Medicalizing children and adolescents

• Autor(a) principal: Freitas, Fernando
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Azevedo, Luciana Jaramillo Caruso de
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por; eng
• Título da fonte: Estudos de Sociologia
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.fclar.unesp.br/estudos/article/view/16590
• topic: Medicalização; Crianças; Adolescência; Comportamentos infantis; Medicalization; Children; Adolescence; Childhood behaviors; Medicalización; Niños; Adolescencia; Comportamientos infantiles

The medicalization is a progressive phenomenon characteristic of contemporary society. The purpose of this article is to critically analyze the foundations of the disease model based on the biomedical perspective that justifies diagnosing and treating children's behaviors with psychiatric drugs, understanding them as mental illnesses. At the center of the justification for the medicalization of children's behavior is the idea that drugs (psychopharmaceuticals) will correct an underlying biological, brain abnormality. However, the medicalization of childhood lacks sufficient scientific evidence and works as a strategy for social control and normalization. The term ‘mental disorder’ is used to designate people who do not behave in the expected way or when they do not conform to social norms. It is the expression of social control disguised as medical treatment. The negative consequences of medicalization constitute strong threats to public health, culture, and human rights.