Abstract
Drawing on data gathered through qualitative techniques, I suggest that the management of problems faced by children with a specific invisible neurological difference, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, teaches us about problematic areas of postindustrial society. I pay particular attention to how members of the children's and parents' separate moral universes assign stigma and to such behavioral-management techniques as patterned scheduling and “super-momming.” The problematic areas of contemporary life that I identify include the call for social conformity in the face of an ostensible demand for flexible social arrangements.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bogdan, Robert and Steven J. Taylor 1989 “Relationships with severely disabled people: The social construction of humanity.” Social Problems 36 (April) 135–148.
Bower, Bruce 1994 “Brain Images Delve into Hyperactivity.” Science News 145 (May 14): 309.
Cahill, Spenser 1987 Children and civility: Ceremonial deviance and the acquisition of ritual competence.” Social Psychology Quarterly 50(4): 312–321.
Chodorow, Nancy and Susan Contratto 1982 “The myth of the perfect mother.” In Barrie Thorne with Marilyn Yalom (eds.), Rethinking the Family. New York: Longmanns.
Cohen, Donald J., Sharon I. Ort, James F. Leckman, Mark A. Riddle, and Maureen T. Hardin 1988 “Family functioning and Tourette's Syndrome.” In Donald J. Cohen, Ruth D. Bruun, and James F. Leckman (eds.), Tourettes Syndrome and Tic Disorders: Clinical Understanding and Treatment: 179–196. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Conrad, Peter 1978 Identifying Hyperactive Children. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
Conrad, Peter and Joseph Schneider 1980 Deviance and Medicalization. St. Louis, MO, Mosby.
Ernst, Monique, Laura L. Liebenauer, and A. Catherine King 1994 “Reduced brain metabolism in hyperactive firs.” Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 33 (July–August): 858–868.
Garfinkle, Harold 1967 Studies in Ethnomethdology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Goffman, Ervin 1963 Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. New York: Simon & Shuster.
1974 Frame Analysis. New York: Harper & Row.
Hallowell, Edward and John Ratey 1994 Driven to Distraction
Hartmann, Thom 1993 Attention Deficit Disorder: A Different Perception. Lancaster, PA: Underwood-Miller.
Hochshild, Arlie with Ann Machung 1989 The Second Shift. New York: Viking.
Hughes, Everett C. 1957 Men at Work. New York: Free Press.
Hummon, David M. 1995 “Children, childhood, and the construction of social concern.“ Presented at the 65th meetings of the Eastern Sociological Society, April 1.
Mehan, Hugh, Alma Hertweek, and J. Lee Niehls 1986 Handicapping the Handicapped: Decision-Making in Students Educational Careers. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Ryan, Mary Patricia 1981 Cradle of the Middle Class: The Family in Oneida County New york, 1970–1985. New York: Cambridge niversity Pres.
Semrud-Clikeman, Margaret, Pauline A. Filipek, and Joseph Biederman 1994 “Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and magnetic resonance imaging morphometric analyses of the corpus callosum.” Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 33: (July–august): 852–881.
Stacey, Judith 1991 Brave New Families. New York: Basic Books.
Thorne, Barrie 1993 Gender Play: Girls and Boys in School. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Thorne, Barrie with Marily Yalom 1982 Rethinking the Family. New York: Longmanns.
Traustadottir, Rannveig 1991 “Mothers who care: Gender, disability and family life.” Journal of Family Issues 12: 221–228.
Turnbull, Colin M. 1972 The Mountain People. New York: Simon and Shuster.
Zola, Irving Kenneth 1982 Missing Pieces: A Chronicle of Living with a Disability. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Presidential Address delivered to Eastern Sociological Society, Philadelphia, PA, April 1, 1995.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tuchman, G. ESS presidential address, 1995—invisible differences: On the management of children in postindustrial society. Sociol Forum 11, 3–23 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02408299
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02408299