Re: violence...

J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Thu, 30 Sep 1999 21:51:44 -0700

From: codehead@ix.netcom.com <codehead@ix.netcom.com>
>There may be less of a tradition there than you think. In a very
>casual search of under five minutes, I found numerous references to
>the topic area. A real effort at scholarship would probably turn up
>a broader array of references. The belief that there is an "absence
>of any research studies to determine the psychological effects of
>circumcision" does not appear to be the case.

Thank you, codehead.
According to your first reference:
<<Whatever affects us psychologically also affects us socially. If a trauma is acted out on the next generation, it can alter countless generations until it is recognized and stopped. The potential social consequences of circumcision are profound [21]. There has been no study of these issues perhaps because they are too disturbing to those in societies that do circumcise and of little interest in societies that do not. Close psychological and social examination could threaten personal, cultural and religious beliefs of circumcising societies. Consequently, circumcision has become a political issue in which the feelings of infants are unappreciated and secondary to the feelings of adults, who are emotionally invested in the practice.>>

Notice Goldman states: "There has been no study of these issues... "

>A simple 30 second web search on go2net.com (formerly metacrawler)
>revealed over a hundred entries, including:
>
>Psychological Impact of Circumcision AltaVista: BJU International,
>Volume 83 Supplement 1, Pages 93-102, January 1, 1999. The
>psychological impact of circumcision. R. GOLDMAN Circumcision
>Resource... WebCrawler: BJU International, Volume 83 Supplement 1,
>Pages 93-102, January 1, 1999 The psychological impact of
>circumcision GOLDMAN Circumcision Resource Center, Boston,
>Massachusetts, USA Yahoo!: - discusses the psychological impact of
>male circumcision on infants, children, parents, adults, medical
>doctors, and s... 1000, http://www.cirp.org/library/psych/goldman1/
>(AltaVista, WebCrawler, Yahoo!)

The CIRP reference states:
"The study of neurological changes secondary to circumcision is in its infancy."

>(http://www.cirp.org/library/psych/ contains a number of different
>studies on the topic, some of them going back decades.)

Not quite decades, actually, but some go back to the 80s. These are medical studies rather than psychological studies.

>RECENT MEDICAL STUDIES ON CIRCUMCISION Excite: CIRCUMCISION RESOURCE
>CENTER P.O. Box 232 • Boston, MA 02133 • Tel/Fax (617)523-0088
>crc@circumcision.org • www.circumcision.org Recent Medical Studies On
>Circumcision Infoseek: P.O. Box 232 Boston, MA 02133 Tel/Fax (617)523-
>0088 crc@circumcision.org www.circumcision.org Recent Medical Studies
>On
>Circumcision Circumcision Results in Significant Loss of Erogenous
>Tissue
>A ... WebCrawler: CIRCUMCISION RESOURCE CENTER P.O. Box 232 • Boston,
>MA
>02133 • Tel/Fax (617)... 768, http://www.circumcision.org/studies.htm

This site refers back to the CIRC site, and doesn't contain any psychological studies of its own.

>(Excite, Infoseek, WebCrawler)
>CIRP: Circumcision Reference Library This is the top index page of
>the Circumcision Reference Library. The Library is an online
>collection of abstracts, full text articles, and other material
>relating to male circumcision, including psychological effects.
> 474, http://www.cirp.org/library/ (WebCrawler)

Same old thing, namely CIRP.

>Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Circumcision
>AltaVista: PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON
>CIRCUMCISION. April 30-May 3, 1991 San Francisco, California. Bonner,
>Charles, J.D. Circumcision: The. Excite: April 30-May 3, 1991 San
>Francisco, California Bonner, Charles, J.D. Chamberlain, David B.,
>Ph.D. Denniston, George, M.D. Larue, Gerald A. Ph.D. Montagu, Ashley,
>Ph.D., D.Sc. 368, http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/index.html
>(AltaVista, Excite)

Same reference, no other studies, except medical studies, not psychological ones.

>(Also worth checking is the first, third and fourth symposium's
>proceedings.)

No, I don't think so.

>Academic NATIONAL RESOURCES INDEX ElderLogo2.gif (5932 bytes) ABUSED
>MEN ACADEMIC/EDUCATIONAL ADDICTION CIRCUMCISION FATHERING FA 338,
>http://www.themenscenter.com/NMR02.htm (Lycos)

Mostly politically slanted social studies.

>(The above includes pointers to the American Psychological
>Association member Ron Goldman's studies on the long-term effects of
>male circumcision as well as other academic studies.)

The same old study done by Ron Goldman.

>--------------------
> A 2 minute search of Medline (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) revealed
>over 2,000 articles on circumcision, of which approximately 200
>discuss the psychology and psychological considerations and effects.
>The overwhelming majority of these articles address male circumcision
>issues.
>
>--------------------

Message: "Can't find the requested web page."

>A 20-second search of InferenceFind
>(http://infindv2.infind.com/infind.rdc?query=circumcision&type=Brief)
>listed numerous references to sites where cites to relevant
>literature can be found.
>
>--------------------

Nothing there about the psychological effects of circumcision either.

So, really you've turned up just one study, by Ron Goldman (and a good study at that).
http://www.cirp.org/library/psych/goldman1/ Goldman concludes:
"There is strong evidence that circumcision is overwhelmingly painful and traumatic."

Sounds like violence against men to me.

Cheers, and thanks again for your diligence.

--J. R.

PS: If you get a chance, check out www.ncfm.org