The Social Construction and Reframing of Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (original) (raw)
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2013 - Sociological Perspectives on ADHD - Oxford Annotated Bilibographies.pdf
A sociological approach to ADHD begins from the position that social and historical contexts matter deeply in the ways that ADHD is understood, experienced and managed. Thus, for example, intra-professional or parent-teacher discord over the correct way to deal with symptoms, shifts in economies and educational systems that provide services to families and children, gendered stereotypes and processes of racialization, or ways of framing children as risky to others or at-risk to themselves, are important aspects of how ADHD exists in the social world. ADHD is, sociologically speaking, a very interesting and important problem in great part because these social and historical aspects of ADHD continue to trouble medical and educational approaches to diagnosis and treatment. Diagnostic rates of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have burgeoned over the past decades, beginning in the United States in the 1970’s and 1980’s, then moving primarily into other developed countries in subsequent decades.. Despite much public debate, ADHD has been enormously ‘successful’ as a diagnostic category. Similarly, rates of treating ADHD-identified children with stimulant drugs have risen in much of the developed world, although diagnostic rates vary considerably both within and between countries. Some of the controversies underpinning the ADHD debates can be seen in sections on *Diagnostic Uncertainty* , * Nevertheless, ongoing and highly public debates persist concerning the diagnosis and medical treatment of ADHD. Researchers and lay writers have argued, for example, that children with ADHD symptoms who go untreated are at risk for adult depression, heightened rates of addiction and criminality, and increased school dropout rates. On the other hand, the risks for children who do receive a diagnosis have been argued to include stigmatization as a result of being labeled with a mental health condition and dependencies on medication in both the short and the longer term for children whose treatment is typically psychopharmaceutical ather than behavioural. Some writers have argued that while ADHD may be a legitimate medical or psychological condition, medication is not the most appropriate response to its treatment, and classroom interventions should be the first, and perhaps the primary, response to children’s challenges, particularly iwhen those challenges are experienced mainly in the classroom. Within this contested terrain, parents, children, educators and helping professionals must make critical decisions about how to best respond to and assist children who are identified as problematic. It is our hope that the following bibliography may help inform such decision-making positively.
Children's Perceptions of Their ADHD Symptoms: Positive Illusions, Attributions, and Stigma
Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 2012
This study investigated the perceptions of children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) of their ADHD symptoms in terms of the positive illusory bias (PIB), their attributions for their problem behaviors, and their beliefs about whether their problem behaviors and disorder are stigmatizing. Participants were 152 9-to 14-year-old children (86 ADHD). Children with ADHD demonstrated a PIB for their ADHD symptoms; the discrepancy between their self-reports and parent reports was greater than for children without ADHD. They also viewed their self-identified most problematic behavior as more uncontrollable and stigmatizing (i.e., bothersome to others, leading to differential treatment, and embarrassing) than comparison children. Their perception that their problem behaviors and their disorder were stigmatizing was negatively associated with behavioral self-concept and self-esteem. These results suggest that school psychologists should interpret the self-reports of problem behaviors of children with ADHD with caution while being aware of the vulnerability of these children to feelings of stigma.
ADHD: science, stigma and service implications
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, 2018
We are delighted to dedicate an edition of the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine to the topic of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD accounts for the majority of clinical presentations to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, both in terms of new assessments and ongoing attendances. Papers presented in this edition reflect on the evolving construct of ADHD, drawing from science, clinical practice and public opinion. Current and evidenced-based assessment and treatment practice guidelines are reviewed. International longitudinal studies allow us to understand the personal and societal cost, which can persist for many years post-diagnosis. Despite continuation to adulthood in many young people, follow on adult services are lacking. It is fitting that submissions, by way of personal reflections and opinion pieces, are also included from adult colleagues as they reflect on their experiences in this area. Given the recent development of a national clinical ...
ADHD in the United Kingdom: Conduct, Class, and Stigma
If attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the United Kingdom were a word cloud that attempted to capture its status as a social object, it would be characterized most prominently by a bold assemblage of biological and developmental research and researchers, intertwined with national guidelines and epidemiological reports. The pharmaceutical industry, health economics-related terms, and media reports would appear in smaller, lesser font caught up within this bold assemblage in a minor way.
Faculty of Education, 2006
This essay offers a critical review of the problem we call "ADHD". In the first part of the discussion, the author presents an analysis of the literature surrounding Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Adopting a lens informed by the work of Foucault, she teases out the medical and psychological models to show the interdependency between these otherwise competing knowledge domains. She argues that as it currently stands the construct serves political ends and questions whether a diagnosis of ADHD is helpful and if so, for whom? In the second part, the author considers what role schooling practices might play in the pathologisation of children and interrogates the ADHD phenomenon as a symptom of the pathologies of schooling. Graham concludes by suggesting how we might arrest the rising rate of diagnosis by thinking about difference in more inclusive ways.
Psychiatry Research, 2010
This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the ADHD Stigma Questionnaire (ASQ) among a community sample of 301 adolescents ages 11-19 years at high (n = 192) and low risk (n = 109) for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Study subjects were drawn from a cohort study assessing ADHD detection and service use. The 26-item ASQ demonstrated good internal consistency. Confirmatory factor analysis using random parceling supported a three factor structure with highly correlated subscales of Disclosure Concerns, Negative Self Image, and Concern with Public Attitudes, and a Schmid-Leiman analysis supported an overall stigma factor. Test-retest stability was assessed after two-weeks (n = 45) and found to be adequate for all three subscales. Construct validity was supported by relationships with related constructs, including clinical maladjustment, depression, self-esteem and emotional symptoms and the absence of a relationship with school maladjustment. Findings indicate that the ASQ has acceptable psychometric properties in a large community sample of adolescents, some of whom met DSM-IV criteria for ADHD.
A critical international perspective on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
In a matter of two decades, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has grown from an obscure diagnostic label to the most commonly diagnosed childhood disorder in Australia and the United States. After low levels in the United Kingdom for many years, recent rates of prevalence have grown to reflect levels in other western nations. Controversy rages over the 'reality' of the disorder and its links with delinquency or criminal behaviour, as well as its treatment with psychostimulant medication. In a context where the medicalisation of behaviour potentially sidelines perspectives from within the sociology of deviance and critical criminology, ADHD presents a fascinating case study. This paper reports on the growth and prevalence of psychostimulant use to treat ADHD, as well as explores links between levels of diagnosis and social factors. In doing so, the paper highlights that past sociological research into ADHD has been limited to an example of medicalisation in western society. In response, the paper uses foundational conceptual resources developed out of the first National Deviance Conference held in York in 1968, to illustrate that theoretical categories from within critical sociology still have much to offer the conceptual rigour of future understandings of ADHD.
The dominant understanding of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is that of diagnosed children “suffering” from neurodevelopmental condition owing to which they are prone to develop adverse life trajectories. This master narrative of ADHD and psychomedical and normative discourses it adheres to and employs have been integrated into the daily activities of homes and schools. This compilation dissertation study employs a social constructionist discourse framework and is located in the intersection of the disciplines of disability studies and special education. The aim of the dissertation is to further our understanding of “life with ADHD” from the viewpoint of the families in Finland who supposedly live the master narrative. By conducting interviews for 13 young Finnish teens (aged 11–16 years) diagnosed with ADHD and 18 Finnish mothers of diagnosed children, it analyzes the meanings given to and built around ADHD in the context of the compulsory schooling. The data are analyzed using both discourse and narrative analysis methods. The study finds that the mothers and youth positioned themselves differently in relation to ADHD. For mothers, the voice behind the label, their strong endeavor to explain their child’s traits, behavior, and performance by adhering to and advocating psychomedical discourse functioned as a counter-means to school practices. For them, the ADHD label entailed a cultural promise of recognition of their child and themselves: it was expected to promote the match between the child and school and translate as a mediator between parents and teachers. Children, the voice beyond the label, on the other hand, constructed the label as a priori stigmatizing and thus, adherence to psychomedical discourse as potentially impeding the process of identity building. Instead, they constructed themselves in relation to ADHD, and vice versa, in the vortex of discourses internalized by them providing deeply embedded varying and contradictive cultural meanings. The results problematize the master narrative as unproductive. Further, the un- critical reproduction of psychomedical discourse in educational practices is questioned, as it is oversimplified and insufficient to understand the experiences of “life with ADHD”. As regards school practices, this study provides theoretical implications for inclusive education. It suggests a change in discourses employed in everyday school practices and the conceptualization of educational special need in order to truly live up to the values of inclusive education
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: conceptual resources from the sociology of deviance
In a matter of two decades, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has emerged in the United States and has grown from an obscure diagnostic label to the most commonly diagnosed childhood disorder in Australia. Controversy rages over the 'reality' of the disorder and its links with anti-social, violent or criminal behaviour, as well as its treatment with psychostimulant medication.
Owning Up to Complexity: A Sociocultural Orientation to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Seminars in Speech and Language, 2004
To enrich our conception of ADHD, it is necessary to take a wider orientation to this disability category than has traditionally been advocated. Over the past decade there has been an emerging conception of ADHD from a social-cultural perspective and this orientation, when linked to the traditional bio-medical perspective, provides a more accurate and authentic construct of ADHD. In this article, we advocate that speech-language pathologists approach ADHD with a mindset that is open to the complexities of context-bound human functioning at all levels. Four sources of data demonstrating the richness of the socio-cultural orientation are presented and clinical implications are detailed