An Ethical Analysis of Medicalization and Infant Mental Healthcare.

IF 1.5 3区哲学 Q2 ETHICS

Journal of Bioethical Inquiry Pub Date : 2025-09-22 DOI:10.1007/s11673-025-10460-5

Izaak T Lim

引用次数: 0

Abstract

The field of infant mental health has been met with some scepticism by those who question the role of the mental health professions in this space. In this paper I will consider a possible ethical objection to the extension of medical jurisdiction over infancy and parenting, informed by the critical tradition of medicalization studies. In part I of the paper, I will give particular attention to three potentially harmful consequences of medicalization on infants and their families-the expansion of medical social control, the individualization of human suffering, and the pathologization of human behaviour and variation. In part II, I will provide an ethical defence of infant mental health, addressing the objections raised by a medicalization-based critique. I will conclude in part III that medicalization is not always bad for infants and their families, and that, in the case of infant mental health, there is a mutually reinforcing relationship between medicalization and infant rights claims to the fundamental conditions for pursuing a good life.

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医学化与婴儿心理保健的伦理分析

婴儿心理健康领域受到了一些人的质疑，他们质疑心理健康专业人员在这一领域的作用。在本文中，我将考虑一个可能的伦理反对医疗管辖权扩大到婴儿和养育，告知医学研究的批判传统。在本文的第一部分中，我将特别关注医疗化对婴儿及其家庭的三个潜在有害后果——医疗社会控制的扩大，人类痛苦的个体化，以及人类行为和变异的病态化。在第二部分中，我将为婴儿心理健康提供道德辩护，解决基于医学的批评所提出的反对意见。我将在第三部分中总结说，医疗化对婴儿及其家庭并不总是有害的，就婴儿心理健康而言，医疗化与婴儿对追求美好生活的基本条件的权利要求之间存在着相互加强的关系。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 医学-医学：伦理

CiteScore

5.20

自引率

8.30%

发文量

审稿时长

>12 weeks

期刊介绍： The JBI welcomes both reports of empirical research and articles that increase theoretical understanding of medicine and health care, the health professions and the biological sciences. The JBI is also open to critical reflections on medicine and conventional bioethics, the nature of health, illness and disability, the sources of ethics, the nature of ethical communities, and possible implications of new developments in science and technology for social and cultural life and human identity. We welcome contributions from perspectives that are less commonly published in existing journals in the field and reports of empirical research studies using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The JBI accepts contributions from authors working in or across disciplines including – but not limited to – the following: -philosophy- bioethics- economics- social theory- law- public health and epidemiology- anthropology- psychology- feminism- gay and lesbian studies- linguistics and discourse analysis- cultural studies- disability studies- history- literature and literary studies- environmental sciences- theology and religious studies