Prenatal Testing: Individual Decision or Distributed Action?

1. Auflage 2006
ISBN: 978-3-89019-603-9
Verlag: Duncker & Humblot

Buch, Englisch, 207 Seiten, Format (B × H): 148 mm x 210 mm, Gewicht: 311 g

The birth of a child is one of the most significant events in human life. Mothers and fathers wish the best for their offspring. Health, success and a happy life. The way these hopes and desires are experienced, however, is by no means an exclusively private affair. On the contrary, the experience of pregnancy today is shaped to a great extent by the techno-scientific developments in reproductive medicine. The question: will my child be healthy? gains a totally different and new meaning if the possibility exists to answer this question by means of prenatal examinations. The question abruptly arises of whether or not to continue the pregnancy if an examination yields pathologic results. It is momentous decisions of this kind that are connected with prenatal testing and they have a quality which they did not have prior to the existence of these examinations. Framing prenatal testing as individual dicision and distributed action, this collection adresses the paradoxical tension between decisions that are understood to be taken autonomously and a complex medical network without which a pregnant woman would not be in a position to decide between an abortion or the continuation of her pregnancy because of a predicted disease or disabililty of the expected child.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Wieser, Bernhard

Karner, Sandra

Berger, Wilhelm

Fachgebiete

• Medizin | Veterinärmedizin Medizin | Public Health | Pharmazie | Zahnmedizin Klinische und Innere Medizin

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction
Wilhelm Berger: Towards an Ethics of Distributed Responsibility
Bernhard Wieser & Sandra Karner: Individualising Decisions: On the Paradoxes of Prenatal Testing.
Susan M. Cox: Paradoxes of Prenatal Testing and Their Consequences
Louise Locock & Jo Alexander: ›Just a Bystander‹? Men’s Place in the Process of Fetal Screening and Diagnosis.
Celia Roberts: Enacting Gender in Reproductive Medicine
Bernhard Wieser: Translating Medical Practices: An Actor-Network Theory Perspective
Ingo Schulz-Schaeffer: Who Is the Actor and Whose Goals Will Be Pursued? Rethinking Some Concepts of Actor Network Theory
Andreas Heller & Stefan Dinges: Organisational Ethics - and Their Role in Counselling and Decision-Making Processes for Prenatal Testing
Barbara Maier: Autonomy: On Decision-Making in Prenatal Diagnosis
Marcus Düwell: Genetic Diagnosis in Reproductive Medicine: Aspects of an Ethical Evaluation
About the Authors

Über Autor(innen)

Bernhard Wieser, Mag. Dr., studied Philosophy and Education with a focus on lifelong learning at the University of Graz. Since 1 April 2005 he has been an 'Honorary Research Associate' at the Institute for Environment, Philosophy, and Public Policy of the University Lancaster. In his research he carries out projects on ethical, legal and social aspects of human genetics, and he is in charge of the fellowship programme at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Science, Technology and Society, Graz. In his previous projects Bernhard Wieser focused on the development of problem solving strategies related to the controversy over genetic engineering with special emphasis on the implementation oriented character of science communication initiatives. Related research focussed on the implications of science communication on genetic engineering. He has experience both in quantitative (surveys) and qualitative (ethnographic in-depth interviews, participant observation, focus groups) approaches to sociological research. [e-mail]

Sandra Karner, Mag., studied Biology with a focus on Zoology at the University of Graz. The main fields of her research are the social and environmental impacts of modern biotechnology and risk assessment of genetic engineering. Sandra Karner is in charge of INFOgen, a public information service, which provides information about basics and applications of modern biotechnology. Sandra Karner organises events, public lectures, seminars and continuing education courses for different vocational groups. She advises arious institutions on designing such information events, finds experts for specific topics, provides advice on teaching materials and gives instructions on how to find information in the internet. The target group of INFOgen consists of multipliers such as teachers, adult education trainers, environmental counsellors, and persons concerned with health, food, nutrition, or agriculture. From a knowledge transfer and teaching perspective Sandra Karner’s work focuses on small and medium settings that make interactive communication and client orientation possible. [e-mail]

Wilhelm Berger, Ao.Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr., philosopher and social scientist, Professor at the Faculty for Interdisciplinary Studies of Klagenfurt University, Department of Research on Science and Technology, Visiting Lecturer at the University of Rome (Tor Vergata), Lecturer at the universities of Klagenfurt, Vienna and Graz, head of different research projects, among them an ELSA Project in the framework of GEN-AU: Prenatal Testing: individual decision or distributed action?. Main topics: Philosophy of technology, cultural studies, history of philosophy. Wilhelm Berger has numerous publications in the field of science and technology studies. He has rich experience in carrying out interdisciplinary research projects and provides theoretical as well as empirical knowledge of a high standard. [e-mail]

IFZ is the Graz unit of the Faculty for Interdisciplinary Studies (IFF) of the University of Klagenfurt.