Diagnosing 'Disorderly' Children

A critique of behaviour disorder discourses

Valerie Harwood author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:22nd Dec '05

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

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Diagnosing 'Disorderly' Children cover

Based on the author's in-depth research with children diagnosed with behavioural difficulties, this book provides a thorough critique of today's practices, examining:

  • the traditional analyses of behavioural disorders and the making of disorderly children
  • the influence of the 'expert knowledge' on behavioural disorders and its influence on schools, communities and new generations of teachers
  • the effect of discourses of mental disorder on children and young people
  • the increasing medicalisation of young children with drugs such as Ritalin.

This book offers an innovative and accessible analysis of a critical issue facing schools and society today, using Foucaultian notions to pose critical questions of the practices that make children disorderly. Rich in case studies and interviews with children and young people, it will make fascinating reading for students, academics and researchers working in the field of education, inclusion, educational psychology, sociology and youth studies.

"...I am grateful to Harwood for writing a thought-provoking, accessible and timely critical analysis of some of the key issues facing schools and the mental health community. After reading this Foucauldian-animated book, the mainstream educator and psychotherapist will never again look at "conduct disorder" and other such psychiatric/educational diagnostic categories and procedures, with a sense of comfort, acceptance and authority."

--Paul Marcus, Foucault Studies, January 2008.

ISBN: 9780415342865

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 500g

176 pages