Normality, confession and identity By Eva Palmblad Abstract: The aim of this article is to analyse the expanding autobiographical literature concerned with neuro-psychiatric problems from a sociology of knowledge perspective. The literature shows a tendency towards objectivity and distancing, which supports a thesis of proto-professionalisation. But the accounts are impregnated with frames of understanding other than only scientific ones, with regard to both form and content. The confe ssional character of the accounts and the prevalence of themes such as truth, falsehood, guilt, shame, trial, redress and reconciliation indicate that moral, existential and even religiously coloured perspectives of interpretation are being applied. By way of conclusion, these autobiographies will be discussed against the background of socio-political changes in recent times, and also against the background of basic cultural features in modern societies. Background and problem are to be remedied by intervention by behavioural experts of a suitable kind, The maintenance of normality in our such as doctors, teachers, psychotherapists, modern society is a painstaking, social workers, etc. Organisational everlasting task. New generations of rationality is a given, as is the idea of citizens must be brought up to function pathology. optimally, that is, learning to do the right thing at the right place, and at the right Expert-based normalization efforts have time. Deficiencies of function should, gradually increased in scope and have according to this way of thinking, be partly changed in character over time. discovered as early as possible in order During recent decades one has been to facilitate correction. Prevention and able to witness an increased slant early intervention minimize the risk of towards working on the individual's spanners being thrown in the workings identity. Normalization nowadays operates of society's machinery. The necessary primarily within the individual citizen, premises for normalization efforts have something that tends to make externally long been socially accepted. The socio- applied regulations redundant. In a pathological frame of reference is by historically comparative perspective, it now well established. This frame of is now a question not so much of reference holds that personal shortcomings regulated intervention, but instead a SJDR - Volume 4, No.2 - 2002 95 Eva Palmblad question of change coming from within standards. Professional knowledge is the individual him or herself. One can disseminated not only through the see this tendency reflected in messages educational system. Mass media have that emphasize the importance of having become an increasingly important link a correct sense of 'disability awareness' in the dissemination of knowledge from and 'problem insight'. Working on the experts to lay people. individual's own identity is seen as the key phase in the process leading towards Proto-professionalization has obvious an adequate self-understanding. advantages. It increases the flexibility of professional help and support One thesis of this study is that experts systems. Well-informed lay people, are gaining a stronger hold in post- who are able to articulate their problems modern society. This is done through in a way that corresponds with the entering into new alliances and in new functioning of the system, are more contexts. Expert dominance is no longer likely to receive an appropriate so strongly linked to principles of response from professionals. The professional exclusivity and the staking inclination of the professional helpers is of claims. The strengthened position of likely to increase when they meet the experts is rather to do with a sense clients who are perceived to present of generosity, a desire to disseminate their problems as subjects for profes- models of explanation, judgement sional attention. The lay people feel criteria and therapeutic techniques to affirmed by the experts. The risk of increasingly numerous groups of prac- misunderstandings and subsequent mis- titioners, relatives and those affected by takes in the approach to and treatment the conditions in question, that is, to of the individual is reduced. Simply interested members of the public in stated, flexibility increases through a general. This tendency describes a diminished social distance between the movement towards proto-professionali- expert and the lay person (de Swaan sation. 1988: 245-246). The tendency towards proto-profes- The matter however has another side. In sionalisation means that lay people to the context of modern society, which is an increasing extent are becoming aimed at separating and remedying orientated towards professional pers- deviancy and that which is undesirable, pectives, concepts and categories. an increasing convergence between the People will increasingly understand and experts and the state is taking place. organise their every day life in Social control, professionalism and accordance with scientific principles. science are all parts of the same project: This also means a gradual adjustment to to highlight the problem of maladjust- ment. When individuals are found to be professional behavioural norms and 96 SJDR - Volume 4, No.2 - 2002 Normality, confession and identity poor, mentally unbalanced, criminal, on mbd/damp and related diagnoses has delinquent or in other ways behaving in been published. They address themselves a socially disturbing manner, society's to groups of professionals who come functionaries intervene with an officially into contact with the problems, to those sanctioned mandate. Authorities are affected and their families, as well as to focused on placing troublesome indi- interested members of the public viduals into categories, designed to (Palmblad 2000). We can speak of a make disciplining and normalizing neuro-psychiatric campaign in the intervention work more effectively. The Swedish daily press in the late nineties, problem formulation and the labelling with an aim of influencing public used by the different disciplines serve opinion in a pro-diagnostic direction. In to meet the power of public authority addition to journalistic and public half way. A rational mental health debate articles, there have been contri- policy, criminal policy etc., needs a butions highlighting the story of the secure knowledge base. Research uses lives of individuals and their families: knowledge about individuals gained by these make up a kind of testimonies of public authorities in the process of children and the parents and their dealing with norm breakers (Borjesson respective situations (Borjesson 1999). 1997). Against the backdrop of this constitutional link between experts and As the diagnostic culture has been society's control structures, the tightening gaining ground, a stream of auto- alliance between experts and lay biographical literature where those persons emerges in new relief. defined as functionally impaired and their families 'come out', has also reached the market. These autobio- Sources and implementation graphies can all be characterized as pro- diagnostic. This literature can be used The medical perspective on deviation is to shed light on the rationalization gaining ground in Sweden, something process mentioned above. In this study, which is evident in the approach to a I want to consider the rather abundant variety of problems in education, for autographical literature concerned with example with regard to children's neuro-psychiatric problems such as reading and writing difficulties (Zetterqvist mbd/damp, adhd, Asperger's and Nelson 2000). This is increasingly the Tourette's Syndromes from the per- case also with regard to problems of spective of a sociology of knowledge. concentration and activity. Swedish To be more specific, this is a public discourse on disturbances of perspective that treats the accounts as concentration and activity is characterised narratives with a specific structure and by uniformity and consensus. In the last content that say something about how decade a number of popularised books they have been socially produced. The SJDR - Volume 4, No.2 - 2002 97 Eva Palmblad autobiographies represent a bottom-up relate to the professional frameworks of perspective on the problems of con- interpretation, that is, how subjective centration and activity, which are experiences and insights relate to the currently the focus of much attention in objective facts and findings of the our country. experts. I will conclude with a discussion of these autobiographies against a The source material can be divided into background that is in part related to two main categories. One is parent- recent socio-political changes and in biographies written by parents of part to basic cultural features of modern children and young people with society. problems, where they describe their experiences. The other is what I call, The focus of the study is, to summarise for want of a better term, child- how the narrative forms within which biographies, where those personally individual life stories are told are affected by a neuro-psychiatric condition related to professional/scientific frames relate their experiences. Currently this of reference, to the allocation principles topic is dominated by parents' accounts, of the socio- and neo-liberal state, and since the relatively new diagnostics to the centrality of confession in the have thus far been applied mainly to normality efforts of our society. today's children and young people. It is a literature that is