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Hyper Talk: Sampling the Social Construction of ADHD in Everyday Language
Author(s) -
Danforth Scot,
Navarro Virginia
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
anthropology and education quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.531
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1548-1492
pISSN - 0161-7761
DOI - 10.1525/aeq.2001.32.2.167
Subject(s) - sociology , attention deficit hyperactivity disorder , psychology , everyday life , discourse analysis , social psychology , epistemology , linguistics , psychiatry , philosophy
This article examines the ways that meanings about the concept Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are socially constructed within the everyday language use of lay persons. The 224 language events referencing ADHD, including media sources, were recorded in journals by student assistants. These data reveal five patterned ways that lay persons appropriate and interpret discourses originating in medical and school communities of practice. Conclusions raise issues about the moral opportunities and responsibilities afforded and occluded by specific discourse practices.