When should circumcision be performed psychologically?
When should circumcision be performed psychologically?
Circumcision, which is a surgical procedure that boys are waiting for with a little fear and excitement, is a practice that should be performed by our religion and recommended in terms of health. Circumcision has spiritual as well as physical effects. However, it is usually a forgotten point to make a psychological circumcision assessment while planning. However, when circumcision is to be performed, the way circumcision is explained to the child and the conditions under which it is performed are important for the spiritual development of the child. At this age, by identifying with the parent of his own sex, the child who forms the identity characteristics of his own sex learns the sexual organ and the differences with the other sex.
Circumcision from a psychological point of view
When boys discover that a girl has no pipe, they worry that she may experience it herself, thinking that she has lost this organ. This fear is called the fear of ’emasculation’ (castration). Another feature of this period is the importance of body integrity. At this age, children can exaggerate even the slightest injuries. While it is emphasized how important his organ is by being asked to ‘show it to uncles’ in our society, on the other hand, the sense of loss of the child who is told that his ‘pipi will be cut off, he will be ripped off’ when he is caught as a joke can reach extreme levels. Circumcising the child at the age of 3 to 6 years is to show him that all these fears are real in a sense. In the light of this information, it is understood that circumcision should not be performed during this period unless it is medically obligatory.
How should circumcision be explained to the child?
Another important issue is the way circumcision is explained to the child. Circumcision should be explained to the child first by someone he loves and trusts, and then by the doctor. The doctor will also explain the procedures he will do. Often, as a result of the terrible words they hear from the environment, the child perceives circumcision as a procedure in which his pipi will be completely cut off and he will be hurt a lot, due to developmentally specific features of the period. For this reason, especially the father should explain this process without scaring the child. It will be calming for the child to emphasize that he will not lose his pipis when he is circumcised and that he has experienced this incident himself. The physician who will then perform the circumcision should explain that the procedure is related to the arrangement of a section at the end of the pipis, that there is no question of cutting. How much it may hurt and what they will experience after circumcision are other information that should be passed on to the child.
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