Context. Premarital carrier matching is a form of genetic Key message points lIn premarital carrier matching, potential partners waive their right to receive personal information, and are told instead whether they are genetically 'compatible' or not ('incompatibility' meaning that the two partners are carriers, and thus have a 25% risk at each pregnancy of having an affected child). The traditional and social roles of cousin marriage, involving clan solidarity, interpersonal compatibility, preservation of family property, social protection for women and parental authority, preserve its practice despite growing awareness among community members of the association between cousin marriage and genetic diseases. Further research is needed to explore the actual uptake of the genetic counselling service and its use in the decision-making process as regards marriage, family planning and reproduction.

The Bedouins of the Negev (Southern part of Israel) are a community at increased risk for genetic diseases and congenital anomalies as a result of frequent consanguinity (particularly patrilateral parallel-cousin marriage) and underutilization of prenatal genetic tests due to a Muslim ban on abortion. Objective: To assess the knowledge and attitudes of Bedouin schoolchildren and their teachers towards a community-based, premarital carrier-matching program aimed at reducing the prevalence at birth of genetic diseases. Methods: A questionnaire was presented to 61 teachers and 40 schoolchildren as part of guided interaction in small groups, conducted in Bedouin schools between 1999 and 2001. Results: Susceptibility as well as knowledge of genetics were found to correlate with a positive attitude towards the genetics program among both teachers and pupils. However, pupils had a lower knowledge index as compared to teachers, and their attitudes were slightly less positive. Conclusion: The difference between teachers and pupils is discussed in the context of the latter’s acculturation, which contradicts tradition and parental authority and can generate ambivalence. Attitudes are further discussed in the context of the Health Belief Model and the complex interplay of tradition, Islam, cousin marriage and biomedicine.

To evaluate the effects of ethnicity, culture, and counseling style on the interpretation of nondirectiveness in genetic counseling, a questionnaire containing premarital and prenatal case vignettes in two versions (pessimistic/optimistic) was administered to 281 Jewish and 133 Bedouin respondents. The first study population was comprised of Jewish students enrolled in a university and a community college in the Negev (southern part of Israel). The second study population was comprised of Muslim-Bedouin college students from the same area. The majority of Jewish respondents interpreted the nondirective message as intended by counselors, while the majority of Bedouin respondents did not. Counseling style was found to have a statistically significant effect on the interpretation of the general role of counseling. Gender and susceptibility were not found to have a significant effect on interpretation. Group differences are analyzed through a cultural lens in which different interpretive norms can generate expectations for either nondirectiveness or directiveness.

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This article examines the responses of an Arab Bedouin minority group in Israel to a genetic counseling program for spouse selection. While health professionals designed the program to fit local norms such as consanguinity, matchmaking, and the Muslim ban on abortion, for the Bedouin, it also meant the medicalization of marriage arrangements and family planning. The ethnography focuses on the negotiated order that was developed around genetic testing, placing the voices of community members in the context of personal agendas, gender roles, and broader social and political processes. The conclusion further explores the implications for induced cultural change in community-based health interventions, scientific boundary work, and the ethnography of bioethics.