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Exclusive Or Concurrent Competence To Make Medical Decisions For Adolescents In The United States And United Kingdom , Robert L. Stenger
Exclusive Or Concurrent Competence To Make Medical Decisions For Adolescents In The United States And United Kingdom , Robert L. Stenger
Journal of Law and Health
Medical decision-making is one area where drawing and applying a single defining line between childhood and adulthood has proven difficult. Each society determines how it will allocate decision-making authority with respect to children. This article will address how such allocations have been developed in the United States and the United Kingdom. An analysis of the capacity of an adolescent to make decisions remains incomplete without some consideration of the role of parent(s) and of the government. It is precisely here that recent developments in the United Kingdom may provide helpful guidance in the United States.
The Legal Construction Of Adolescence, Elizabeth S. Scott
The Legal Construction Of Adolescence, Elizabeth S. Scott
Faculty Scholarship
American lawmakers have had relatively clear images of childhood and adulthood-images that fit with our conventional notions. Children are innocent beings, who are dependent, vulnerable, and incapable of making competent decisions. Several aspects of the legal regulation of childhood are based on this account. Children are assumed not to be accountable for their choices or for their behavior, an assumption that is reflected in legal policy toward their criminal conduct. They are also assumed to be unable to exercise the rights and privileges that adults enjoy, and thus are not permitted to vote, drive, or make their own medical decisions. …