Understanding Circumcision

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xix

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2. Ending the Forced Genital Cutting of Children and the Violation of their Human Rights

   • Gregory J. Boyle

   Pages 1-18

3. Jewish Circumcision

   • Leonard B. Glick

   Pages 19-54

4. The Compulsion to Circumcise is Constant

   • Michael Katz

   Pages 55-59

5. Male Circumcision in South Korea

   • Myung-Geol Pang, Sae Chul Kim, DaiSik Kim

   Pages 61-81

6. Attitudes of Egyptian Intellectuals Towards Genital Integrity for All

   • Seham Abd el Salam Mohamed

   Pages 83-97

7. Sunna Gudnin

   • Pia Grassivaro Gallo, Lydia Rabuffetti, Franco Viviani

   Pages 99-111

8. The Struggle Against Female Genital Mutilation/Female Circumcision

   • Els Leye

   Pages 113-128

9. A Review of Circumcision in New Zealand

   • Ken McGrath, Hugh Young

   Pages 129-146

10. Circumcision of Boys in Sweden

    • Yngve Hofvander

    Pages 147-151

11. A Source of Serious Mischief

    • Robert Darby

    Pages 153-197

12. The Frenular Delta

    • Ken McGrath

    Pages 199-206

13. Physical, Sexual, and Psychological Effects of Male Infant Circumcision

    • Gillian A. Bensley, Gregory J. Boyle

    Pages 207-239

14. Neonatal Circumcision

    • Tracey Gemmell, Gregory J. Boyle

    Pages 241-252

15. Ritual and Medical Circumcision among Filipino Boys

    • Samuel Ramos, Gregory J. Boyle

    Pages 253-270

16. Assaulted and Mutilated

    • Shane E. Peterson

    Pages 271-289

17. Doctors, Be Warned

    • J. Neville Turner

    Pages 291-296

18. The Limits of the Law

    • J. Steven Svoboda

    Pages 297-365

19. Circumcision as a Component of the Normative Abuse of Children

    • John W. Travis

    Pages 367-376

20. Back Matter

    Pages 377-404

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Every year, in the United States and the third world combined, 13.3 million boys and 2 million girls are circumcised. Whether because of perceived medical, cultural, or religious necessity, most of these parents feel they have no alternative but to allow their children to undergo this surgery. Sparking intense debate, the circumcision of children is a highly controversial and complex phenomenon that touches a variety of sociological areas, such as religious beliefs, identity issues, medical conceptualizations, fear, and superstition. The contributors to this volume comprise an international panel of experts in the fields of medicine, psychology, law, ethics, sociology, anthropology, history, theology, and politics. In 18 chapters they discuss the history of circumcision; document the physical and psychological consequences of circumcision; present the latest anatomical discoveries about the male prepuce; analyze the role of circumcision in various traditions; reveal the medical industry's investment in the practice; describe current legislative efforts to protect children from circumcision; and outline effective, culturally sensitive methods that are being implemented today to safeguard the human rights of at-risk children.
For its insights into this troubling aspect of culture, Understanding Circumcision: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to a Multi-Dimensional Problem is a critically important contribution to the growing body of literature on this subject.

• ethics
• human rights
• psychology
• sociology
• surgery

• University of Washington, Seattle, USA

  George C. Denniston

• Yale University, New Haven, USA

  Frederick Mansfield Hodges

• National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers, San Anselmo, USA

  Marilyn Fayre Milos

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