The Coalinga State Hospital is a 1,500-bed facility that sits on an arid plain near the geographic center of California, far from any major cities. Its isolation is telling. Set behind imposing fences that bear a likeness to those of Pleasant Valley State Prison, just next door, Coalinga, which opened in 2005 at a cost of nearly $400 million, is where the state houses its most dangerous male sexual offenders after they have served time in prison.
When the state of California deems a prisoner who has committed certain violent sex crimes likely to re-offend upon his release, the courts can commit him to Coalinga for an indeterminate length of time. If he ever wishes to be set free, a patient there can mount a legal challenge to his commitment or choose to undergo a rigorous course of therapy and testing. In the latter scenario, the hospital uses various tools to ascertain the likelihood of his re-offending, including actuarial risk assessments and phallometric testing, which measures blood flow to the penis when patients are exposed to sexual imagery. Many patients decline to run this gauntlet. Life at Coalinga has its comforts, among them a common area with a barbershop and a restaurant called the Patient Mall. Patients can also take classes in badminton, ceramics, and art therapy. But a gilded cage is still a cage, and some patients are determined to secure their release.
[For more of this story, written by Alastair Gee, go to http://www.psmag.com/health-an...ree-where-does-he-go]
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