Discourses about children's mental health and developmental disorders in North American women's magazines 1990-2012

Abstract

This paper describes and analyses the portrayal of children's mental health and developmental issues (CMHI) in articles located in a random sample of a selection of available high-circulating English language North American ‘women's magazines’ indexed in the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature from 1990 to 2012. It is based upon a qualitative discourse analysis. CMHI are portrayed as materially, biologically real, prevalent and growing in incidence, and severity. They are also portrayed as located in the ‘non-normal’, ‘non-nice’, ‘disliked’ and ‘non-successful’ individual child. Neither the facticity nor the biomedicalization of CMHI is questioned. The psy-scientists and practitioners cited as experts for the ‘disorders’ offer contradictory and confusing information and advice. The possible theoretical and pragmatic explanations and consequences of this portrayal are discussed.