형사법과 의료의 잘못된 만남: 성폭력범죄자에 대한 화학적 거세

The law on chemical castration treatment for sex offenders was enacted in July of 2010. This law states that if sex offenders are diagnosed as a paraphilia by a psychiatrist and having the risk of recidivism, they are subject to the treatment through which the hormone drug is injected, causing the physical dysmorphism and malfunction. Through analyzing the legislative discourse and political context on the chemical castration, this paper aims to disclosing a mechanism justifying a punishment by medication with the semantic mixture of the “punishment” and “treatment” and critiquing bases for justifying the chemical castration. The medicalization of crime may be achieved depending on a political purpose based on a social common notion. The corporeal punishment which is outwardly medical diagnosis and treatment like the chemical castration may be created through a political process. Such a corporeal punishment may be justified as a criminal sanction to “treat” a monster abnormal and risky. This chemical castration is to harshly punish sex criminals under the pretext of medical treatment. Though medical intervention done after a diagnosis by a medical professional, chemical castration is the actually modernized corporeal punishment with a view to disabling a part of the body through injecting a drug under the decision of a court.