In modern societies, rhetoric
focused on body and health is common as biomedical sciences have taken a big
place in people’s lives. They must enhance the society, health and living
conditions of citizens. Solving criminality problems remains a major challenge
and the early detection of antisocial children - future offenders - promises to
offer a solution to criminality thanks to science and medical advances. But in
a democratic society that values solidarism and pluralism and tends to
preserve the social link, it is necessary to question the ethical relevance of
this method of managing criminality. This paper proposes to analyze these
questions in the light of debates that have troubled France for a number of
years.
Introduction-the debate
In 2005, the former President of the French
Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, defended a draft report on “crime prevention” which
called for very early detection of behavioral disorders. He referred to a
report from theInstitut national de la santé et de
la recherche médicale (Inserm), entitled “Troubles des
conduites chez l’enfant et l’adolescent” or “Conduct disorder in children and
adolescents” (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale 2005). That report, published in September,
2005 shows that some early conduct disorders have a marked heritability, are
correlated with early aggression and are predictive of future delinquency.
Indeed, conduct disorder is primarily defined by the repetition and persistence
of behavior patterns which flout societal rules and other people’s fundamental
rights. Inserm therefore proposed that risk factors be detected at an early
stage, even from early pregnancy, and to organize regular interventions in
families at risk, particularly among young mothers with a first pregnancy in a
precarious environment. Behavioral disorders in young children would then be
recognized as early as the age of 36 months with regular medical checkups
and a follow-up in the child’s health booklet.
Following Inserm’s publication, a group of citizens
formed a group named Pas de 0 de conduite (1).
In March 2006, it sent an open letter, accompanied by a petition, to the
General Director of Inserm to denounce an “extreme medicalization of
educational, psychological and social phenomena” and “confusion between social
disorders and mental suffering, or hereditary disease.” This group also alerted
the National Consultative Ethics Committee (Comité consultatif national
d’Ethique - CCNE) and called for a critical analysis of the report.
In February 2007, the CCNE published a report on the ethical
issues raised by the early detection of behavioral disorders in children
(Comité consultatif national d’Ethique 2007). This brief report questions the
collective expertise of INSERM and underlines three major issues:
- On the epistemological problems and semantic ambiguity of “conduct disorder”;
- On the neglected importance of environmental factors;
- On the risk of stigmatization.
In this paper, I propose to analyze and discuss in
more details the epistemological and ethical arguments rose by CCNE against the
recommendations of the experts of Inserm. We will be then able to analyze the
relevance of the proposal of “early detection of future offenders” regarding
democratic civic values: solidarism and pluralism.
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By: 
Centre de
Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Bioéthique (CRIB), Philosophy Department, FNRS
fellow & Université libre de Bruxelles, 50 av. F.D. Roosevelt, CP 175/01
1050 Brussels, Belgium
Laurence Perbal, Email: eb.ca.blu@labrepl.
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv_insight
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