Abstract
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a paradigmatic case for childhood medicalisation. Critical studies of medicalisation have pointed to the increasing clinical role of schools, with teachers tending to rely on medical treatment of students with ADHD and are perceived as a primary source of diagnostic information. Based on 27 semi-structured interviews with teachers working in two Israeli elementary and middle schools, this research explored how teachers mediate the medicalisation process and understand their responsibilities in the classroom amidst the emphasis on inclusion in contemporary Israel. We found that teachers offer a wide range of explanations of the disorder and its prevalence, and their attitudes to medication are ambivalent. We argue that teachers develop pedagogical (lay) expertise in the field of ADHD in parallel with and in opposition to medical solutions. Such expertise is based on practical experience and close interaction with students. A top-down ideological imperative of inclusion, combined with uncertainty about ADHD, has generated a bottom-up set of preformative practices of ‘containment’ of troubled students. Teachers’ emerging knowledge and practices raise questions about the relationship between medicalisation, policy, expertise and the pragmatic value of medical categories when applied outside the medical establishment.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1962-1982 |
Number of pages | 21 |
Journal | Sociology of Health and Illness |
Volume | 46 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Nov 2024 |
Keywords
- ADHD
- inclusion policy
- lay expertise
- medicalisation
- teachers
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Health(social science)
- Health Policy
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health