Chemical castration is the administration of medication designed to reduce libido and sexual activity, usually in the hope of preventing rapists, child molesters and other sex offenders from repeating their crimes. Unlike surgical castration, where the testes are removed through an incision in the scrotum, chemical castration does not actually castrate the person, nor is it a form of sterilization, hence the term "chemical castration" has been called a misnomer.
Chemical castration is generally considered reversible when treatment is discontinued; in the case of Depo Provera, "no permanent physical change is wrought in the body."
Castrations after the onset of puberty will typically reduce the sex drive considerably or eliminate it altogether. Also castrated people are automatically sterile, because the testes (for males) and ovaries (for females) produce sex cells needed for sexual reproduction. Once removed the subject is infertile. The voice does not change. Some castrates report mood changes, such as depression or a more serene outlook on life. Body strength and muscle mass can decrease somewhat.
Physical castration appears to be highly effective as, historically, it results in a 20-year re-offense rate of less than 2.3% vs. 80% in the untreated control group, according to a large 1963 study involving a total of 1036 sex offenders by the German researcher A. Langelüddeke, among others, much lower than what was otherwise expected.
I think that all violent or sex-criminals should be castrated.
First through a chemical castration under a period of x years, while rehabilitating the criminal and easing this new and significantly less aggressive (both physically and sexually) individual into society as a societally contributive person, and secondly through a physical castration to make sure there are no relapses. This also give wrongly convicted individual some time to complain about their conviction before the permanent and irreversible castration.
So why aren't we doing this already?