TY - JOUR
T1 - Pharmaceutical entanglements
T2 - an analysis of the multiple determinants of ADHD medication effects in a Chilean school
AU - Rojas Navarro, Sebastian
AU - Vrecko, Scott
PY - 2017/6/1
Y1 - 2017/6/1
N2 - This article draws upon findings from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a Chilean school to explore how the effects of globally circulating ADHD medications emerge within the localized contexts of everyday users. An analysis of observations of children on ADHD medications within classroom settings is developed which challenges the assumption, pervasive within biomedical paradigms, that the effects of such medications can be understood as resulting directly from their chemical properties and biological modes of action. Our case study highlights the significance of multiple, interacting determinants of drug effects in an everyday setting, focusing in particular on classroom dynamics, teacher-student relations, and the agency of children taking the medications. We conclude that while ADHD medications may act in part by altering physiological processes, an adequate account of their effects requires that analytic attention extends to the sociomaterial contexts in which medications and users are embedded.
AB - This article draws upon findings from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a Chilean school to explore how the effects of globally circulating ADHD medications emerge within the localized contexts of everyday users. An analysis of observations of children on ADHD medications within classroom settings is developed which challenges the assumption, pervasive within biomedical paradigms, that the effects of such medications can be understood as resulting directly from their chemical properties and biological modes of action. Our case study highlights the significance of multiple, interacting determinants of drug effects in an everyday setting, focusing in particular on classroom dynamics, teacher-student relations, and the agency of children taking the medications. We conclude that while ADHD medications may act in part by altering physiological processes, an adequate account of their effects requires that analytic attention extends to the sociomaterial contexts in which medications and users are embedded.
KW - ADHD
KW - agency
KW - children
KW - constraints
KW - ethnography
KW - medicalization
KW - pharmaceutical entanglements
KW - Stimulant medication
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85044872166&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/17482631.2017.1298268
DO - 10.1080/17482631.2017.1298268
M3 - Article
C2 - 28532328
AN - SCOPUS:85044872166
SN - 1748-2631
VL - 12
JO - International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being
JF - International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being
ER -