Session Information
Session 3, Imaging the Body in History of Education
Papers
Time:
2005-09-08
09:00-10:30
Room:
ENG
Chair:
Ulrike Mietzner
Contribution
Although there was a substantial tradition within anthropology that was interested in the human body as a resource and product of social processes, this tradition mainly disappeared in the post-Second World War environment of the social sciences. It was overtaken by a focus on social structure (conceived in terms of class, gender and race) and social interaction (Prout, 2005). However, this began to change in the 1980's when there was a rediscovery of the body as a topic of social theory and an upsurge in interest in the body as a topic of social enquiry. Nowadays, within the field of sociology, history and education those studies that draw attention to how body and society work on each other, is immense. In this paper we will focus on "the body" within the framework of the sociology of childhood. Recent studies within the sociology of childhood show how powerful discursive formations can be in shaping how children's bodies are perceived, understood, worked upon and produced. Children's bodies then appear in a variety of roles: in the construction of social relations, meanings and experiences between children themselves and with adults; as products of and resources for agency, action and interaction; and as sites for socialization through embodiment. One of the most catching and interesting topics concerning the relationship between the body and today's childhood is the increased use of a range of psychopharmaceutical substances (i.e. drugs with mind- and behaviour-altering properties) among children. At the moment, the debate is largely focused on the prescription of a variety of medicines to children who are diagnosed with a condition known as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Broadly speaking it is a disease label given to children whom display inappropriate levels of attention and impulsiveness and/or hyperactivity. Often children diagnosed as ADHD are experienced as under- performing, difficult to deal with and disruptive. It has been estimated that one in twenty-five children is taking psychopharmaceuticals to control their deficiency. In this paper images of the above mentioned group of children will be put together, in order to get grip on how their disability is pictured. In this, attention will be paid to the social and the biological viewpoint. Our interest especially goes to how these pictures are used to convince parents and teachers that the medical solution seems the most appropriate for tackling the perceived problems.Next to these pictures, children will be asked to take pictures of themselves. By introducing this child perspective, we hope to illuminate the different meanings of the child- body-medicine assemblage (Deleuze, 1997).
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