A history of medical practices in the case of autism: A Foucauldian analysis using archaeology and genealogy
Year: 2012
Type: article
Abstract: Psychiatric medicine constructs mental disorders from bodily conditions.Being able to medicalize disorders in this way, psychiatric medicine operates as an institution of social control through its power to label individuals as deviant and to establish particular bodily states as medical problems.In this dissertation, I apply Foucauldian concepts, theory, and methods to examine how the history of medical discourse on a particular bodily condition has produced truth about what distinguishes the normal from the pathological.Focusing on the case of autism -a modern-day disorder that now permeates the socio-medical landscape -I show how the relationship between psychiatric medicine and autism might be re-envisioned to provide an alternative perspective on how medical knowledge expands to construct a medical problem.Tracing the history of medical practices used on autistic children, I examine medical documents from the time that autism was constructed as a disorder in 1943 to 1987, when a treatment for autism was produced by behavioral psychology.Using Foucault's concepts of the clinical gaze, discipline, and power/knowledge, I show how two quite different discourses about autism within medicine emerged at different points in time.Moreover, through the application of Foucault's methods of archaeology and genealogy, I demonstrate how these disciplines determined what could and could not be stated about autism and how power influenced the production of these statements.Key among my findings are how similar disciplinary techniques gain and lose truth value I want to thank those whom I worked for and with at NEOMED, especially Dr. Chris Ritter for his encouraging words throughout my two and a half years there, and who truly helped me get where I am at today.I also want to thank three very special people from both NEOMED and Kent State: Natalie Bonfine, Mary Gallagher, and Kelly MacArthur.Each of them showed kindheartedness toward me that I can only hope to match.I leaned on them big time over the past several years.It is hard to imagine going through graduate school and completing a dissertation without their friendship, thoughtfulness, and support.The drinks and laughs we shared together…I'll never forget those moments…and those moments, I hope, will continue.My graduate student colleagues in the department at Akron deserve special mention.I want to thank Teresa Sisson for her friendship and encouraging words throughout my graduate career.We shared much together, from commiserating over course work to AKD, to the special events in our lives.
Author: David Skubby
Institution: University of Akron
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2523442215