Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Essa dissertação tem por objetivo apresentar, de forma panorâmica, uma revisão histórica sobre o conceito de medicalização, analisando como o entendimento sobre este processo se transformou nas últimas décadas, passando de críticas mais ortodoxas, que julgavam ser este processo fruto de um imperialismo médico sobre a sociedade, às críticas contemporâneas, orientadas por uma compreensão mais nuançada a respeito do tema. Dentre as principais mudanças na leitura da medicalização, está o entendimento desta enquanto um processo interativo e coletivo, composto por inúmeros participantes-chave com interesses e papéis distintos na atualidade. Enquanto os primeiros teóricos da década 70 realçam a crítica ao controle social e malefícios da medicina, numa abordagem mais recente os indivíduos deixam de ser vistos como vítimas para protagonizarem o cenário de negociação pública acerca das fronteiras que legislam sobre os processos de saúde e doença. A noção de medicalização caminhou no sentido de uma complexidade maior, trazendo desafios que não são tão facilmente resolvíveis na conjuntura contemporânea. Ao final, destacamos como um dos desdobramentos centrais desta dissertação a pertinência atual de uma revisão mais apurada sobre o assunto, principalmente no que concerne ao tema do estreitamento da normalidade, onde o conceito de medicalização pode funcionar como uma ferramenta conceitual útil de análise. Aludimos ao exemplo da psiquiatria como um analisador nessa discussão, considerando o papel social historicamente desempenhado por esta na delimitação de fronteiras que, no fundo, ainda versam sobre antigos dilemas sobre normalidade e anormalidade. Para tanto, este estudo traz uma revisão histórica sobre o conceito de medicalização através das contribuições mais relevantes da literatura internacional. / This study aims to present a historical review of the medicalization concept, analyzing how the understanding about of this process has changed in the past decades, moving from a orthodox point of view that considered this to be the result of a medical imperialism process on the society, until a modern-day critics, guided by a more nuanced understanding of the theme. Among the major changes in the reading of the medicalization, is the perception of it as an interactive and collective process, composed of numerous key players, each one with different interests and roles nowadays. While early authors of the 70 emphasized the social control and the damage caused by medicine, in a more recent approach individuals are no longer seen as victims, but as important advocates for medicalization. The individuals have begun to play a more significant role in this process, becoming key actors of a public debate about the ever-shifting boundary that legislate on the processes of health and disease. The notion of medicalization advanced towards a complex approach, bringing challenges that are quite different nowadays. Finally, we highlight a central development of this research presenting a more thorough review on the subject, especially regarding the issue of narrowing the normal, where the concept of medicalization can function as a useful conceptual tool of analysis. The example of psychiatry is mentioned as an analyzer question in this discussion, considering the social role historically played by this in the delimitation of boundaries that still deal with old problems about normality and abnormality. Therefore, this study provides a historical review of the concept of medicalization through the most relevant contributions of the international literature.

The person behind the diagnosis is a qualitative interview study by Nicole Kling. The study examines how parents of children with Down syndrome experience the social treatment in a time when prenatal diagnosis is on the rise. Foucault’s biopolitical and Rose’s ethopolitical perspectives serve as theoretical frameworks for the analysis of how the parents experience and relate to the social treatment of them and their children. The study’s results show that society’s strong norms of normality play a crucial role for the interviewed parents’ experiences of being regarded as “deviating”. Ignorance, undemandingness and carelessness lead to discrimination of the children, and the lack of expectations of society on them is often seen by the parents as more disabling than the diagnosis itself. In such a society children born with Down syndrome can be seen as pathological elements in a population that strives for normality. Therefore, this study wishes to contribute to the body of research dedicated to explore the impact of biopolitical strategies on the plurality of society. / Människan bakom diagnosen är en kvalitativ intervjustudie gjord av Nicole Kling. Studien undersöker hur föräldrar till barn med Downs syndrom upplever det samhälleliga bemötandet i en tid där fosterdiagnostik är på framväxt. Foucaults biopolitiska och Roses etopolitiska perspektiv fungerar som teoretiska ramverk för analysen av hur föräldrarna upplever och förhåller sig till det samhälleliga bemötandet av dem och deras barn. Studiens resultat visar att samhällets starka normalitetsnormer spelar en avgörande roll för de intervjuade föräldrarnas upplevelser av att de och deras barn i och med diagnosen betraktas som ”avvikande”. Okunskap, kravlöshet och slarv leder till diskriminering av barnen, och samhällets bristande förväntningar på dem ses av föräldrarna ofta som mer funktionsnedsättande än diagnosen i sig. I ett sådant samhälle kan barn som trots allt föds med Downs syndrom ses som patologiska inslag i en befolkning som strävar efter normalitet. Studien hoppas därför kunna bidra till det forskningsfält som avser undersöka biopolitiska strategiers påverkan på mångfald.

The aim of the present dissertation is to investigate attitudes toward individuals suffering from functional disorders or categorized as disabled and the conditions under which they have lived. The present author applies an historical perspective and identifies three significant turning points: the end of the eighteenth century and beginnings of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The terms ”care” and ”control” reflect the complexity and conflict inherent in the perception and handling of these individuals. In the first period, folklore helped both explain and shape the way people apprehended infants born with functional disabilities or whose mental or physical developmet was aberrant. The inroads made by science during the eighteenth century helped combat these notions with knowledge and information. Upon ”discovering” the handicapped, the advocates of science identified them as an untapped source of labor. All that was needed was a conscientious upbringing and education. As a consequence, and with the blessings of the state and private charitable institutes, an increasing number of experts assumed parental obligation, thereby initiating a comprehensive institutionalization. The second period is epitomized by the founding of the first special needs school in Sweden, the National Institute for the Blind and Deaf-Mute in Stockholm in 1809. The actions of individuals like the energetic Per Aron Borg and the blind woman Charlotta Seuerling´s desire to receive a better education were small events with major significance. The diverging views of politicians and teachers on the form and content of lessons, which can be boiled down to a matter of theoretical knowledge versus practical vocational training, are also discussed. In the third period I focus on the increased control to which individuals with functional disabilities, specifically the vision-impaired and blind, were subjected at the outset of the twentieth century. Beginning in 1903, a countrywide inspection tour visited the blind in their homes. The inspectors were given the dual task of offering concrete support to the blind and look into their abilities to support themselves and live socially-approved, moral lives. It was an invasion of privacy with good intentions. The accumulated results showed that only a small number of individuals were able to support themselves in the trades they had acquired at blind school. Most continued to be dependent on relatives, social services and charitable donations.

This dissertation is an inductive, qualitative study of a theatre programme with persons with intellectual disabilities. The aims of the dissertation were: • to explore the experiences had by the actors as expressed through their descriptions, images and narratives, • to explore the context in which these descriptions, images and narratives take place and, • to conceptualise the experiences had by the actors. In the project, the following three qualitative methods were combined: qualitative interviews, participant observations and research circles. The theoretical framework is mainly built on three theoretical standpoints - social constructionism; the theoretical perspective that describes disability as a balance between deviance and normality; and cultural analysis. The analysis shows that the theatre and artistic programme are experienced as something new, interesting and qualitatively different from their earlier experiences. Their daily activities in the theatre are organized around and influenced by an artistic rationale. The work, the physical environment, and relations with the leaders of the theatre are different from the traditional social care setting (daily work places, group homes etc.) in which the actors are socialized. The analysis also shows a tension, in the theatre practice, between disability policy and artistic aims. On one hand, the programme has to consider the consequences of disability and disability ideology in their daily work. On the other hand, the focus of the theatre is on artistic aims and on the actors’ skills as producers of theatre and art. The social care setting, of which the theatre is a part, emphasises deviance (the problems and shortcomings of the actors) whereas the theatre emphasises normality (the artistic skills of the actors). Through their participation in the theatre company, the actors have gained a new role - the role of actors and producers of theatre and art, and not only the role of clients in the social service system. The actors also experience ambivalence from their social surroundings, such as in the theatre arena where the audience applauds their acting, whereas in other arenas they experience dissociating interaction. Both roles, being a client and being a theatre actor, are integrated in the self-understanding of the actors. In this way, the actors’ self-images can be described as a balance between deviance (intellectually disabled) and normality (theatre actor). Through their participation in the theatre, they also gained fellowship among other actors and between the actors and the leaders. This is analyzed in terms of affinity grouping. That is, the theatre can be understood as a community where the members share common interests and goals. Through the processes and acts in this community, the actors develop confidence and the strength to stand up for themselves. Against this background, parallels are discussed to disability culture and disability arts.

Normal children acquire the necessary social habits without being consciously aware of this, they learn instinctively. (Author’s translation from Swedish to English) (Asperger & Frith, 1998, s. 21)   This essay is about people who do not learn to socialize, the social habits, instinctively but through conscious learning. We have interviewed three adults with the diagnosis of Asperger syndrome with the aim to let them tell us about what it means to have a neuropsychiatric disability. We will briefly describe how the Asperger syndrome is described in the literature and what facilities are offered within the Swedish health care system. A diagnosis refer to a deviation from what is assumed to be the normal, therefore we will put forward theories concerning the norm of normality and normativity. We have tried through a theoretical discussion to deepen our understanding of identity formation and found the following arguments are reliable individual identity is shaped by three sub-aspects of identity; the identity of biological, psychological identity and social identity. Based on these theoretical arguments, a reasoning regarding how this affects what people with Asperger syndrome will and can tell us about when they talk about how they perceive their life before and after they have been diagnosed. Our intention is to critically discuss how identity formation is affected and how normality are handled and experienced by a group people with this diagnosis. / Normala barn tillägnar sig nödvändiga sociala vanor utan att vara medvetet uppmärksamma på detta, de lär sig instinktivt. (Asperger & Frith, 1998, s. 21) Denna uppsats handlar om människor som inte lär sig sociala vanor instinktivt utan att säger sig att göra det genom medveten intellektuell inlärning. I den här uppsatsen har vi intervjuat tre vuxna med diagnosen Asperger syndrom för att kunna belysa vad det kan innebära att ha en neuropsykiatrisk funktionsnedsättning. Vi kommer kortfattat att beskriva hur Asperger syndrom beskrivs i litteraturen och vilka hjälpmedel som erbjuds inom svensk sjukvård. En diagnos refererar till en avvikelse från vad som antas vara normalt och därför kommer vi att resonera kring det normala och normativitet. Varje individ skapar sig en identitet och i den här studien har vi utgått från förklaringar baserade på tre delaspekter; biologisk, psykologisk och social identitet. Vi har också sökt teoretiska resonemang för att fördjupa förståelsen kring identitetskapande. Med utgångspunkt i dessa teoretiska resonemang har vi resonerat kring hur detta kan påverka vad människor med Asperger syndrom berättar om när de talar om hur de upplever sitt liv före och efter att de har fått diagnosen. Vår avsikt är att kritiskt resonera kring hur identitetskapande påverkas och hur normalitet kan hanteras och upplevas av några människor med denna diagnos.  Studien har resulterat i ett resonemang kring hur diagnosen kan förstås dels som en förutsättning för att få de hjälpmedel dessa människor behöver för att leva ett normalt liv, dels vad just normalitet innebär och hur detta kan förstås påverka dessa människor utifrån de tre normativa aspekterna för identitetskapande. Vi menar att det är viktigt att kritiskt förhålla sig till vad som betraktas som normalt. Vidare att det behövs en förståelse för vad denna normalitet innebär och upplevs som av människor som avviker eller inte uppfyller de normativa kraven i det samhälle som de lever i.

No description available.

Asthma is a chronic condition affecting approximately 235 million people worldwide, yet international studies have identified that most adolescents with asthma have poor self-management skills. Asthma is common in adolescent males however only a few studies have specifically investigated the asthma experiences of this population group. The aim of this study was to explore how male adolescents understand and manage their asthma symptoms. A qualitative descriptive study design was selected to investigate the experiences of male adolescents, focusing on their perceptions of societal and masculine influences on their asthma management. Individual semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 15 male adolescents to capture data about their perceptions of masculinity, asthma management, interpersonal relationships, and their physical wellbeing. Findings support previous research illustrating that asthma restricts adolescent male’s lives, both at school and recreationally. This study established that these restrictions could unpredictably affect perceived masculine ideals and their ability to be independent, strong, muscular, and competitive. Consequently, the majority of participants felt their masculinity was challenged and described feeling different, isolated, and/or marginalised from their non-asthmatic peers. To counteract these feelings, maintain control, and seek normality in front of peers, most participants reported downplaying their asthma symptoms and/or did not adhere to their prescribed treatment regimes. In addition, hegemonic representations of males as ‘tough’ and ‘self-reliant’ influenced most participants to describe re-active, non-help seeking behaviours, and minimisation of their asthma symptoms. However not all participants described adverse outcomes, with a minority resisting hegemonic ideals by taking care of their health and asthma management. Findings illustrate how a variety of masculine ideals influenced young men’s health and asthma management. Further research is required to investigate the ways differential masculine ideals may be protective or detrimental to asthma medication.

My essay explores how people talk about a woman´s supernatural ability in relation to normality and abnormality. In order to find this out I´ve made interviews with people inclose relations to Hildur Lawergren. Hildur lived all her life in Fole on Gotland where she was often interviewed in local papers and on the radio about her predictions on the coming weather. She used melted candles to make her predictions. The candles were melted down on Christmas eve. From patterns that the melted candles made Hildur claimed to make out pictures in her mind of the coming weather. When I analyzed my interviews I could see how the people close to Hildur struggled with understanding Hildurs ability. They had to find ways to handle the borders between normal and accepted abilitys and Hildurs more unusual ability. People often confronted Hildurs close relatives with questions of how the ability functions and if the relatives also had the ability. In some ways the people closest to Hildur separated her ability from the person Hildur, that was a beloved mother and grandmother. This shows when they mention the ability as “it” or “that”. I´ve concluded that the ability is seen as inheritable and is then possible to develop further using certain techniques. But if a person has not inherited the ability from birth it’s not at all possible to develop it later.

Submitted dissertation is focused on methods of robust normality testing and applications of robust tests in verifying hypothesis of the weak form of efficiency in stock markets. In the dissertation, theory of efficient markets and approaches to verifying the weak form of market efficiency and normality assumption are being discussed. Novel robust testing procedures of testing normality are proposed in this work to overcome shortcomings of classical normality tests in the field of financial data, which are typical with occurrence of remote data points and additional types of deviations from normality. Results of power simulation study of classical and robust tests of normality against several types of alternative distributions, i.e. symmetric heavy-tailed, symmetric light-tailed, asymmetric heavy-tailed, asymmetric light-tailed, selected mixtures of normal distributions and outlier models, are presented. Based on outcome of the power simulation study, selected normality tests were consequently used to verify the weak form of efficiency in stock markets in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Slovakia, United States and Japan during years 2000-2009. In addition to selected classical and robust normality tests, Ljung-Box portmanteau test was also used. In conclusion, there is a discussion and comparison of results carried out and future trends of these markets are outlined.

The present research inserts itself in the Research Line of Special Education of the Course of Mastership of the Program of Post-Graduation in Education of the Federal University of Santa Maria UFSM. The interest of doing this research came from the moment that a female student with gifted and talented features was led to the project PIT team to proceed a pedagogical evaluation. This evaluation had the aim of verifying if this student could achieve the pedagogical conditions to enter in the first grade of the elementary school precociously. After the conclusion of the pedagogical evaluation it was realized that the student was pedagogically able to enter the school. From this fact, we investigated the process of school inclusion of the student with gifted and talented features, who attended the first grade of elementary school in a state public school in Santa Maria RS, problematizing questions related to school inclusion. Besides, other questions guided this study, among them: to accomplish a survey of the gifted and talented features this student showed during the observations in the classroom and on the family environment; to investigate in what way the disciplinary devices were used by the teacher A to become efficient the action of disciplinary power over the students bodies , especially on the observed student; to verify how the normative practices act around of the gifted and talented students; to analyze the speeches produced by the school inclusion polities; to propose a discussion about the school inclusion of the gifted and talented students hoping to problematize it. To answer these questions, I have made use of some Foucault s references besides other researchers who study this area. The data were collected from the observation of the daily routine in the classroom that the student was registered, as well as enrichment school activities, besides interviews with the student s teacher and parents. The results of the research point to a pedagogical practice that the disciplinary power and the power of the rule (FOUCAULT, 1988) contributed to the female student with gifted and talented features, in spite of being included, also was exposed to school exclusion situations. / A presente pesquisa insere-se na Linha de Pesquisa Educação Especial do Curso de Mestrado do Programa de pós-graduação em Educação da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria UFSM. O interesse em realizar esta pesquisa surgiu a partir do momento em que uma aluna com características de altas habilidades foi encaminhada para que a equipe do projeto PIT (Programa de Incentivo ao Talento) realizasse uma avaliação pedagógica. Esta avaliação tinha como finalidade verificar se a aluna obtinha condições pedagógicas para ingressar precocemente numa 1ª série do ensino fundamental. Após a conclusão da avaliação pedagógica foi constatado que a aluna encontrava-se pedagogicamente apta a ingressar na escola. A partir deste fato, buscamos investigar o processo de inclusão escolar da aluna com características de altas habilidades, que freqüentou à 1ª série do ensino fundamental de uma escola da rede pública estadual de Santa Maria RS, problematizando questões referentes à inclusão escolar. Além deste outros questionamentos nortearam este estudo, entre eles: realizar um levantamento das características de altas habilidades que a aluna manifestou durante as observações em sala de aula e no ambiente familiar; Investigar de que forma os dispositivos disciplinares foram utilizados pela professora A para tornar eficiente a ação do poder disciplinar sobre os corpos dos alunos, em especial da aluna observada; Verificar como as práticas normativas agem em torno dos alunos com altas habilidades; Analisar os discursos produzidos pelas Políticas de Inclusão Escolar; Propor uma discussão acerca da inclusão escolar dos alunos com altas habilidades buscando problematizá-la. Para responder a estes questionamentos utilizei alguns referenciais de Foucault além de outros pesquisadores que estudam nesta área. Os dados foram coletados a partir da observação do cotidiano da sala de aula em que a aluna foi matriculada, contou também com atividades de enriquecimento escolar, entrevistas com a professora e com os pais da menina. Os resultados da pesquisa apontam para uma prática pedagógica em que o poder disciplinar e o poder da norma (FOUCAULT, 1988) contribuíram para que a aluna com características de altas habilidades, apesar de ter sido incluída, também estava exposta a situações de exclusão escolar.