ADHD in Sociology

ADHD is currently a serious dilemma concerning children’s health, since medical providers identify it as a healthcare issue caused by mental disorders, while sociologists insist that ADHD is a sociological problem. The purpose of the research is to investigate the sociological standpoint of the disorder, and define what sociological factors may lead to ADHD and why it becomes increasingly medicalized. Investigating the problem, different methods were applied such as qualitative and quantitative methods, including generalization, statistic and content analyses. The research confirms that ADHD cannot be identified purely as a medical problem, since the changes in the child’s consciousness and behavior are related to sociological factors such as environment, gender, racial stereotypes, domestic education, and many others. It is recommended to pay more attention to children’s development and education and reduce the negative social factors.

ADHD is a syndrome of attention deficit disorder. Any normal behavioral issues of children are accepted as the symptoms of the disease. If children are impulsive, active, cannot concentrate attention, they are diagnosed to have an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The sociological investigations contradict the conclusions of the psychiatrists, who insist that the peculiarities of the character and the social issues can be identified as the mental disorder. ADHD gradually becomes a serious worldwide problem, which can be addressed only with the help of medical assistance and some prescribed remedies. In addition, medical providers insist that it is a complicated brain disorder and confirm that there are differences in the brain structure in the children with ADHD. Thus, ADHD is a sociological disorder since it is related to environmental issues, economic status of the family, racial and gender stereotypes, while its rapid medicalization associates with active rise of psychiatry and pharmaceutic corporations.

ADHD Problem

ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is a symptomatic syndrome of excessive impulsivity and lack of attention. The children with this problem are not able to provide the details of some data or a portion of information they receive. They cannot concentrate on an educational process and cannot keep attention during some time. In the majority of cases, the patients with ADHD cannot describe any piece of information without mistakes, as they experience difficulties in concentration during the school lessons or at home while doing some educational tasks. Moreover, when the teachers or parents address them directly, the children do not listen. Following the instruction is one of the most complicated types of activities for such people, so they are not able to cope with the assignment at school or at work. Such individuals are not keen on performing different activities, which demand sustainable mental concentration and sufficient efforts. Besides, the children with ADHD usually lose things, make some mess in the process of mental activity, forget about important issues, feel anxiety and are highly aggressive in some cases. They cannot sit or stand still during a long time, as they wish to move, interrupt the speakers, talk too much and cannot wait until the speaker finishes the speech.

Along with these symptoms of hyperactivity, which are rather social than medical, ADHD is the most common mental disorder among children and adolescence. In the United States, the prevalence of the disorder is ranged from 5% to 12% (Filipe 2011). Furthermore, scientists admitted that the problem growths, because the prescribed medication, which is used for ADHD treatment also increases in amount (Filipe 2011). Such escalation leads to a conclusion that the medical providers make false positive diagnoses of ADHD, as this can be a psychological issue instead of a complicated mental disease. Consequently, more popular beliefs appeared that it is not a medical phenomenon, but the problem related with the social processes and changes in different spheres of contemporary life. The sociologists do not recognize pseudo-objectivity of the medical providers and medical determinism (Filipe 2011). Additionally, some scientists believe that the growth of ADHD is related to the tendencies of cultural imperatives in the area of neutral science (Brady 2014). That is why the findings confirm that the treatment of the problem should be complex, including not only medication, but also psychological and social assistance (Brady 2014). The investigations proved that treatment of children with ADHD only by the psychostimulants increases the focus of attention but does not eliminate the source of disorder (Brady 2014). In the other words, the condition originated form the political and economic climate in America. The scientific approach concerning the sociological standpoint of the disorder is steamed form the Social Darwinism, which dominates in the USA. The model of the ancient natural selection is a background for contemporary social relations.

Sociological Standpoint of ADHD

ADHD is not a biological, genetic or psychiatric disorder, but a social issue, since it can be better explained by the environmental changes and the type of the personality. In the majority of cases children with the syndrome are extroverts. They are talkative and extremely active, so it is rather their personal character that affects their behavior than a brain disorder. Further, the sociological standpoint insists that the conduct of children with ADHD is not abnormal, but rather normal for the group of the individuals who are under the impact of factors such as environment, culture, race, gender, economic peculiarities of the family and many others (Keilow, Holm and Fallesen 2018). For instance, the representatives of separate regions or even countries can behave more emotionally expressive than other people. Besides, some children with ADHD have inadequate conditions of life and lack of space for games. Environment plays one of the main roles in the desease development (Keilow et.al. 2018). Even the structure of the family, their internal relations, the way of communication and the time parents can dedicate for their children at home influence the children’s behavior. The problem occurs mainly or becames extremely acute while entering the school environment, which can be mostly related to wide diversity and disparity issues. The child’s young and weak consciousness experiences some complications in relations with the classmates, which differ from the parents and the people surrounding them before. However, the role of home culture and character peculiarities can make the process of assimilation easier or more complicated for occurring of ADHD. Furthermore, the condition is prevailing mostly in the inferior socio-economic classes (Keilow et.al. 2018). Therefore, the aspect of social environment can be a fundamental argument confirming the social character of ADHD and the problem of gender issues is also important in development of the disorder.

The attention deficit problem is more common for boys than for girls. It does not associate with their brain differences or functions of the nervous system. Mainly, gender stereotypes impact the consciousness of children differently. Scientists confirm sufficient distinctions in statistical data and assume that “they may be consistently wrongly identified and underdiagnosed because of discrepancies in the expression of the disorder among boys and girls” (Skogli et.al. 2013). Moreover, they express the peculiarities of their character differently because they are educated and brought up variously and form the perspective of gender stereotypes. For example, from the early childhood, girls are explained about their duties giving them baby-dolls and set of kitchen pans for games, while boys are taught to be soldiers, encouraging them to play with toy weapons and cars. Therefore, males can become more aggressive and active than females. Gender stereotypes, which are constantly spreading in the school, media and at home cause stigma consciousness, which leads to ADHD development. The stigmatization of the child’s consciousness can also be induced by other social factors like economic and financial.

There is a direct link between economic status of the family and the ADHD problem. The majority of the children with attention disorders come from the families living below the poverty line. The surveys confirm the relation of the economic status of the family with the psychological problems of the children (Filipe 2011). In addition, the majority of the individuals with ADHD had parents without a degree, or at least their mother had not acquired higher education. Although the scientists in the area of genetics give a variety of arguments proving the genetic risk factors of the disorder, the studies provide stronger evidence that the problem is linked to social and economic disadvantages (Erlandsson and Punzi 2016). The age of a mother also turned to be a strong factor for the occurring of the condition. Further, investigating economically disadvantageous families, the researchers identified additional sociological factor – the impact of a mother. Her influence is the strongest, since she is the main source of child’s first home education and a primary social chain in the life of an offspring. The school or the kindergarten is the second essential social structure. However, some racial prejudices can become the obstacles in the child’s social life. Racial disparities in primary educational establishments can leave the individual behind the social chains and create the premises for the ADHD formation. Besides, racial issues may become a problem, since the racial discrimination is still a serious social issue in the USA. Particularly, African American and Latin American children suffer from complicated economic situation and racial inequality. They cannot receive sufficient psychological assistance and might attain ADHD as a consequence of difficult social life. Despite the variety of social factors, the disorder becomes increasingly medicalized and viewed as a biological problem.

ADHD Medicalization

ADHD is increasingly becoming a psychiatric diagnosis. The cause of the disorder is the structure of the brain. Modern medical technics allow to investigate the issue deeper and conclude that it is related with the size of some brain sections (Filipe 2011). Thus, in the children with ADHD, less activity in the prefrontal cortex was identified. The part is responsible for blocking some responses. Furthermore, the cerebellum area is smaller in the individuals with ADHD and it can be the reason for anxiety, impulsivity and hyperactivity. This diagnosis could not be accepted earlier, since the possibilities in the area of brain investigations were limited.

From a different perspective, it is possible to object that the diagnoses appear form the rise of psychiatry. The process of medicalization of the activity disorder started when the psychiatry attained a nationally wide level (Filipe 2011). It is not related with the ability of scientists to identify the brain problems, but with the extension of new specialists, who define social problems as the psychiatric disorder. They offer service and the parents are happy to receive assistance and magical pills form hyperactivity, while in fact, some children may have problems with school communication or lack the parents’ attention, spending all the time playing computer games and watching media resources. Thus, non-medical issues like weak attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity become the symptoms (Filipe 2011). The parents pay for consultations of the specialists and for the pills, making ADHD be advantageous for the medical providers and for the pharmaceutical companies.

Modern pharmaceutical companies work for their profitability and make the disorder one of the sources of their business. ADHD, which actually cannot be identified as a disease, is constantly spreading, insulating more and more children and making pharmaceutics companies richer (Erlandsson and Punzi 2016). This industry is one of the biggest in America and around the world, since the need for the medication is always acute. Additionally, internet resources expand the advertisement and information about a nontraditional disease, which makes the life of parents and teachers terrible. The former tend to identify this disease as a single solution for all the problems related with the educational process, laziness, character features, activity and focus problems. In other words, they look for the easiest ways to solve the issues associated with social aspects.

During the last years, parent advocacy groups started their activity in America, moving further to Europe and the entire world. The groups spread the self-diagnosing check list, which can identify ADHD (Erlandsson and Punzi 2016). However, the diagnosis of the medical problem needs some laboratory tests and analyses. The groups receive the funding form the pharmaceutical companies, which advertise their pills form ADHD (Erlandsson and Punzi 2016). It is a mutually comfortable and profitable business, which enlarges the problem and convinces parents to treat their children medically, instead of professional psychological assistance.

Conclusion

Thus, the intensive development of pharmaceutical industry and the growth of psychiatry’s impact on society make ADHD increasingly medicalized, while the sociological investigations prove that the problem is related to sociological consequences. ADHD is an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which can be characterized as active, impulsive and anxious behavior. The patients are not able to focus their attention and listen to the speaker for a long time. Besides, the statistics confirms that the environment plays one of the most essential roles in the formation of ADHD. The domestic relations, communication with parents and environment within the educational establishment can increase the threat of the development of the condition. Gender stereotypes, racial disparities and other social factors create the premises for ADHD, as the problem which is rather social than medical.