Diagnosing 'Disorderly' Children A critique of behaviour disorder discourses [Paperback]

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.

1. Introduction  2. Behaviour Disorders and Disorderly Children  3. Disorderly Conducts and the Making of Disorderly Children  4. Disorderly Children Weren't Always Disordered   5. Who Says Conduct Disorder is the Truth? The Power behind the Production of Disorderly Children  6. Administering Disorderly Children  7. Why Do Children and Young People Believe they are Disorderly?  8. Why it is so Difficult to Question being Disorderly.  References

...I  am  grateful  to  Harwood  for  writing  a  thought-provoking,  accessible  and  timely critical  analysis  of  some  of  the  key  issues  facing  schools  and &l37