Neurodivergent Youthhoods: Adolescent Rites of Passage, Disability and the Teenage Epilepsy Clinic

Adolescent rites of passage are common sociocultural processes that permeate all aspects of social life. This book explores how normative, biomedical, and psychologized understandings of youth development influence social life. Shelda-Jane Smith's institutional ethnography of a UK teenage epilepsy clinic demonstrates how the prevailing social expectation of transitioning from a dependent child to an independent, self-sufficient adult organizes clinical care. Smith questions what happens to transitional processes when young people do not conform to the social standards and expectations of youthhood. She draws from Science and Technology Studies, Critical Psychology, and Disability Studies and Medical Anthropology to provide an invaluable lens for unpacking the underlying assumptions and tensions of care provision when young people do not emerge into adulthood in socially expected ways.

Format: Hardback
Length: 142 pages
Publication date: 01 August 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Adolescent rites of passage are widespread sociocultural phenomena that permeate various aspects of social life. As transitional healthcare becomes an increasingly prominent feature within pediatric and adolescent healthcare, this book explores how normative, biomedical, and psychologized understandings of youth development shape social interactions.

Through an in-depth institutional ethnography of a UK teenage epilepsy clinic, Shelda-Jane Smith examines how the prevailing social expectation of transitioning from a dependent child to an independent, self-sufficient adult becomes the guiding principle of clinical care. By interrogating the daily work of the clinic and the experiences of parental and professional caregivers, Smith explores how the shift from pediatric to adult healthcare is renegotiated in the context of severe and profound learning disabilities. She questions what happens to transitional processes when young people do not conform to the social standards and expectations of youthhood that are imposed upon them.

Smith draws from the disciplines of Science and Technology Studies, Critical Psychology, Disability Studies, and Medical Anthropology to provide a valuable lens for unpacking the underlying assumptions and tensions of care provision when young people do not emerge into adulthood in socially expected ways. Her research sheds light on the complex dynamics and challenges faced by healthcare professionals and families as they navigate the transition from childhood to adulthood for individuals with diverse disabilities.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032217932