Risks, Benefits, Complications and Harms: Neglected Factors in the Current Debate on Non-Therapeutic Circumcision
Risks, Benefits, Complications and Harms: Neglected Factors in the Current Debate on Non-Therapeutic Circumcision
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DOI：
10.1353/ken.2015.0004
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发表时间：
2015-03-01
影响因子：
1.4
通讯作者：
Darby, Robert
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Darby, Robert
当代关于对男婴和男孩进行非治疗性包皮环切是否适当的辩论大多围绕着风险与收益的问题。美国儿科学会（AAP）（2012年发布）目前的包皮环切政策是这一思路的典型例子，其标题结论是好处大于风险。然而，由于AAP声明它无法评估并发症的真实发生率，批评者指出这一结论是没有根据的。在本文中，它认为，美国儿科学会的结论是站不住脚的，不仅是经验的原因，缺乏数据，但也为逻辑和概念的原因：手术并发症的风险使用风险的概念太窄，是有用的包皮环切术的辩论。并发症并不是包皮环切术的唯一危害：AAP和其他争论包皮环切术利弊的各方应该将他们的分析更广泛地概念化为伤害的风险与利益的前景，从而将包皮对个人的价值以及从不同意的孩子身上切除包皮的身体和道德危害考虑在内。
Much of the contemporary debate about the propriety of non-therapeutic circumcision of male infants and boys revolves around the question of risks vs. benefits. With its headline conclusion that the benefits outweigh the risks, the current circumcision policy of the American Academy of Pediatrics [AAP] (released 2012) is a typical instance of this line of thought. Since the AAP states that it cannot assess the true incidence of complications, however, critics have pointed out that this conclusion is unwarranted. In this paper it is argued that the AAP's conclusion is untenable not only for empirical reasons related to lack of data, but also for logical and conceptual reasons: the concept of risk employed-isk of surgical complications is too narrow to be useful in the circumcision debate. Complications are not the only harms of circumcision: the AAP and other parties debating the pros and cons of circumcision should conceptualize their analysis more broadly as risk of harm vs. prospect of benefit, thereby factoring in the value of the foreskin to the individual and the physical and ethical harms of removing it from a non-consenting child.