Alderson, Priscilla;
(2006)
Who should decide and how?
In: Parens, Erik, (ed.)
Surgically Shaping Children: Technology, Ethics, and the Pursuit of Normality.
(pp. 157-175).
Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, US.
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Abstract
“With leg lengthening, only the person who is going to have it can decide whether to have it. I decided when I was eight.” (Amy, aged 10, whose mother agreed) (Alderson 1993, 30). “I would like to see the age limits completely scrapped, and maturity brought in. As you grow up, your age has a stereotype. I’m trying to escape from that stereotype.” (Robin aged 13) (Alderson 1993, 43). “He is an exceptional and unique person. He likes to maintain his integrity as a human being, and he felt violated by the way they treated him, dirty. I found that he had put the clothes that he had worn at the clinic and even his teddy in the rubbish bin. I felt his refusal [of proposed treatment] was right. He may have a small body, but he has a great personality.” (Mother of a 10-year-old boy) (Alderson 1993, 39). The questions, Who should decide about children’s surgery? and How? involve further questions: Who is informed enough, to decide? Who is competent to decide? Who ought to decide? And may competent people choose to refer that responsibility to others? How are decisions about surgery made, and possibly shared? And could we promote more just, benign, and efficacious ways of making decisions about surgically shaping children? The replies to these questions rest on different kinds of knowledge and authority in research evidence, law, and ethics. (The term children refers to minors aged 0-17, from babyhood to young adulthood, and in this chapter usually involves children and young people aged from 4, 5, or 6 years onwards.)
| Type: | Book chapter |
|---|---|
| Title: | Who should decide and how? |
| ISBN: | 978-0-8018-8305-7 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author-accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10005009 |
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