Dialogues about medicalization of childhood and education: A literature review

Abstract

This study aimed to review the Brazilian scientific production on medicalization in the field of education. A systematic search was carried out in the Brazilian literature with the keywords pathologization of life, medicalization of education, learning, teaching and childhood. In all, 40 articles published between 2010 and 2016, indexed in the Scientific Electronic Library Online - SciELO, were selected for analysis. The information was analyzed based on the thematic content analysis proposed by Bardin. The results showed a diversity of understandings about the concept of medicalization. Some articles reported the occurrence of educational practices that produce suffering and the individualization of school complaints, evidencing a disagreement between the production of literature and the daily routine of schools. There has been also a significant increase in diagnoses of ADHD and drug therapies in the treatment of school complaints, thus expanding the pharmaceutical industry by conceiving children as potential consumers of medication. Finally, new studies are indicated to broaden the sources of research, incorporating also theses and dissertations. It is also recommended the realization of research with children, relatives, and the school community so as to analyze the impact of medicalization on the subjectivity and performance of students.