Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Risky and at-risk subjects: The discursive positioning of the ADHD child in the Italian context

  • Original Article
  • Published:
BioSocieties Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common diagnosis given to children. In recent decades, there has been an increase in the diagnosis of ADHD and in methylphenidate use. This research analyses the discursive construction of ADHD in the Italian context, focusing on the positioning of the child. The study addresses the discourses of the key adults who interact with the child, analysing professional, scholarly and parental discourses. Regarding the theoretical and methodological framework, this study integrates a discourse analysis approach with positioning theory. The discourse and psychological framing of ‘risk’ pervades the structuring of participants’ narratives, which position the child as at-risk, and risky, in body and mind. The three groups of participants in this study articulated the notion of risk in different, but overlapping, ways. For mental health professionals, children are likely to develop serious psychiatric conditions; for teachers, children mainly represent a potential threat and danger to other children and the school’s social order; for parents, the child is susceptible to becoming an ‘out-of-society’ individual in the future. The notion of risk operates as a regulatory device, leading from warning (picturing a possible future) to action (preventing this future), and implies the moral obligation to intervene and govern children in the name of risk.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akinbami, L.J., Liu, X., Pastor, P.N. and Reuben, C.A. (2011) Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Among Children Aged 5–17 Years in the United States, 1998–2009. NCHS Data Brief. n. 70, Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association (APA) (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, 3rd edn. Text Revision. Washington DC: APA.

  • American Psychiatric Association (2000) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, 4th edn. Text Revision. Washington DC: APA.

  • Barkley, R.A. (2006) Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Handbook for Diagnosis and Treatment, 3rd edn. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berrios, G.E. (2006) ‘Mind in general’ by Sir Alexander Crichton. History of Psychiatry 17 (4): 469–497.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Billig, M. (1996) Arguing and Thinking: A Rhetorical Approach to Social Psychology. Revised edition Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonati, M. (2009) Epidemiologia dell’ADHD. Paper presented at the Second ADHD Workshop: L’implementazione delle Linee guida e l’organizzazione dei Centri di riferimento. 16 October, Cagliari, Italy.

  • Bowker, G.C. and Star, S.L. (1999) Sorting Things Out: Classification and Its Consequences. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breggin, P.R. (2002) The Ritalin Fact Book: What Doctors won’t tell you about ADHD and Stimulant Drugs. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brock, D.W. (1998) Enhancements of human function: Some distinctions for policymakers. In: E. Parens (ed.) Enhancing Human Traits: Ethical and Social Implications. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, pp. 48–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burman, E. (1994) Deconstructing Developmental Psychology. London and New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burman, E. (2011) Gender and childhood in neoliberal times: Contemporary tropes of the boychild in psychological culture. In: K. Lesnik-Oberstein (ed.) Children in Culture, Revised: Further Approaches to Childhood. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 18–34.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Burman, E.E. and Parker, I.E. (1993) Discourse Analytic Research: Repertoires and Readings of Texts in Action. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chamberlain, K., Cain, T., Sheridan, J. and Dupuis, A. (2011) Pluralisms in qualitative research: From multiple methods to integrated methods. Qualitative Research in Psychology 8 (2): 151–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clough, P. (2007) Introduction. In: P. Clough and J. Halley (eds.) The Affective Turn: Theorizing the Social. Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press, pp. 1–33.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Connor, D.F. (2011) Problems of overdiagnosis and overprescribing in ADHD. Psychiatric Times 28 (8): 14–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conrad, P. (1975) The discovery of hyperkinesis: Notes on the medicalization of deviant behavior. Social problems 23 (1): 12–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conrad, P. (1992) Medicalization and social control. Annual Review of Sociology 18 (1): 209–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conrad, P. and Potter, D. (2000) From hyperactive children to ADHD adults: Observations on the expansion on medical categories. Social Problems 47 (4): 559–582.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, B. and Harré, R. (1990) Positioning: The discursive production of selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 20 (1): 43–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dean, M. (1994) Critical and Effective Histories: Foucault’s Methods and Historical Sociology. London and New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Donzelot, J. (1979) The Policing of Families. New York: Pantheon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, D. (2005) Discursive psychology. In: K.L. Fitch and R.E. Sanders (eds.) Handbook of Language and Social Interaction. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Mahwah, pp. 257–273.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fine, M. (1995) The politics of who’s ‘at risk’. In: B.B. Swadener and S. Lubeck (eds.) Children and Families ‘at Promise’: Deconstructing the Discourse of Risk. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, pp. 76–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fine, M. (2010) The breast and the state: An analysis of good and bad nipples by gender, race, and class. Studies in Gender and Sexuality 11 (1): 24–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finn, J. and Nybell, L. (2001) Capitalizing on concern: The making of troubled children and troubling youth in late capitalism. Childhood: A Global Journal of Child Research 8 (2): 139–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finn, J.L., Nybell, L.M. and Shook, J.J. (2010) The meaning and making of childhood in the era of globalization: Challenges for social work. Children and Youth Services Review 32 (2): 246–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1971) Madness and Civilization. London: Tavistock Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1977) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. London: Allen Lane.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1988) Technologies of the Self. In: L. Martin, H. Gutman and P. Hutton (eds.) Technologies of the Self: A Seminar with Michel Foucault. London: Tavistock, pp. 16–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, D. and Prilleltensky, I. (eds.) (1997) Critical Psychology: An Introduction. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frazzetto, G., Keenan, S. and Singh, I. (2007) I Bambini e le Droghe: The case of ADHD and Ritalin in Italy. BioSocieties 2 (4): 393–412.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frigerio, A., Montali, L. and Fine, M. (2013) Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder blame game: A study on the positioning of professionals, teachers and parents. Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine,. February 14 doi:10.1177/1363459312472083.

  • Frost, N.A. and Nolas, S.M. (2011) Exploring and expanding on pluralism in qualitative research in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 8 (2): 115–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Furman, L.M. (2005) What is attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)? Journal of Child Neurology 20 (12): 994–1003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gavey, N. (1992) Technologies and effects of heterosexual coercion. Feminism and Psychology 2 (3): 325–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, S. (2006) Current literature in ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders 10 (2): 229–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Good, B. (1997) Studying mental illness in context: Local, global, or universal? Ethos 25 (2): 230–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grewal, I. (2003) Transnational America: Race, gender, and citizenship after 9/11. Social Identities 9 (4): 535–561.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, D.L. and Hansen, E.H. (2006) Caught in a balancing act: Parents’ dilemmas regarding their ADHD child’s treatment with stimulant medication. Qualitative Health Research 16 (9): 1267–1285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harper, D.J. (2011) Choosing a qualitative research method. In: D. Harper and A.R. Thompson (eds.) Qualitative Research Methods in Mental Health and Psychotherapy: A Guide for Students and Practitioners. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 83–97.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Harré, R. and van Langenhove, L. (1999) Positioning Theory. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hegarty, P. (2007) Getting dirty: Psychology’s history of power. History of Psychology 10 (2): 75–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodge, R. and Kress, G. (1993) Language as Ideology, 2nd edn. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hook, D. (2005) Genealogy, discourse,‘effective history’: Foucault and the work of critique. Qualitative Research in Psychology 2 (1): 3–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horton-Salway, M. (2011) Repertoires of ADHD in UK newspaper media. Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine 15 (5): 533–549.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howitt, D. (2010) Introduction to Qualitative Methods in Psychology. London: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hursh, D. (2007) Assessing no child left behind and the rise of neoliberal education policies. American Educational Research Journal 44 (3): 493–518.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ingleby, D. (1985) Professionals as socializers: The ‘Psy’ complex. In: S. Spitzer and A.T. Scull (eds.) Research in Law, Deviance and Social Control: A Research Annual. Vol. 7. London: JAI Press, pp. 79–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, S. and Scott, S. (1999) Risk anxiety and the social construction of childhood. In: D. Lupton (ed.) Risk and Sociocultural Theory: New Directions and Perspectives. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Press University, pp. 86–107.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kehily, M.J. (2009) Understanding childhood: An introduction to some key themes and issues. In: M.J. Kehily (ed.) An Introduction to Childhood Studies, 2nd edn. Berkshire, UK: Open University Press, pp. 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kindsvatter, A. (2005) Huckleberry Finn reconsidered: An interview with David Nylund. The Family Journal 13 (4): 503–506.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kitzinger, J. (1994) The methodology of focus groups: The importance of interaction between research participants. Sociology of Health & Illness 16 (1): 103–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lakoff, A. (2000) Adaptive will: The evolution of attention deficit Disorder. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Science 36 (2): 149–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liebert, R. (2010) Synaptic peace-keeping: Of bipolar and securitization. Women's Studies Quarterly, Special Issue 38 (3&4): 325–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liebert, R. (2011) Psy technologies, risk, and freedom: Doing madness under securitization. Speech to International Society of Theoretical Psychology 14th Biennial Conference. Thessaloniki, Greece, 27 June–1 July.

  • Liegghio, M., Nelson, G. and Evans, S.D. (2010) Partnering with children diagnosed with mental health issues: Contributions of a sociology of childhood perspective to participatory action research. American Journal of Community Psychology 46 (1–2): 84–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lubeck, S. and Garrett, P. (1990) The social construction of the ‘at risk’ child. British Journal of Sociology and Education 11 (3): 327–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lupton, D. (ed.) (1999) Introduction. In: Risk and Sociocultural Theory: New Directions and Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–10.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Maclachlan, M. (2000) Cultivating pluralism in health psychology. Journal of Health Psychology 5 (3): 373–382.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malacrida, C. (2004) Medicalization, ambivalence and social control: Mothers’ descriptions of educators and ADD/ADHD. Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine 8 (1): 61–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mallon, R. (2007) A field guide to social construction. Philosophy Compass 2 (1): 93–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mason, J. (2006) Mixing methods in a qualitatively driven way. Qualitative Research 6 (1): 9–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Massumi, B. (2010) The future birth of the affective fact: The political ontology of threat. In: M. Gregg and G.J. Seigworth (eds.) The Affect Theory Reader. Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press, pp. 52–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayes, R., Bagwell, C. and Erkulwater, J.L. (2008) ADHD and the rise in stimulant use among children. Harvard Review of Psychiatry 16 (3): 151–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayes, R., Bagwell, C. and Erkulwater, J.L. (2009) Medicating Children: ADHD and Pediatric Mental Health. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayes, R. and Rafalovich, A. (2007) Suffer the restless children: The evolution of ADHD and paediatric stimulant use, 1900-80. History of Psychiatry 18 (4): 435–457.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, T.E. and Melchior, M. (2007) Why does the worldwide prevalence of childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder matter? American Journal of Psychiatry 164 (6): 856–858.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mugnaini, D. et al (2006) Teacher reports of ADHD symptoms in Italian children at the end of first grade. European Psychiatry 21 (6): 419–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Novas, C. and Rose, N. (2000) Genetic risk and the birth of the somatic individual. Economy and Society 29 (4): 485–513.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nybell, L. (2001) Meltdowns and containments: Constructions of children at risk as complex system. Childhood: A Global Journal of Child Research 8 (2): 213–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, I. (1994) Discourse analysis. In: P. Banister, E. Burman, I. Parker, M. Taylor and C. Tindall (eds.) Qualitative Methods in Psychology: A Research Guide. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press, pp. 92–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, I. (1997) Discursive psychology. In: D. Fox and I. Prilleltensky (eds.) Critical Psychology: An Introduction. London: Sage, pp. 284–298.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, I. (2008) Construction, reconstruction and deconstruction of mental health. In: A. Morgan (ed.) Being Human: Reflections on Mental Distress in Society. Ross-on-Wye, UK: PCCS Books, pp. 40–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, I. andthe Bolton Discourse Network. (1999) Critical Textwork: Varieties of Discourse and Analysis. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, I., Georgaca, E., Harper, D., McLaughlin, T. and Stowell-Smith, M. (1995) Deconstructing Psychopathology. London: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pastor, P.N. and Reuben, C.A. (2008) Diagnosed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and learning disability: United States, 2004–2006. National center for health statistics. Vital Health Statistics 10 (237).

  • Pica-Smith, C. and Veloria, C. (2012) ‘At risk means a minority kid’: Deconstructing deficit discourses in the study of risk in education and human services. Pedagogy and the Human Sciences 1 (2): 33–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Potter, J. (1996) Representing Reality: Discourse, Rhetoric and Social Construction. London: Sage.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Prosser, B.J. (2008) Beyond ADHD: A consideration of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and pedagogy in Australian schools. International Journal of Inclusive Education, Special Issues: ADHD & Schooling, Looking for Better Ways Forward 12 (1): 81–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rafalovich, A. (2005) Exploring clinician uncertainty in the diagnosis and treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Sociology of Health & Illness 27 (3): 305–323.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rose, N. (1985) The Psychological Complex: Psychology, Politics and Society in England 1869-1939. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose, N. (1998) Governing risky individuals: The role of psychiatry in new regimes of control. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law 5 (2): 177–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rose, N. (2005) In search of certainty: Risk management in a biological age. Journal of Public Mental Health 4 (3): 14–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rose, N. (2007) The Politics of Life Itself: Biomedicine, Power, and Subjectivity in the Twenty-First Century. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rose, N. (2010) ‘Screen and intervene’: Governing risky brains. History of Human Science 23 (1): 79–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitz, M.F., Filippone, P. and Edelman, E.M. (2003) Social representation of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, 1988–1997. Culture & Psychology 9 (4): 383–406.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schubert, S.J., Hansen, S., Dyer, K.R. and Rapley, M. (2009) ‘ADHD patient’ or ‘illicit drug user’? Managing medico-moral membership categories in drug dependence services. Discourse & Society 20 (4): 499–516.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sciutto, M.J. and Eisenberg, M. (2007) Evaluating evidence for and against the overdiagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Attention Disorders 11 (2): 106–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scraton, P. (1997) ‘Childhood’ in ‘Crisis’? London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Shank, G. (2006) Six alternatives to mixed methods in qualitative research. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3 (4): 346–356.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh, I. (2002) Biology in context: Social and cultural perspectives on ADHD. Children & Society 16 (5): 360–367.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh, I. (2004) Doing their jobs: Mothering with Ritalin in a culture of mother-blame. Social Science and Medicine 59 (6): 1193–1205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh, I. (2008) Beyond polemics: Science and ethics of ADHD. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 9 (12): 957–964.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh, I. (2011) A disorder of anger and aggression: Children’s perspective on attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in the UK. Social Science and Medicine 73 (69): 889–896.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stainton-Rogers, R. and Stainton-Rogers, W. (1992) Stories of Childhood: Shifting Agendas in Child Concern. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stainton-Rogers, W. (2011) Social Psychology. London: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephens, S. (ed.) (1995) Introduction: Children and the politics of culture in late capitalism. In: Children and the Politics of Culture. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, pp. 3–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern, H.P. (2002) When children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder become adult. Soutjern Medical Journal 95 (9): 985–992.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Timimi, S., Moncrieff, J., Jureidini, J. et al (2004) A critique of the international consensus statement on ADHD. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review 7 (1): 59–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsou, J.Y. (2007) Hacking on the looping effects of psychiatric classifications: What Is an interactive and indifferent kind? International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 21 (3): 329–344.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walkerdine, V. (1986) Progressive pedagogy and political struggle. Valerie Walkerdine looks back at aim education fantasy. Screen 27 (5): 54–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weis, L. and Fine, M. (eds.) (1993) Introduction. In: Beyond Silenced Voices: Class, Race and Gender in United States Schools. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, pp. 1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willig, C. (2001) Introducing Qualitative Research in Psychology: Adventures in Theory and Method. Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yanchar, S.C. (2005) On the nature of a critical methodology. Theory & Psychology 15 (1): 27–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zito, J.M., Safer, S.J., dosReis, S., Gardner, J.F., Boles, M. and Lynch, F. (2000) Trends in the prescribing of psychotropic medications to pre-schoolers. Journal of the American Medical Association 283 (8): 1025–1030.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca, Piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo, 1, 20126, Milano, Italy

    Alessandra Frigerio & Lorenzo Montali

  2. The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY), 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, 10016, NY, USA

    Michelle Fine

Authors
  1. Alessandra Frigerio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lorenzo Montali
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Michelle Fine
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alessandra Frigerio.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Frigerio, A., Montali, L. & Fine, M. Risky and at-risk subjects: The discursive positioning of the ADHD child in the Italian context. BioSocieties 8, 245–264 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1057/biosoc.2013.19

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/biosoc.2013.19

Keywords

Search

Navigation