Abstract

CHOUHY ALGORTA, Pablo. Psychological practices within school context in relation to pharmaceuticals consumption. Psicol. Conoc. Soc. [online]. 2019, vol.9, n.1, pp.66-83.  Epub June 01, 2019. ISSN 1688-7026.  https://doi.org/10.26864/pcs.v9.n1.8.

This paper advances some results from the research “Psychological practices within schools in the context of the medicalization of childhood”. Said research built on recent work based on Foucault’s notion of “governmentality” (Foucault, 2006) to conceptualize child subjectivities and the so-called "psi" practices.

Research methods drew on a qualitative research strategy based on the approach and guidelines of Grounded Theory’s. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with psychologists who worked in schools in the city of Montevideo and metropolitan area, both in the public and private sub-systems.

The results discussed in this paper focus primarily on pharmacological issues. Psychologists working within school contexts are concerned about teachers’ tendency to give pharmacological response to students’ behavioral problems. Consequently, they develop myriad actions of interventions with teachers, working with the latter on the meanings and logics of this phenomenon. Psychologists’ goal is to achieve a more assertive response by educational establishments. They do not take a moral stance regarding psychopharmaceutical consumption in childhood, though they worry about abuse. They deem these practices as conducive to “psychologization” (Rose, 1996), which collides with neuroscientific approaches.

Keywords : Psychopharmaceuticals; psychological practice; governmentality.

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