Mental capacity’, ‘sufficient maturity’, and ‘capable of understanding’ in relation to children
How should health professionals interpret these terms
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11012155 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Basil J Pillay (0000-0003-1555-0753, University of KwaZulu-Natal), Jerome Amir Singh (0000-0002-6275-6853, University of Toronto, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 538-552 |
| Publication date | 2018-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | South African Journal of Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0081-2463 • E-ISSN: 2078-208X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0081246317747148 |
| OpenAlex | W2781060968 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 23 |
South Africa’s Children’s Act 38 of 2005 requires health professionals to determine whether a child possesses ‘sufficient maturity’ and ‘mental capacity’ to make decisions about themselves in relation to surgery, treatment, and HIV testing. Similarly, the National Health Act 61 of 2003 requires a child to be ‘capable of understanding’ to provide informed consent in research. However, neither the Children’s Act nor the National Health Act defines these terms. Moreover, there is no common definition of ‘sufficient maturity’ among healthcare professionals in South Africa. Appreciating how foreign law interprets ‘mental capacity’ and how different healthcare professionals evaluate ‘maturity’ could prove illuminative in respect to how these terms could be interpreted by health professionals in South Africa, and elsewhere
Developmental psychology · Health care · Health professionals · Maturity (psychological) · Mental health · Political science · Psychiatry · Relation (database) · Child Abuse and Trauma · Child and Adolescent Health · Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric Healthcare · Law · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology
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| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |