TY - JOUR AU - Schorpp, Kristen PY - 2017/09/19 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Debate: The Medicalization of Childhood Psychiatric Illness JF - TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology JA - TRAILS VL - IS - SE - DO - UR - https://trails.asanet.org/article/view/debate-the-medicalization-of-childhood-psychiatric SP - AB - Medicalization is the process by which human problems or experiences become defined as medical problems with medical solutions. The goal of this in-class activity is to enable students to apply and evaluate a contemporary example of medicalization to better understand the driving forces and social implications of medicalization. The medicalization of psychiatric conditions in childhood, such as ADHD, bipolar disorder, and depression, has been a controversial issue given the sharp increase in medication use among children and the potential lasting impacts that this medication use has on individual outcomes, and is thus a fitting topic for in-class debate. This collaborative group activity engages all students in the class, encourages "big picture" thinking of the process of medicalization, and also incorporates core sociological themes related to medicalization. ER -