Learning difficulties and psychiatric science: a critical reading

Authors

  • Maria Alice Moreira Lima Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais; Departamento de Psicologia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.1981-1624.v20i3p441-458

Abstract

This article presents a critical examination of the ways in which learning difficulties were addressed by the psychiatric science when they emerged as a major social problem. Despite the influence of the various theories about children and their development produced in the first half of the 20th century, this article identifies a predominance of the functionalist approach to the identification of the learning disability, a tendency evident in the search for an organic causality or the regarding of a "psychic causality" as an attempt to justify the learning disability. In both situations is evident the silencing of children, who are treated as mere subjects of several scientific speculations.

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Published

2015-12-01

Issue

Section

Dossier

How to Cite

Lima, M. A. M. (2015). Learning difficulties and psychiatric science: a critical reading . Clinical Styles. The Journal on the Vicissitudes of Childhood, 20(3), 441-458. https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.1981-1624.v20i3p441-458