Screening for health risks: A second editorial

摘要

This editorial discusses nine papers concerned with health risk screening, and two papers reporting original research on risk management for children and adolescents. Five of the screening papers were published in a previous issue of Health, Risk & Society (Vol. 12, No. 1) along with an analytic editorial. This issue (Vol. 12, No. 2) contains an annexe with four additional screening papers plus a second editorial covering all nine papers. The papers illustrate the increasing scope of screening applications ‘from the cradle to the grave’. They cover risk screening for Down's syndrome (Gross 20106. Gross , S.E. 2010 . ‘The alien baby’: Risk, blame and prenatal indeterminacy . Health, risk & society , 12 ( 1 ) : 21 - 31 . [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®]View all references), child welfare and protection (Munro 201015. Munro , E. 2010 . Conflating risks: Implications for accurate risk prediction in child welfare services . Health, risk & society , 12 ( 2 ) : 119 - 130 . [Taylor & Francis Online]View all references, Parton 201016. Parton , N. 2010 . `From dangerousness to risk': The growing importance of screening and surveillance systems for safeguarding and promoting the well-being of children in England . Health, risk & society , 12 ( 1 ) : 51 - 64 . [Taylor & Francis Online]View all references), Chlamydia (Balfe 20101. Balfe , M. 2010 . Why don't young women go for Chlamydia testing? A qualitative study employing Goffman's stigma framework . Health, risk & society , 12 ( 2 ) : 131 - 148 . [Taylor & Francis Online]View all references), mental health service user violence (Langan 201012. Langan , J. 2010 . Challenging assumptions about risk factors and the role of screening for violence risk in the field of mental health . Health, risk & society , 12 ( 2 ) : 85 - 100 . [Taylor & Francis Online]View all references), Huntingdon's disease (Leontini 201013. Leontini , R. 2010 . Genetic risk and reproductive decisions with respect to Huntingdon's disease . Health, risk & society , 12 ( 1 ) : 7 - 20 . [Taylor & Francis Online]View all references), coronary heart disease (Peckham and Hann 201010. Hann , A. and Peckham , S. 2010 . Cholesterol screening and the Gold effect . Health, risk & society , 12 ( 1 ) : 33 - 50 . [Taylor & Francis Online]View all references), cancer (Craddock Lee 20102. Craddock Lee , S. J. 2010 . Uncertain futures: Individual risk and social context in decision-making in cancer screening . Health, risk & society , 12 ( 2 ) : 101 - 117 . [Taylor & Francis Online]View all references), and dementia (Milne 201014. Milne , A. 2010 . Dementia screening and early diagnosis: The case for and against . Health, risk & society , 12 ( 1 ) : 65 - 76 . [Taylor & Francis Online]View all references). The screening papers fall into two strands: one questioning the utility of current systems (Langan 201012. Langan , J. 2010 . Challenging assumptions about risk factors and the role of screening for violence risk in the field of mental health . Health, risk & society , 12 ( 2 ) : 85 - 100 . [Taylor & Francis Online]View all references, Milne 201014. Milne , A. 2010 . Dementia screening and early diagnosis: The case for and against . Health, risk & society , 12 ( 1 ) : 65 - 76 . [Taylor & Francis Online]View all references, Munro 201015. Munro , E. 2010 . Conflating risks: Implications for accurate risk prediction in child welfare services . Health, risk & society , 12 ( 2 ) : 119 - 130 . [Taylor & Francis Online]View all references, Parton 201016. Parton , N. 2010 . `From dangerousness to risk': The growing importance of screening and surveillance systems for safeguarding and promoting the well-being of children in England . Health, risk & society , 12 ( 1 ) : 51 - 64 . [Taylor & Francis Online]View all references, Peckham and Hann 201010. Hann , A. and Peckham , S. 2010 . Cholesterol screening and the Gold effect . Health, risk & society , 12 ( 1 ) : 33 - 50 . [Taylor & Francis Online]View all references); the other presenting original findings concerning the perspectives of eligible candidates (Balfe 20101. Balfe , M. 2010 . Why don't young women go for Chlamydia testing? A qualitative study employing Goffman's stigma framework . Health, risk & society , 12 ( 2 ) : 131 - 148 . [Taylor & Francis Online]View all references, Craddock Lee 20102. Craddock Lee , S. J. 2010 . Uncertain futures: Individual risk and social context in decision-making in cancer screening . Health, risk & society , 12 ( 2 ) : 101 - 117 . [Taylor & Francis Online]View all references, Gross 20106. Gross , S.E. 2010 . ‘The alien baby’: Risk, blame and prenatal indeterminacy . Health, risk & society , 12 ( 1 ) : 21 - 31 . [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®]View all references, Leontini 201013. Leontini , R. 2010 . Genetic risk and reproductive decisions with respect to Huntingdon's disease . Health, risk & society , 12 ( 1 ) : 7 - 20 . [Taylor & Francis Online]View all references). The two papers concerned with children and adolescents, published in the second part of the present issue, also consider risk perspectives, with particular reference to cultural comparisons. These papers focus on attitudes to and knowledge about sexual health in relation to uncertainty about the future (Davis and Niebes-Davis 20104. Davis , M. J. and Niebes-Davis , A. J. 2010 . Ethnic differences and influence of perceived future certainty on adolescent and young adult sexual knowledge and attitudes . Health, risk & society , 12 ( 2 ) : 149 - 167 . [Taylor & Francis Online]View all references), and parental views about children's exposure to environmental pollution (Dabrowska and Wismer 20103. Dabrowska , E. and Wismer , S. K. 2010 . Inclusivity matters: Perceptions of children's health and environmental risk including Old Order Mennonites from Ontario, Canada . Health, risk & society , 12 ( 2 ) : 169 - 188 . [Taylor & Francis Online]View all references).