Work

Give My Child a Label : Strategies of Epistemic Corroboration in Case-Building within Child Mental Health Assessments

Year: 2023

Type: article

Abstract: Child mental health services are in rising demand, but increasingly overstretched and difficult for families to access. This article examines rhetorical techniques used by parents seeking a mental health diagnosis for their child. Using recordings of consultations from a child mental health clinic (UK) with 28 families, analysis focuses on the use of ‘epistemic corroboration’, a strategy by which third-party candidate diagnoses are reported to support the parents’ case. That is, parents draw upon the expertise of non-present professional persons to strengthen their proposed diagnostic claims. Conversation analysis shows how this epistemic corroboration is reported by parents and received by mental health practitioners. Conclusions illustrate that mental health diagnosis for children is actively pursued by parents as they navigate labelling. This has implications for understanding the dilemmas created for families of possible medicalisation of their child to achieve the levels of support being sought.

Source: Sociology

DOI: 10.1177/00380385221147144

Authors: Michelle O’Reilly, Nikki Kiyimba, Victoria Lee, Ian Hutchby

Institutions: University of Leicester, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, University of York

Language: English

Topic: Psychology and Mental Health

Subfield: Clinical Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,500