a sex offender is paroled, how can people help them?
"People don't need to offer any particular assistance. The more people treat them specially the more pressure they will suffer. The best policy is to treat them as ordinary people and leave other things to the experts," he said.
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