Processes of Influence Between Groups of Actors Concerning the use of Ritalin^® and Analogous Medications by Children

Abstract

Autonomy with respect to psychostimulant medication for children has proven to be problematic in the face of the many influence processes at work in a climate of uncertainty and controversy over both the diagnosis of attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity (ADHD) and the medications associated with it, Ritalin® and analogous medications (RAM). The reconstruction of these influence processes using the framework of social representations theory allowed, in turn, for the reconstruction of a rather complex set of social dynamics based on a review of the literature. Among other things, this investigation revealed a landscape dominated by groups of professionals, where collaboration is more purposive than operative. In this context parents are subject to a concentration of influences in the form of pressure and scientific legitimation exerted mainly by groups of professional and scientific actors.