Social understanding of inattention

Vilar-Lluch, Sara 2024. Social understanding of inattention. Communication & Medicine 19 (1) , pp. 26-41. 10.1558/cam.22379

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Inattention, one of the defining traits of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity-Impulsivity Disorder (ADHD), is occasionally perceived as less worrying than hyperactivity and impulsivity. However, those individuals who manifest it are often targets of negative misjudgements. This paper examines how the symptom of inattention is understood among three social groups with an active role in the ADHD diagnosis: the medical, the educational and the family communities. It pays particular attention to (1) similarities across the groups and (2) evaluations relating to the symptom. As datasets, for the medical community the study considers the section of the DSM-5 concerning ADHD; for the teaching community, educational guidelines; and for the family, forum threads retrieved from addforums.com. A qualitative linguistic analysis was performed for each dataset to examine the representation and evaluation of the behavioural trait. The analysis draws on Systemic Functional Grammar, including Appraisal. Inattention is consistently evaluated negatively in all three datasets, as impacting not only activities that require strong cognitive involvement, but also a wide range of ordinary activities. Differences in the representation of the symptom of inattention are explained by the pragmatic functions of the three textual genres examined.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	English, Communication and Philosophy
Publisher:	Equinox Publishing
ISSN:	1612-1783
Date of Acceptance:	6 December 2022
Last Modified:	16 Sep 2024 15:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/171816

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item