Ritalin®: Panic in the USA

Miller, Toby 2008. Ritalin®: Panic in the USA. Cultural Studies Review 14 (2) , pp. 103-112.

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Abstract

Ritalin® is a popular pharmaceutical. It keeps young people quiet and focused, but attracts intense opprobrium. Beginning with an account of the dimensions of Ritalin®’s use in the United States and controversies surrounding it, this article outlines how this might be understood in moral-panic terms and examines the role of the psy-function and various conflicts of interest, coverage in popular culture, and governmental responses. In many cases, progressive academics and activists have criticised moral panics, recuperating moral-panic folk devils as semiotic guerrillas struggling against authority. In this instance, however, the scene is too complex and multifaceted for that heroisation. There are no good guys; there is lots of panic, from all political-economic quarters. Some of it is justified—and none of it is straightforward.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Journalism, Media and Culture
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races R Medicine > RM Therapeutics. Pharmacology
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Ritalin®; moral panic; psy-function; ADHD
Publisher:	UTS ePress
ISSN:	1837-8692
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	04 May 2023 11:53
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/53564

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