Schubert2009

From emcawiki
Jump to: navigation, search
Schubert2009
BibType ARTICLE
Key Schubert2009
Author(s) Sarah J. Schubert, Susan Hansen, Kyle R. Dyer, Mark Rapley
Title “ADHD patient” or “illicit drug user”?: managing medico-moral membership categories in drug dependence services
Editor(s)
Tag(s) adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, amphetamine, discursive psychology, drug dependence, membership categorization analysis
Publisher
Year 2009
Language
City
Month
Journal Discourse & Society
Volume 20
Number 4
Pages 499–516
URL Link
DOI 10.1177/0957926509104025
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

Download BibTex

Abstract

Amphetamine-dependent patients seeking treatment are diagnosed with ADHD at a significantly higher rate than members of the general population. To study this relationship as it is constructed in everyday life, we draw on membership categorization analysis to examine how individuals account for their candidate memberships in two social categories — 'illicit amphetamine user' and 'ADHD patient'. We analyse interviews with four drug-dependent individuals, diagnosed with adult ADHD, undergoing detoxification treatment in Perth, Western Australia. Participants formulated their problematic behaviour via membership in the morally neutral category 'ADHD patient' and methodically constructed symptoms as predicates of this category, despite the availability of the equally valid alternative category 'illicit amphetamine user'. The category 'ADHD patient' is shown to be functional: it absolves drug users from responsibility for troublesome conduct, and provides continued access to amphetamines as 'medication'. In such cases, the diagnosis of ADHD arguably affords the conditions of possibility for an iatrogenic disorder in that the prescription of ATS medication provides for a morally and legally sanctioned form of drug dependence.

Notes