Terapia come Sanzione Penale: [Therapy as a Criminal Sanction]

The alarm raised by some crimes and the dramatic harms they can cause brought some legislators to conceive medical treatment as a possible way to prevent re-offending. In Italy the so-called security measures are characterised by clinical and therapeutic contents. The laws of some of the United States of America authorise the castration of sex offenders in order to reduce recidivism. But are such measures consistent with the general principles and safeguards of criminal law? Do they respect individual rights and liberties protected by national Constitutions? Are they meant to help the offender or are they a new form of corporal punishment? This paper considers such issues in a problematic perspective, not necessarily to offer definitive answers, but especially to stimulate a careful meditation on what could be the future content of criminal sanctions.