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Medical diagnosis of dyslexia in a Swedish elite school: A case of “consecrating medicalization”
Author(s) -
Holmqvist Mikael
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the british journal of sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.826
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1468-4446
pISSN - 0007-1315
DOI - 10.1111/1468-4446.12737
Subject(s) - medicalization , elite , dyslexia , medical sociology , sociology , qualitative research , psychology , developmental psychology , gender studies , social science , reading (process) , medicine , psychiatry , political science , public health , pathology , politics , law
Based on qualitative data of an upper‐secondary school in Sweden’s primary elite community, Djursholm, I propose how medical diagnosis of students as dyslexics contributes to consecrating them by offering a short cut to successful performance, while at the same time reproducing differences between social classes. The study suggests how students that do not score top can be labeled dyslexic and the social and moral consequences of that. I introduce the concept of “consecrating medicalization” in order to discriminate between the effects of medical diagnosis of members of different social classes. In this way, this paper contributes to further examining some key problems in medical sociology and the sociology of elites, by offering a framework of synthesis and integration.