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"Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails": Boys and Behaviour in the USA.
- Source :
-
Canadian bulletin of medical history = Bulletin canadien d'histoire de la medecine [Can Bull Med Hist] 2019; Vol. 36 (1), pp. 51-79. Date of Electronic Publication: 2019 Mar 22. - Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn , Mark Twain introduced two of the most iconic boys in American literature. Tom and Huck become heroic figures, despite their penchant for bad behaviour. Indeed, it is their propensity to be impulsive, break rules and defy authority that win them the day. Today, however, Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn have become the posterboys for a psychiatric disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD. I trace how and why attitudes about pathological boys' behaviour reversed during the twentieth century, from a focus on shy, introverted, and physically passive boys to the very opposite - boys like Tom and Huck. I argue that, rather than imposing limits on childhood behaviour, we should be more accepting and encouraging of all types of children.
- Subjects :
- Adolescent
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity psychology
Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders psychology
Child
Child, Preschool
History, 20th Century
Humans
Male
Men
Social Behavior
United States
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity history
Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders history
Attitude
Child Behavior
Literature, Modern
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0823-2105
- Volume :
- 36
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Canadian bulletin of medical history = Bulletin canadien d'histoire de la medecine
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 30901268
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3138/cbmh.236-112017