Skolbekken J A
Psykologisk institutt, Universitetet i Oslo, Blindern.
Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 1996 Sep 20;116(22):2673-6.
There has been an epidemic in the use of the word risk since the 1960s. This has happened at a time when the focus of medicine is turning from the diseased to the healthy part of the population. The meaning of the word has changed in the course of this century. As a tool for legitimizing medical interventions in the healthy, it currently serves an important ideological function in the battle for public health. Risk assessment is not a question of knowledge versus belief, as illustrated by present controversies within the medical community. Early conceptions of information on risk as sufficient motive for changing behaviour seem naive in the light of psychological research. Better communication is possible through improved techniques, but these techniques do not, however, provide the answers to what is the best way to deal with the risks. Knowing about risk is not always beneficial, it may also lead to illness. Excessive diagnostics and treatment are other questionable effects. The primary negative focus of risk also raises the question of whether risk represents a blind alley on the road to health.
自20世纪60年代以来，“风险”一词的使用十分盛行。这一现象发生在医学重点正从患病群体转向健康群体之际。在本世纪，这个词的含义发生了变化。作为使针对健康人群的医疗干预合法化的一种工具，它目前在公共卫生斗争中发挥着重要的意识形态作用。风险评估并非知识与信念之争，正如目前医学界内部的争议所表明的那样。从心理学研究的角度来看，早期认为关于风险的信息足以成为改变行为的动机的观念似乎很天真。通过改进技术可以实现更好的沟通，但这些技术并不能提供如何应对风险的最佳方式的答案。了解风险并不总是有益的，它也可能导致疾病。过度诊断和治疗是其他值得质疑的影响。对风险的主要负面关注也引发了一个问题，即风险是否代表了通往健康道路上的一条死胡同。
