ABSTRACT
The medicalization of hyperactivity is one example of a larger phenomenon that is prevalent in society: the medicalization of deviant behavior. Medicalization of deviant behavior is not entirely new; it has been historically true for mental illness since the seventeenth century and even slaves who ran away were once considered to be suffering from the disease drapedomania. There is a darker side to the medicalization of deviant behavior. The four aspects of this side of the issue include: the problem of expert control, medical social control, the individualization of social problems, and the depolitization of deviant behavior. The medical profession is a profession of experts, especially in terms of the care and maintenance of the body. The medicalization of deviant behavior is part of a larger phenomenon that is prevalent in society, the individualization of social problems. Depolitization of deviant behavior is actually a result of both the process of medicalization and individualization of social problems.
