Diar Maid Two Me y Discourse Analysis Research

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Utilising a ‘WPR’ model of ‘Foucauldian Discourse Analysis’ to examine the

media construction of children and young people’s mental health in
contemporary Ireland, as evidenced by...
Thesis · October 2019
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Diarmaid Twomey
University College Cork
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Utilising a ‘WPR’ model of ‘Foucauldian Discourse Analysis’ to examine the
media construction of children and young people’s mental health in
contemporary Ireland, as evidenced by an analysis of print media articles
from the year 2018

For my loved ones, and a bright future…
This project has taken a toll. Navigating research with M.E can be an arduous
task at the best of times, but the nature of this research, and the personal
anxiety it precipitated for the future of our society, aggravated a mental as well
as a physical exhaustion I found difficult to navigate at times. As I neared the
end of this project my mind entered a dark place. It was hard to imagine a
bright future. I shed years of tears. I don’t remember putting down a harder
number of weeks for quite some time. Yet I sit here today, a month after the
dark clouds drifted in from the horizon to smother a blue sky, with rays of light
now burning through the once opaque clouds overhead. Yet I am conscious
were it not for my loved ones, and in particular my mother and fiancé, I would
not have garnered sufficient strength to navigate the past month.
Thus, I feel that this project has taught me a great deal, both academically, but
also on a more holistic basis. I have always thought critically of contemporary
concepts of ‘care’. While this project has given me further cause for concern in
that regard, the care I received from family and loved ones is the only reason
I got through the last month relatively unscathed. My personal experience in
completing this project serves as a timely, and somewhat ironic reminder,
about the importance of research in the area of children and young people’s
mental health, and in particular how we need to be critical of any and all
systems that embellish inequality, oppression, or insularity in the name of
‘care’. I am filled with optimism for the future, but believe we must be
unrelenting in our advocacy for vulnerable populations, and refusal to allow
neoliberal hegemony jeopardise our very existence. The personal and
academic experience of this project will forever remain etched in my mind, as
I dedicate this paper to my loved ones, and a bright future…
1
Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction to Research
1.1. Overview of Chapter
1.2. Aims and Objectives
1.3. Why an Analysis of Discourse?
1.4. Informing my Analysis: Literature Review
1.5. In Summary
Chapter 2: Conceptualising Neoliberalism
2.1. Overview of Chapter
2.2. Neoliberalism; An Abstract Concept
2.3. Neoliberalism in Ireland
2.4. In Summary
Chapter 3: Neoliberalism; Childhood and Mental Health:

A Review of the Academic Literature
3.1 Overview of Chapter
3.2 The Neoliberalising of Childhood
3.3 The Neoliberalising of Mental Health
3.4 In Summary
2
Chapter 4: Research Design
4.2 A Poststructural Lens
4.3 The ‘WPR’ Approach
4.4 Article Selection
4.5 Data Analysis
4.6 Limitations
4.7 In Summary
Chapter 5: A Picture is Sketched
5.2 Digital Technology, an Imminent Threat?
5.3 Service Delivery; The Primary Problem facing Children’s Mental

Health
5.4 Social Structures, Poverty, and Inequality; the Elephants in the

‘Treatment’ Room
5.5 ‘The Expert’, and The Individual
5.6 Neoliberalism: A Common Theme
5.7 In Summary
3
Chapter 6: Conclusion
6.2 Reflections
6.3 Recommendations
6.4 In Summary
7. Bibliography
8. Appendix
Analysed Corpus
Sample Article
4
Chapter 1: Introduction to Research
This chapter gives an overall introduction to the research topic of this project.
In order to do this, the chapter opens by discussing the aims and objectives of
the research project. Following this, the chapter outlines how a discourse
analysis was deemed suitable to satisfy the aims and objectives, before
identifying how my literature review informed this analysis. The chapter will
then close with a summary and overview of the project and the ensuing chapter
content.
5
1.2 Aims and Objectives
In September of 2018, The Irish Times reported on waiting lists for the Health
Service Executive’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, hereafter
referred to as ‘HSE’ and ‘CAMHS’ respectively. According to their report, in
March of 2018, “there were 2,691 children and young adults waiting for the
HSE to provide them with an appointment, including 386 who are waiting
longer than 12 months” (McGarry 2018). This particular report follows a
consistent trend in contemporary Irish print media discourse; for example, in
March of 2018, The Irish Examiner reported how “children with acute mental
health problems are increasingly presenting to emergency departments
because they cannot access an appropriate bed” (Shanahan 2018).
Furthermore, in July of 2016, The Irish Sun reported how “suicidal children are
being forced to wait up to four weeks for emergency psychiatry appointments”
(Finneran 2016). These headlines propose a particular problematisation with
respect to children and young people’s mental health which has a significant
influence on how society then views these ‘problems’; Bacchi (2009: 242)
identifies the media as being the primary purveyor in how issues are perceived
by the wider public. Consequently, analysing the media discourse that
envelopes children and young people’s mental health is important to
understand society’s understanding of the distress faced by children and
young people.
Taking this idea forward, the aim of this project was to identify how the media
framed the ‘problem’ of children and young people’s mental health. In
particular, the project looked to understand how neoliberalism affects our
understanding and construction of children and young people’s mental health.
The research was underpinned by the ‘What’s the problem represented to be’
6
approach, hereafter referred to as the ‘WPR’ approach, which posed and
addressed six questions for the purpose of the analysis of media discourse from
my overarching question; how does the print media construct the problem of
children and young people’s mental health in contemporary Ireland? These six
subsidiary questions will be outlined later in the methodology chapter.
7
1.3 Why an Analysis of Discourse?
My motivation behind conducting this research stemmed from a level of
intrigue that I have had with respect to the discourse that has enveloped mental
health in Ireland recently; most specifically that which pertains to the mental
health of children and young people. In the last number of years, children and
young people’s mental health has become somewhat of a ‘buzz’ topic in
Ireland. State agencies, celebrities, sports stars, singers, politicians and many
more populations have spoken about the need for society to be more open in
dealing with mental health problems in children and young people. The phrase
“it’s okay not to be okay” has garnered particular popularity in this time, as a
result of what seems to be a greater public interest in and discourse about
mental health. While this new found openness in an Irish context is something
that should be welcomed, my own sense was that little depth underpinned this
new found concern for children and young people’s mental health; the
aforementioned groups demand that children and young people’s mental
health be taken more seriously, yet I felt that there seemed to be very little
public discussion about the reasons behind the perceived rise in children and
young people experiencing mental health problems and particularly, how
these are societal reasons. In terms of pursuing this research project, this
perception was the most significant influence.
My suspicions were that neoliberalism and the way in which the market has
commodified the concept of care was an influencing factor in contemporary
constructions of children and young people’s mental health. Furthermore, I
suspected that the ever increasing privileging of ‘the individual’ was having a
significant impact on how we perceive problems facing children and young
people, and even how children and young people perceive their own
8
experiences. I grew increasingly perplexed at the suggestion that fitness
regimes, changes in diets, or contact with ‘one good adult’, as has been
advocated by Lidl in partnership with Jigsaw recently, were solutions to the
mental health problems faced by children and young people. Albeit the
aforementioned publicised partnership between Lidl and Jigsaw proceeded
the completion of the analysis contained within this research project, it
captured my motivations succinctly; an international corporation partnered
with another private, yet publicly funded body who were tasked to provide
services to children and young people experiencing mental distress, to
promote the idea that mental health problems are alleviated by speaking to
their ‘expert’ and having access to ‘one good adult’. Nothing could potentially
capture the fear I have for the contemporary construction of children and young
people’s distress more than the advertising campaign which underpinned this
partnership; does the future of care now exist in the realm of the corporate and
private entity, where notions of individualism and responsibilisation are
advocated for marketing purposes? Has a neoliberal discourse completely
taken hold in our hearts and minds?
9
1.4 Informing my Analysis: Literature Review
In order to inform my analysis I conducted a detailed literature review prior to
the commencement of the analysis contained within this research project. In
the context of mental health, as well as neoliberalism, this literature review was
crucial in order to conceptualise and contextualise their contemporary
embodiments. Prior to the commencement of this project, I was particularly
interested in the work of Timimi (2004: 1394) who speaks critically of
contemporary constructions of children and young people’s mental health
problems. He identifies how drastic changes to economic structures across the
industrialised West have led to profound shifts in how family life is organised;
in his opinion perhaps most succinctly manifested in a reduction in ability for
families to spend time together. According to Timimi, this has resulted in the
divestment of parenting pedagogy to the ‘expert’, who is primarily located
within the field of medicine. Timimi (2004: 1394) identifies this shift as being
akin to a “godsend to consumer capitalism”. Thus, I drew significantly from
Timimi’s work, as well as others who are critical of current constructions of
children and young people’s mental health. In many ways the ‘consumer
capitalism’ Timimi speaks about is a significant trait of neoliberalism. However,
while I was aware that neoliberalism is a word and concept that has become
ever more present in the social lexicon in recent times, I was conscious that
neoliberalism was somewhat of an abstract concept. Consequently, I looked to
bring some meaning to its presence within this research; firstly by
conceptualising it using relevant literature, while also locating this
conceptualisation in an Irish context. Following this, I explored the impact
neoliberalism has on childhood, as well as children and young people’s mental
health.
10
1.5 In Summary
This chapter has offered some brief insight and context into the research topic,
by highlighting the aims and objectives of the project, my rationale for
conducting an analysis of discourse, and my use of a literature review in order
to support my analysis. I will now offer an overview of the following chapters
by means of a summary;
• Chapter 2 will conceptualise neoliberalism and place it within its
geographical context by analysing its position in Ireland
• Chapter 3 will outline the influence of neoliberalism in the context of
childhood, and mental health
• Chapter 4 will discuss my methodology; most notably by outlining the
‘WPR’ method of discourse analysis
• Chapter 5 will outline my analysis and findings in detail
• Chapter 6 will summarise the project by discussing my reflections and
recommendations
• The Appendix includes one article and the six questions which
underpinned the analysis and the subsequent answers to each question
based on the included article. This is done in order to illustrate my
process. It also includes the corpus of articles analysed
11
Chapter 2: Conceptualising Neoliberalism
The purpose of this chapter is to conceptualise neoliberalism. In order to do
this the chapter will first explore neoliberalism as an abstract concept; while
neoliberalism has become ever present in contemporary academic and
political discourse, there exists an elasticity of understanding as to the traits
that underpin the concept of neoliberalism. Thus, this conceptualisation is
pivotal. Following this, the role neoliberalism plays in shaping the culture of
contemporary Irish society will be explored; neoliberalism does not exist as a
monolithic structure across varying landscapes, thus an understanding of the
particular embodiment of neoliberalism in an Irish context is crucial in the
context of this research project.
12
2.2 Neoliberalism; An Abstract Concept?
Given the frequency with which neoliberalism is discussed within academic
literature, it could be expected that there exists tacitly understood traits
underpinning neoliberalism as an overarching concept. Boas et al (2009: 138)
disagrees, identifying neoliberalism as something which remains ill-defined in
empirical research. While he identifies neoliberalism as a concept that
transgresses economic, social and political landscapes, he is particularly critical
of the lack of definition afforded to neoliberalism within the social sciences.
Thus, for the purpose of this paper, it is crucial to define neoliberalism, in order
to place it within the context of the researched topic. Boas et al (2009: 144)
identify scholarly debates regarding neoliberalism as the battleground of
normative ideas with respect to the role of the individual versus that of the
collective, as well as the idea that personal freedom is a social ideal that
pervades all others. However, perhaps the most succinctly broad definition of
neoliberalism in a contemporary context is offered by Brown (2015: 17) when
she identifies neoliberalism as a type of reason that translates every aspect of
existence into economic terms. In essence what Brown is advancing is the
notion that neoliberalism exists as a form of economic rationality of society and
the citizen. She suggests that it has become so embedded in contemporary
Western society, that it pervades all aspects of life, and social institutions,
achieving hegemonic status. She also identifies that it has done so in a stealth-
like fashion, which she attributes to the way in which neoliberalism is “generally
more termite like than lionlike” Brown (2015: 35).
Utilising her own conceptualisation, and in order to bolster her thesis regarding
the hegemonic position neoliberalism has achieved, she focuses on a speech
made by President Barack Obama in 2013; illustrating how neoliberalism had
13
underpinned the political parlance of a president whose popularity had hinged
on his appeal to those on the political left. In her analysis she outlined how his
addressing of myriad of social issues such as “Medicare; progressive tax
reform; increasing government investment in science and technology research,
clean energy, home ownership, and education; immigration reform; fighting
sex discrimination and domestic violence; and raising the minimum wage”
were all framed within the context of their relevance to the American economy
(Brown 2015: 24, 25). In particular in the context of children and young people,
she notes how the President encouraged schools to create classes that focused
on science, technology, engineering and maths, for the sole reason that it was
those skills that employers were in need of (Brown 2015: 25). This illustrates
adeptly how neoliberalism and the needs of the market have co-opted social
institutions, in this case that of the education system, ensuring the needs and
desires of children and young people are subservient to its own.
In the context of this paper and topic, this specific critique with respect to the
co-option of education is noteworthy; Brown (2015: 27) noted how the Obama
speech illustrated how the US state’s priorities were indistinguishable from that
of the corporate firm. Damningly, she stated that the conduct of government,
and that of the modern corporation are homogenous in nature (Brown 2015:
27). These observations are ominous for society, primarily because it is Brown’s
assertion that neoliberal hegemonisation of aspects of society subverts
democracy. This subversion of democracy, through the advancement of
neoliberal policy, has had hugely detrimental effects on society; resulting in
increasing inequality, an expanding of corporate influence over government
policy, and economic instability all linked to the neoliberal process according
to Brown (2015: 30). Thus, neoliberalism as an entity can be surmised in broad
terms as having an enormous social cost. However, as neoliberalism does not
14
exist as a homogenous entity, its impact on specific structures or social bodies
require specific and detailed analysis in the context of their structure and
geographical location. In that context, it is important to understand the specific
form of neoliberalism within an Irish context.
15
2.3 Neoliberalism in Ireland
When discussing the evolution of neoliberalism post the financial crash of
2008, Peck et al (2012: 273) outlined how states had acquired particular forms
of regulation that produced geo-institutional differences with respect to
neoliberalism. Thus, when speaking of neoliberalism in any context, it is crucial
that it is not constructed, or interpreted, as being a homogenous structure
across differing geographical landscapes. As Peck et al (2012: 272) observe,
neoliberalism’s form of regulation that hegemonises the market as a means of
discipline with respect to restructuring, has ramped up geo-institutional
differences. Therefore, this illustrates how neoliberalism utilises local structures
to tailor its format to the landscape it inhabits; this is no different in Ireland.
There are myriad of papers1 that look at the specific forms of neoliberalism
within an Irish context, however, a detailed analysis of these is beyond the
scope of this paper. Consequently, this section will briefly touch upon one of
the main topic points in the context of neoliberalism in Ireland; the financial
crash of 2008.
Peck et al (2012: 274) observe how in real-life the experiments of neoliberalism
routinely fail; what they observe as uniquely detrimental about this is how these
failures do not result in the disbandment of neoliberalism, rather it engenders
new rounds of experimentation. Thus, the most significant illustrator of the
specificity of Ireland’s neoliberal tendencies were exhibited post the financial
crash of 2008. The punitive austerity measures Ireland adopted following the
crash were seen as the next round of neoliberal experimentation, where
Kiersey. N. J. (2014) Retail Therapy in the Dragon’s Den: Neoliberalism and Affective Labour in the Popular
Culture of Ireland’s Financial Crisis. Global Society Vol 28 (3).
Dukelow. F. (2015) Pushing against an open door: Reinforcing the neoliberal policy paradigm in Ireland and the
impact of EU intrusion. Comparative European Politics Vol 13 (1)
16
economic rationalisation took precedent over the social need. A ‘common
sense’ view, and rigidly economic outlook, precipitated this period of austerity
where media presentations implied that austerity was being felt equally across
the social divide (Garrett 2015: 417). This assertion proved baseless as Garrett
(2015: 417) identified how lower income groups had suffered the most, and
some high income groups felt little to no impact. This phenomenon has been
explored in relevant literature2.
In a contemporary Irish context, Dukelow et al (2018: 494) identified how social
protection structures were becoming more punitive, consigning the
marginalised to even further destitution given issues of access to employment
and housing. Within this analysis and context, they make reference to the
power the market gains over the state, but perhaps even more pertinently
within the context of the research topic, they speak of neoliberalism as “a form
of behavioural power through which individuals are controlled and disciplined,
which is micro and capillary in a Foucauldian sense“ (Dukelow et al 2018: 484).
In a contemporary Irish context, the high accumulation of personal debt can
be seen as another example of this form of control. Yet, this form of control
goes beyond the individual; for example, post the 2008 financial crisis Ireland
did not possess the ability to control its own currency or print money, and was
left at the whim of financial markets in order to raise capital (Dukelow et al
2018: 493). This illustrates the paradoxical nature of neoliberalism in an overall
sense, in that the very markets which bore much of the responsibility for the
economic crash which Ireland experienced, were the same markets which
dictated Ireland’s means of ‘recovery’, a succinct example of the hegemonic
position of neoliberalism.
Dukelow. F., Considine. M. (2014) Between retrenchment and recalibration: The impact of austerity on the Irish
Social Protection System. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare Vol 41 (2)
17
When discussing the concept of neoliberalism within the education sector in
contemporary Ireland, Limond (2007: 174) pointedly remarked how the
parlance of Irish politicians was enveloped by a particular form of speak;
“marketspeak”. The implication of this observation is that neoliberalism has
become so entrenched in the Irish political sphere that it now informs the
lexicon of the average Irish politician. Papadopoulos (2016: 412) alludes to this
very point when he identifies Ireland as having an “open economy, export-led
growth, low corporate tax regime and low investment in health, social care and
community services”, an economic system which is often celebrated by the
Irish body politic. This observation would indicate that Ireland extols the virtues
of the economy and the market above all else, a key component of the
neoliberal process, where the market reigns supreme. Papadopoulos (2016:
412) consolidates this point by observing how the welfare system within Ireland
has deviated from a solidaristic form of social security in the pursuit of a lean,
market-led welfare state. Thus, the financial crash Ireland experienced, which
neoliberalism induced, has not facilitated a change in direction within Irish
politics; rather it is clear that neoliberal rationalities have become even more
entrenched and the ubiquity of neoliberalism within the Irish State and society
becomes ever clearer.
18
2.4 Conclusion
This chapter has offered a conceptualisation of neoliberalism, in order to
extract it from abstractness. Furthermore, utilising this conceptualisation the
chapter has contextualised it within an Irish context. This has been done in
order to give shape and meaning to it as a construct. The ensuing chapter will
take this conceptualisation forward and discuss the ways in which neoliberalism
influences constructions of childhood, and mental health.
19
Chapter 3: Neoliberalism; Childhood and Mental Health
This chapter will review the literature on how neoliberalism can frame the
discourse that pertains to childhood, before then examining how
neoliberalism shapes constructions of mental health problems in
contemporary western societies. Some key observations will be drawn from
this review, thus facilitating this review to provide a touchstone or reference
point for the media analysis that follows in a subsequent chapter(s).
20
3.2 The Neoliberalising of Childhood
Timimi (2004: 1394) identifies how the Western world’s conceptualisation
about the space of childhood and the rearing of children has evolved
dramatically in the latter half of the twentieth century and up to the present
day. During this period, many western societies have seen remarkable
advancements in economic terms in tandem, if not directly linked, to the
emergence of neoliberalism since the 1970’s; “the process of neoliberalization
began in the early 1970s” (Peck et al 2012: 270). Yet, Wilkinson et al (2011: 6)
also note how the prevalence of anxiety, depression and myriad of other
mental health and social problems have also increased during this period.
Thus, it appears that this wealth accumulation has not enriched society; on the
contrary, Wilkinson et al’s (2011: 4) thesis is that a movement away from a
preoccupation with economic growth is the only method to ensure that there
are further improvements for our quality of life. They proceed to identify the
problematic nature of neoliberalism in adopting individualised “remedies” for
structural issues like poverty, and how this way of thinking has captured the
hearts and minds of the political system (Wilkinson et al 2011: 4). Thus when
Kehily (2010: 173) notes how national wealth or economic growth garners no
influence over the experiences of children who grow up in poverty, it illustrates
the problematic nature of neoliberalism in the context of the poverty and
inequality children face in the neoliberal societies of the West; collective
responsibility for the problems faced by members of society is the very
antithesis to the neoliberal process. This is illustrated by Brown (2015: 24) also
when she speaks about the populations abandoned “in the neoliberal race to
riches”.
21
Kelly (2001: 23) makes reference to constructions of contemporary childhood
as being influenced by potential risks, or what he referred to as the “youth at-
risk” discourse. He summated that these discourses look to individuals to
manage the risks that affect their experiences, even when the risks are created
by external structures and systems (Kelly 2001: 23). In this sense, this process
of individualisation seeks to break the link between the impact of social
structures and a child’s lived environment, and the differing outcomes for
children. Thus, responsibility for the problems encountered by contemporary
childhood are placed upon individual children and their families; “a position
that seeks to ‘responsibilise’ young people and their families for the conduct
and consequences of individual biographies” (Kelly 2001: 25). This indicates
that the neoliberal rationality of responsibilisation extends beyond the
boundaries of the perceived problems of childhood, and children are expected
to take ownership for their future life chances, choices and options within
“institutionally structured risk environments” (Kelly 2001: 30), with the family
subsequently and increasingly charged with the care and development of the
individualised child, across all aspects of society.
Taking up this concept within the context of education, Cairns (2013: 338)
points to the impact neoliberalism has had within schooling; she illustrated that
one of the standout emphases of contemporary Western schooling is the how
individual choice and responsibility is normalised and promoted to children
and young people. Cairn’s specific research in this area involved interviewing
students in a school in a rural, working-class area of Ontario, Canada, following
their engagement with a career focused educational program called The Real
Game or ‘TRG’; “a curricular tool that espouses neoliberal tenets of flexibility,
mobility, and self-improvement” (Cairns 2013: 338). Her research pointed to
the fact that such programs targeted at youth in education were structured
22
such that future insecurity was reformed into a landscape of unlimited potential
and freedom where issues of structural inequality is negotiated affectively
(Cairns (2013: 339). According to Lazzarato (2009: 118) this is the ultimate
thesis of neoliberalism, where the process of individualisation does not seek
to protect citizens from risks, but sketches a social space hegmonised by the
market, where individuals are expected to confront risks and care for
themselves.
One of Cairn’s key observations was how children and young people in
education predominantly framed their future interactions with education in
terms of their parents’ wishes for them to surpass their own social movement
(Cairns 2013: 340). Given the fact that Cairn’s research was conducted with
young people in a “rural, working-class location”, this illustrates the concept
of the affective negotiation of structural inequity adeptly, in that parents
identify their own children as being the primary navigators of their
individualised journey towards their socially-constructed future success. Cairns
also illustrated how neoliberal discourses which is preoccupied with the notion
of the mobile and flexible student (Cairns 2013: 341) informed students
analyses of their own life trajectories, and what was required of them to
‘succeed’. In the case of her interviewees this involved aspirations with respect
to “socio-spatial mobility” (Cairns 2013: 341), where immobility that prevented
them from leaving their homeplace, and / or social class, were identified as
barriers to ‘the good life’. The ultimate effect of this embedded narrative
illustrated how neoliberal discourses of distinction and individuality assigns
responsibility for failure away from social structures and institutions and places
it upon the citizen themselves (Francis et al 2009: 226), in this case children
and young people.
23
3.3 The Neoliberalising of Mental Health
When analysing mental health service provision in a Canadian context, as well
as across wider western society, Teghtsoonian (2009: 28) observes how
Western governments actively pursue policy agendas that are reflective of
several elements of neoliberalism, including most notably what she terms a
“normative privileging of the individual”. Within this critique, Teghtsoonian
(2009: 29) identifies the contemporary methods of mental health interventions
as “individualizing and depoliticizing” and more crucially, divesting the impact
of myriad of government policies on citizen’s well-being. Her scathing
assessment of the effects of neoliberalism is in line with other reports;
referencing a number of World Health Organisation surveys, Wilkinson et al
(2011: 66, 67) note how inequality has a direct and correlating relationship with
mental health problems in more unequal countries, with rising social inequality
being a hallmark of the neoliberal process. Utilising the example of the UK,
and in particular ‘The Depression Report: A New Deal for Depression and
Anxiety Disorders’ of 2006, in which CEP (2006: 14) identify access to
psychological therapy as the solution to mental health problems,
Teghtsoonian (2009: 29) note the congruity of such a view with the neoliberal
processes that governments have adopted. Thus, neoliberal rationalities both
promote the inequality that provoke mental health problems, and then
dissociate society’s culpability from the individual’s problems by providing a
treatment methodology that is individually pathologising.
Within western culture, mental health treatment is hegemonised by psychiatry,
a medical science that identifies mental health problems as being biomedical
and individual in nature. When addressing this within the context of
contemporary mental health discourses within western culture, Timimi (2002:
24
59) refers to the role psychiatry plays in dictating “which belief systems
become dominant”. In conveying this point, Timimi points to the paradox
within psychiatry, in that there exists little scientific basis to many of the
interventions that are applied to any individual patients (Timimi 2002: 61), yet
psychiatry operates on the basis that it holds the knowledge and solutions with
respect to mental health problems for children and young people (Timimi
2002: 63). Furthermore, society bestows such a status on psychiatry; psychiatry
and it’s rigid analytical and classification methodology fits well within a
neoliberal format of health service delivery, which places significant value on
what Rizq (2014: 209) terms the “audit culture”, which she links to the advent
of “neoliberalism within the NHS” (Ritz 2014: 211).
Timimi (2010: 686) reflects on the influence of neoliberalism in the context of
children’s mental health when he disparages the damaging cultural
assumptions that the narrow biomedical frame that underpins neoliberal
discourses regarding childhood encourages. In his analysis of what he coins
the “McDonaldization of Childhood”, he poses significant questions regarding
mental health diagnoses and the subsequent prescribing of medications for
children that has increased dramatically in recent decades in the Western
worlds (Timimi 2010: 686). When reflecting on the hegemony of neoliberalism
within Western culture, he points to a shift in values that neoliberalism has
perpetuated; “one effect of this value shift is to atomize individuals and
insulate their private spaces so that obligations to others and harmony with the
wider community become viewed as obstacles rather than objectives” (Timimi
2010: 695). Linking the effects of these neoliberal processes with his original
evidence regarding the increase of diagnoses of mental health ‘disorders’ in
children, he then poses a question regarding the validity of the biomedical
model of diagnosis with respect to children’s mental health; in essence he
25
identifies the biomedical model as dissolving society of its role in creating
distress, pain, and unhappiness in children, because it is potentially easier to
perceive mental health problems in children and young people as being
biological in nature, and requiring medical treatment (Timimi 2010: 696).
Consequently, children’s mental health has not been spared from the market
driven nature of neoliberal societies, as commercial and corporate interests
have exploited vague and somewhat abstract childhood psychiatric diagnoses
(Timimi 2009: 18) The resulting medicalisation of distress in children has the
subsequent effect of concentrating perceived expertise and knowledge within
specific industries and professionals, thus moving activities previously
interpreted and understood as pedagogic; the remit of parents and teachers
into the realm of medicine (Timimi 2010: 697). The consequence of this
concentration is that children and young people’s mental health has become
a commodity and mental health services are identified as products that need
to be purchased in order to facilitate one’s ‘recovery’ in order to return said
individual to productivity within the neoliberal society (Cosgrove et al 2018:
671). Taking up this point regarding neoliberal productivity, the
neoliberalisation of mental health has resulted in the framing of human distress
within strict economic terms; existential suffering is now imagined and
statistically projected in terms of its effect on the market (Cosgrove et al 2018:
672). Thus, what this illustrates is how neoliberalism has co-opted mental
health and dehumanised it to the point where society has dissociated itself
from mental health problems, and only measure it’s impact in economic terms,
rather than its social cost. Thus, this disease laden framework has concealed
the connection between mental distress and social injustice and inequality
(Cosgrove et al 2018: 673).
26
3.4 Conclusion
With reference to the context of children and young people’s mental health in
Ireland, the literature has highlighted four main areas in which neoliberalism
could potentially influence the media and public discourse. It has illustrated
how both childhood and mental health is individualised, and how this has
removed the context of inequity and social culpability for children’s
experiences. It has also illustrated how culture and context has been
obliterated by the homogenous interpretation of human behaviour and
experience; this has led to the concentration of perceived knowledge and
expertise in particular professionals and industry. The literature also
highlighted how children and young people’s outlook on the world, and the
future it could offer them, was heavily influenced by neoliberalism; this was a
constant across the literature, both in respect of Cairns research, and Brown’s
analysis of a speech made by President Barack Obama. Finally, and most
crucially in the context of problem framing in Irish print media, the literature
highlighted how society’s faith in psychiatry, which is afforded a privileged
status by neoliberalism, creates significant issues in terms of how children are
cared for when faced with distress. Thus, the proceeding WPR analysis will
keep in mind the key findings from this literature review. Firstly, the WPR
approach and the corpus of material for analysis are elaborated on in the
following chapter.
27
Chapter 4: Research Design
In this chapter, the overall design of this research is outlined. With respect to
that design, this chapter outlines Bacchi’s ‘What’s the problem represented to
be’ approach to policy analysis, hereafter referred to as the ‘WPR’ approach,
which provided the framework of analysis; the ‘WPR’ approach takes significant
influence from Poststructuralism, therefore there is a brief reflection on this
initially. Following this, the chapter then outlines some key aspects that
underpin the ‘WPR’ approach, before documenting the questions which
underpin this analysis, and how the ‘WPR’ approach shaped the questions
which underpinned this analysis. This chapter then illustrates how the corpus
of articles were selected and subsequently funnelled into the final 49 articles
which were analysed, and from where these articles were sourced. Following
this, there is a brief outline of how the data was analysed. Finally, the limitations
of the research conducted are outlined.
28
4.2 A Poststructuralist Lens
Bacchi et al (2016: 13) identify the ‘WPR’ approach as a tool for thinking
differently about socially accepted categorisations through the critical analysis
of discourse. Ultimately they regard the ‘WPR’ approach to critical discourse
analysis as a means of making politics visible; Bacchi et al (2016: 14) outline
how many aspects of modern society are not natural, and thus are politically
or socially constructed, and thus are worthy of critical analysis. This thought
process is drawn from Poststructuralism, which identifies how ‘accepted’
concepts and / or knowledge are manifested through elaborate intertwining
of the many facets of power relations. Furthermore, Poststructuralism adopts
a particular view on the concept of ‘knowledge’ and ‘truth’. Knowledge is
interpreted as an apparatus for governing, and positivism is rejected with the
idea that there is no single tangible truth being favoured; of particular note in
this regard is Foucault’s contention that discourses can be interpreted as the
dispersion of particular forms of knowledge that are socially produced (Bacchi
et al 2016: 34).
In the context of this research paper, the lens that Poststructuralism offers, via
the ‘WPR’ approach to critical discourse analysis, is particularly pertinent; the
dominance of the bio-medical construction of mental health, and the way in
which the media subsequently frames social issues can often appear absolute
and positioned beyond any form of critical analysis. However, a
Poststructuralist lens offers a means of interrogating the ‘truths’ and
‘knowledge’ which are disseminated and dispersed by the structures that exist
around mental health, as well as by the media at large. Of particular pertinence
with respect to Foucault’s thesis is that this interrogation should not be
interpreted as a means of uncovering some form of conspiracy or single entity
29
that manipulates our understanding of mental health; rather it offers us the
opportunity to explore the intertwining facets of power that shape our
understanding of mental health (Bacchi et al 2016). Thus, using a
poststructuralist lens in this paper offered an opportunity to understand that
which underpins our understanding and problematisation of children and
young people’s mental health, rather than to posture, or proport to be a
purveyor of ‘the truth’, per se.
30
4.3 The ‘WPR’ Approach
The ‘WPR’ approach is a systematic tool which can be utilised for the
interrogation of policy; Bacchi (2009) identifies it as a means of analysing how
policy is shaped, and subsequently utilised for the purpose of governing. In
this context she identifies how policy frames problems in a particular way, thus
reducing the complexity of myriad of social issues it attempts to govern. This
framing process has a significant impact on how the public view particular
issues, and can often have implications for how cohorts of populations are
perceived. In the context of this paper, the ‘WPR’ approach is particularly
useful as it seeks to understand what particular problems are represented to
be in particular discourses; understanding how the media problematise
children and young people’s mental health can offer us an insight into
contemporary constructions of children and young people as well as mental
health at large. Furthermore, problematisations in and of themselves implicitly
offer means of management of said problems (Bacchi 2009); this knowledge
facilitates the sketching of the ‘answers’ to problems, as well as the problems
themselves. While, as previously mentioned, the ‘WPR’ approach is primarily
used for the interrogation of policy, Bacchi (2009: 242) identifies how the
media have a significant role in the production of ‘knowledge’; the media
shapes the perception of issues amongst the public. Thus, similar to policy, the
media plays a significant role in governing via problem representations.
Consequently, as evidenced by other research3, the ‘WPR’ approach is a
Rayment. J., McCourt. C., Scanlon., Culley. L., Spiby. H., Bishop. S., de Lima. L. A. (2018) An analysis of media
reporting on the closure of freestanding midwifery units in England. Women and Birth Vol 925 [Internet] Available at
https://www-sciencedirect-com.ucc.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S1871519218302142
Accessed on 30 Sep 19
Atkinson. A. M., McAuley. A., Trayner. K. M. A., Sumnall. H. R. (2019) ‘We are still obsessed by this idea of
abstinence’: A critical analysis of UK news media representations of proposals to introduce drug consumption rooms
in Glasgow, UK. International Journal of Drug Policy Vol 68 [Internet] Available at:
https://www-sciencedirect-com.ucc.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S0955395919300684
Accessed on 30 Sep 19
31
suitable tool for the analysis of media articles, and in the case of this project
their problematisations of children and young people’s mental health.
The ‘WPR’ approach utilises six overarching questions in order to develop an
understanding of what a particular ‘problem’ is represented to be. These six
overarching questions offer a framework which uncovers the representation of
the researched ‘problem’; the underlying assumptions with respect to this
‘problem’; how the particular representation of the ‘problem’ has come about;
what is not ‘problematised’; the effect of the particular representation of the
‘problem’; and how the representation of the ‘problem’ is disseminated and /
or defended (Bacchi 2009). In the context of this research these questions
promised to offer significant insight into the media’s portrayal of children and
young people’s mental health. Thus, in line with Bacchi’s systematic approach,
the questions that framed my analysis were pivoted from the paper’s
overarching question and were as follows;
1. What is the problem represented to be with respect to children and
young people’s mental health?
2. What assumptions are made in terms of the representation of the
problem of children and young people’s mental health, as portrayed by
the media?
2.1 What is assumed; what is taken for granted; what is not questioned?
2.2 What cultural values underpin this problem representation?
2.3 What are the Binaries; Key Concepts; Categories that are
represented?
32
3. How has this particular representation of the problem of children and
young people’s mental health come about?
4. What is not mentioned, or rarely mentioned, in the media with respect
to children and young people’s mental health?
5. What is the body of knowledge being produced by the overall
representation of the problem, vis a vis the solutions to the problem,
and what are the effects of this portrayal of the problem and these
solutions?
6. How / Where is the representation of the problem produced,
disseminated, and defended?
33
4.4 Article Selection
In deciding on the media format to be analysed I decided to utilise print media
specifically; individual newspapers are seen as representing more distinctive
social agendas, and socio-economic groups respectively (Duffy 2002: 96).
Following this, individual titles were selected based on readership statistics
and categorisations; readership in contemporary Irish media is classified using
the NRS (National Readership Survey) system, which has been used as the
“industry’s source of social grade data” (NRS 2019) for some time. This grading
process deconstructs a newspaper’s readership based on occupation or
employment status and then uses these results to categorise readers into two
distinct groups, known as ‘ABC1’ and ‘C2DE’. The purported concept behind
this grouping is to offer a reflection of the socio-economic status of the
readership of an individual newspaper title. The categorisation outlined below
illustrates what each category in each group represents;
A: Higher managerial, administrative and professional
B: Intermediate managerial, administrative and professional
C1: Supervisory, clerical and junior managerial, administrative and professional
C2: Skilled manual workers
D: Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers
E: State pensioners, casual and lowest grade workers, unemployed with state
benefits only
Source: NRS UK (2019)
When considering the Irish newspaper titles which were to be selected, I
reflected on the aforementioned socio-economic divide with respect to Irish
print media. In order that the analysis was socially representative, it was
34
decided that the most read broadsheet in Ireland would be required to provide
an adequate cohort of ‘ABC1’ readers; thus, as the Irish Independent is
Ireland’s most read newspaper, this was selected. Although an exact
readership breakdown could not be garnered in respect of titles with high
‘C2DE’ readerships, all national broadsheet titles had a significantly low
representation of this cohort of readers. In this regard, Duffy (2002) refers to a
2001 JNRS survey which illustrated how tabloid newspapers had a much higher
proportionality of ‘C2DE’ audience as their readers. The Irish Sun has
consistently been Ireland’s most read tabloid newspaper (News Brands Ireland
2019), however, there were issues pertaining to access to this title via Nexis,
thus the next most read tabloid newspaper was selected for analysis, that
being the Irish Daily Mail. By analysing both of these titles, the research aimed
to transgress the socio-economic divide of contemporary Irish society.
Furthermore the ability to access both titles on Nexis ensured a consistent and
ease of access which facilitated a coherent analysis.
Following the selection of the particular publications, I used Nexis in order to
complete a search for articles which pertained to children and young people’s
mental health in Ireland in the year 2018 specifically. Cognisant of the
possibility that articles pertaining to children and young people’s mental
health may have not used the words ‘children’ or ‘young people’ and ‘mental
health’ explicitly, and to ensure an authentic and representative sample of
articles where children and young people’s mental health was the topic of
discussion was analysed, I decided to ascertain a selection of synonyms for the
words ‘children’ and ‘mental health’ specifically. Thus, I used the Ebsco
synonym creator; as a leader in the area of academic resources, I deemed this
a suitable tool. The results produced were as follows;
35
Mental health
Mental health; Mental depression; Mental illness; Psychology; Patients; Stress;
Substance abuse; Psychotherapy; Psychiatry; Schizophrenia; Anxiety; Social
support; Psychoses; Emotion; Well-being; Counselling; Bullying
Children
Child; Children; Juvenile; Parent; Teenager; Family; Adolescence; Adolescent;
Young Person; Young People
Following this these keywords were entered in Nexis in order to produce the
initial corpus; this search identified 123 Irish Daily Mail articles and 144 Irish
Independent articles which pertained to the topic of children and young
people’s mental health. These articles were then screened, with the sole aim
of eliminating any article which had no reference in any way to children and
young people’s mental health. Following this, I was left with a total of 59 Irish
Daily Mail articles and 76 Irish Independent articles. Many of the articles within
this corpus had references to children and young people’s mental health, yet
were focused on other issues more specifically. Thus, my second screening
then eliminated any article which was not explicitly pertaining to children and
young people’s mental health, where the most substantial part of the article
was dedicated to the topic. Following this process, a total of 17 Irish Daily Mail
and 32 Irish Independent articles were finalised for analysis. This final corpus is
available to view in the Appendix.
36
4.5 Data Analysis
The discourse contained within the articles was initially analysed using the
‘WPR’ approach; this approach guided the analysis of each article by seeking
answers to 6 specific questions. Once completed, these answers were
thematically reviewed in order to observe patterns within the discourse (Braun
et al 2006: 6); the Appendix contains an article which illustrates how each
question was answered. During the course of this portion of the analysis I
identified a number of themes; the use of the ‘expert’ voice, a view that
individuals were responsible for their own care; a view that services for children
and young people was the problem facing children and young people’s mental
health; and a complete absence of any discourse that connected poverty,
inequality and social structures to children and young people’s distress. The
identification of these themes evidenced to me how neoliberalism was
operated in multiple spheres and influencing the construction of the problem
of children and young people’s mental health, as well as the advocated
solution. It was clear neoliberalism had a hold on our understanding of the
problem of children and young people’s mental health. Furthermore, a
separate theme with respect to the Irish Daily Mail specifically was also
observed; namely the vilification of digital media in much of the discourse.
These will be discussed in the analysis chapter specifically.
37
4.6 Limitations
The primary limitation of this research could be the positioning that I brought
to the project. All researchers carry their own views with them, which are
influenced by their experiences and academic biographies. In attempting to
mitigate against this bias, I was careful to use the ‘WPR’ approach in a very
systematic way. Furthermore, while cognisant of potential biases, the research
itself is not intended to reveal ‘truths’; rather the function of the analysis is to
uncover purported ‘truths’ and ‘knowledge’. With respect to the article
selection process, while every effort was taken to ensure the final corpus was
accurate and representative, there was no means to guarantee this.
Furthermore, given the corpus consisted of articles from two print media
outlets in 2018, there are other print media outlets that could frame children
and young people’s mental health differently. Thus, the size and breath of the
corpus is potentially a limitation as well as the timeframe of one year. The final
limitation in this research is the lack of voice afforded to the children and / or
young people themselves. While a discourse analysis in the context of this
research could not give voice to children and / or young people, it remains a
significant limitation of any research that discusses children and / or young
people’s mental health, without the voice of the researched group. A notable
absence from the analysed articles was that of the voice of children and / or
young people; by conducting research that further silences children and / or
young people, when said research is something that directly affects them, is
something I struggled with.
38
4.7 In Summary
This chapter has given an overview of the research design, with a view to
providing an understanding of the theoretical lens which underpinned the
research, before reflecting on the ‘WPR’ approach itself. Article selection was
crucial to the research project, as was the means of data analysis; these have
been discussed also. Finally, three key limitations of the project itself have
been outlined. The analysis of the articles will now be discussed at length.
39
Chapter 5: A Picture is Sketched
Overview of Chapter
This chapter will outline the analysis of 49 articles on children and young
people’s mental health; 17 from the Irish Daily Mail and 32 from the Irish
Independent respectively. In conducting this analysis, the author utilised the
‘WPR’ method of discourse analysis, which focuses on six areas within the realm
of problem framing, namely how the problem of children and young people’s
mental health was framed; assumptions as to what underpinned this problem;
how this problem was subsequently represented; what was omitted in the
discourse pertaining to the problem; the effects of this discourse on the
problem; and how this discourse was disseminated and defended (Bacchi
2009). While there was an overall homogeneity in how children and young
people’s mental health was framed across the corpus, there was a uniqueness
to the primary problematisation of children and young people’s mental health
within the individual titles of the Irish Daily Mail and the Irish Independent. The
Irish Daily Mail adopted a consistent position that smartphones, social media
and cyberbullying needed urgent attention in order to ‘solve’ the problem of
children and young people’s mental health.
While the Irish Independent’s construction of the problem of mental health in
children was much broader, and more abstract in some sense, mental health
service provision was portrayed as one of the primary problems with respect
to children and young people’s mental health. These unique problematisations
will form the initial portion of this analysis. The aforementioned homogeneity
will subsequently be represented by an analysis of what was most constant
across both publications; namely the lack of any correlation made between
40
social structures, poverty or inequality and children and young people’s mental
health, the use of ‘the expert’ voice in order to frame and defend particular
characterisations of the problem of children and young people’s mental health,
and the individualised and pathological construction of mental health
problems in children and young people. These commonalties will then be
thread together and their presence understood by utilising academic
discourses regarding neoliberalism in order to identify the purpose of their
presence within the chosen media’s construction of children and young
people’s mental health.
41
Digital Technology, an Imminent Threat?
In the analysis of the Irish Daily Mail 134 of the total 17 articles analysed focused
on the threat posed by digital technology, vis a vis smartphones, social media
and cyberbullying. In terms of the utilisation of Bacchi’s (2019: 31) WPR
method of analysis, the author was particularly drawn to the construction of
the implied problem in this specific section of analysis; in particular, this
analysis drew on question’s 1, 2 and 5 of my analysis framework. Of these 13
articles, a subsequent 65 articles focused on the issue of cyberbullying
specifically, identifying it as a significant threat to children and young people’s
mental health. These articles varied in tone and content; while cyberbullying
was portrayed as a factor in the tragic deaths of young people in several
Dunne. S. (2018) ‘US study shows too much screen time damages health of toddlers’. Irish Daily Mail, 8 November,
p. 5.
O’Donnell. L., Molony. S. (2018) ‘Children’s internet use ‘linked to depression’; Paediatricians say screen-time leads
to poorer quality of life’. Irish Daily Mail, 12 June, p. 8.
Fegan. C. (2018) ‘Phone addiction in children ‘is causing an anxiety epidemic’’. Irish Daily Mail, 13 January, p. 2.
Fegan. C. (2018) ‘Now Apple investors say: stop targeting children!’ Irish Daily Mail, 9 January, p. 1, 2.
Slater. S., Smyth. R. (2018) ‘My Elisha was abused; Mother of tragic teen reveals suffering of her daughter and vows
to help others’. Irish Daily Mail, 19 April, p. 12.
Dunne. S. (2018) ‘Addiction to gaming officially a ‘disorder’’. Irish Daily Mail, 19 June, p. 6.
Fegan. C. (2018) ‘The addiction to ‘likes’ that’s leaving our children in the grip of an anxiety epidemic’. Irish Daily
Mail, 13 January, p. 10, 11.
Michael. N. (2018) ‘Social Media is making our children mentally ill; shocking claim by GPs amid calls for regulator’.
Irish Daily Mail, 9 April, p. 1, 4.
Kane. C. (2018) ‘Make real friends not artificial ones, Elisha’s Mass told’. Irish Daily Mail, 30 March, p. 10.
Kissane. A. (2018) ‘Erin: how can children cope with abuse on social media?’ Irish Daily Mail, 21 March, p. 7.
Weinstock. L. (2018) ‘Self-Harm Epidemic?’ Irish Daily Mail, 11 August, p. 28, 29, 30,31.
Molony. S. (2018) ‘Dail is told how the cyberbullying crisis adds to teen suicide’. Irish Daily Mail, 6 December, p. 2.
Quigley. M. (2018) ‘Team sports that improve children’s mental health’. Irish Daily Mail, 3 April, p. 26.
Molony. S. (2018) ‘Dail is told how the cyberbullying crisis adds to teen suicide’. Irish Daily Mail, 6 December, p. 2.
Slater. S., Smyth. R. (2018) ‘My Elisha was abused; Mother of tragic teen reveals suffering of her daughter and vows
to help others’. Irish Daily Mail, 19 April, p. 12.
42
articles, other articles contained anecdotal evidence from health professionals
and politicians about the more general and imminent threats posed to children
and young people by cyberbullying. While there were auxiliary factors cited in
respect of young people’s mental health within these articles, the overall
impression offered was that cyberbullying was either the pervading problem
or a significant factor in the emergence of mental health problems like anxiety,
depression and suicide in children and young people. Notwithstanding the
homogeneity of the problematisation of cyberbullying, there was significant
conflation of other issues with that of the issue of cyberbullying, which then
confused the claims made. For example, in one article titled “Social Media is
making our children mentally ill” (Michael 2018: 1, 4) the premise of the article
was to insinuate that cyberbullying was singularly responsible for mental health
problems in children and young people, yet the last line of the article read;
“cyberbullying and social media in general makes it worse for people suffering
from mental health issues. Does it impair their recovery? Does it make it more
difficult for them? Absolutely 100%” (Michael 2018: 1, 4). Thus, the entire
premise of the article; that cyberbullying and social media made children
mentally ill, was undermined by the final statement which stated that these
phenomena impair the recovery of persons with mental illnesses, rather than
cause mental illness.
43
Scholarly work in the area of cyberbullying6 has identified media discourse as
one of the key drivers in the scapegoating of smartphone and social media use
with respect to children and young people’s mental health. While not
discounting that the phenomenon of cyberbullying is something that exists,
nor that it can be damaging to the mental health of children and young people,
what studies illustrate is that cyberbullying does not exist in isolation; a meta-
analysis of these studies, which took place across different countries, illustrate
that in the vast majority of cases, cyberbullying exists as an extension of
traditional forms of bullying. Furthermore, these studies also drew attention to
the definition of bullying. While there is acceptance that traditional bullying as
a phenomenon is something that is contested in terms of its characteristics,
there appears to be acceptance as to two definitive traits; it involves repetitive
targeting and there exists a power imbalance between the aggressor and the
victim (Smith 2016: 519). These widely accepted traits are pertinent when
examining the phenomenon of cyberbullying as a unique format of bullying
that requires a specific and unique response, as distinct from traditional forms
of bullying; they draw a distinction between random, single incidents of online
aggression between parties that are unknown to each other outside of that
space, and the repetitive online targeting of individuals that are known to one
another, that is more akin to traditional bullying.
Wolke. D., Lee. K., Guy. A. (2017) Cyberbullying: a storm in a teacup? European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Vol 26 [Internet] Available at https://search-proquest-com.ucc.idm.oclc.org/docview/1867539128?pq-
origsite=summon Accessed on 30.07.19
Olweus. D., Limber. S. P. (2018) Some problems with cyberbullying research. Current Opinion in Psychology Vol 19
[Internet] Available at https://www-sciencedirect-com.ucc.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S2352250X17301033
Accessed on 30.07.19
Waasdorp. T. E., Bradshaw. C. P. (2015) The Overlap Between Cyberbullying and Traditional Bullying. Journal of
Adolescent Health Vol 56 [Internet] Available at https://www-sciencedirect-
com.ucc.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S1054139X14007587 Accessed on 30.07.19
44
These academic discourses are pertinent in the case of this analysis; in an
article titled “Dáil is told how the cyberbullying crisis adds to teen suicide”
(Moloney 2018: 2) significantly robust language was used, and a direct
correlation was made between Ireland’s teen suicide rate and cyberbullying. It
detailed specific examples of young people who had died by suicide and
attributed these tragic events to cyberbullying as a distinct and singular cause.
Cyberbullying posed such a threat that legislation, it was claimed, was urgently
required. Furthermore, it reported on calls from protest groups, organised by
the loved ones of young people who had died by suicide, to treat
cyberbullying as a criminal offence by legislating for it. Akin to a footnote, at
the end of the article reference was made to the online harassment and
targeting of teachers by parents and pupils alike, thus highlighting the
accuracy of the aforementioned research; cyberbullying is an extension of
traditional bullying, perpetuated between parties known to each other. Yet,
this is a fact that remained moot by the absence of any reference to it in all of
the articles analysed regarding cyberbullying. It remains to be seen why this
relationship was not given more weight in the articles; one explanation could
be that the varying complexities and nuances with respect to the
conceptualisation of cyberbullying has meant it has become somewhat of an
ill-defined phenomenon, partly due to the relative novelty of digital
technology (Selkie et al 2016: 126).
Cyberbullying was not the only factor cited as being responsible for the
alleged deterioration of children and young people’s mental health;
smartphones and the access they provided to social media, online gaming,
and the online space in general also pose significant threats, according to the
45
articles analysed7. Similar to the articles that focused on cyberbullying, there
was a tendency for the subsequent discourse in these articles to be reactionary
and somewhat rudimentary, quite possibly because this facilitated the
embellishment of underpinning social and cultural values (Bacchi 2009: 5). This
was most acutely evident in the solution proposed to the problem of children
and young people using smartphones; an outright ban on smartphones for
those of a certain age. The reactionary nature of the discourse was not limited
to this proposal; social media was identified as the “Wild West” (Michael 2018:
1, 4), a tool of self-harm for children and young people (Weinstock 2018: 28,
29, 30, 31), and a place where only artificial friends exist (Kane 2018: 10). For
the most part, digital technology was constructed as something that was
entirely alien to society, and not in any way reflective of it, thus radical steps
of bans appeared justified through the prism of the vilification of digital
technology. Thus, many of the articles were footnoted by a declaration, which
stated that the Irish Daily Mail was publicly advocating that smartphones in
particular have a minimum age limit. Notwithstanding this definitive stance,
there was a dearth of evidence cited that correlated any of the claims made
pertaining to the damaging effects of digital technology on children and young
people, outside of scant references to media polls and quotes from
Weinstock. L. (2018) ‘Self-Harm Epidemic?’ Irish Daily Mail, 11 August, p. 28, 29, 30,31.
Quigley. M. (2018) ‘Team sports that improve children’s mental health’. Irish Daily Mail, 3 April, p. 26.
p. 5.
to poorer quality of life’. Irish Daily Mail, 12 June, p. 8.
Fegan. C. (2018) ‘Phone addiction in children ‘is causing an anxiety epidemic’’. Irish Daily Mail, 13 January, p. 2.
Fegan. C. (2018) ‘Now Apple investors say: stop targeting children!’ Irish Daily Mail, 9 January, p. 1, 2.
46
professionals working in the area of mental health portraying anecdotal
evidence as indicative of a wider and more fundamental problem.
Moscovici (1988) wrote about the theory of ‘social representations’ and how
the media’s role in delivering information to the masses primarily involves the
simplification of information, and how the media identifies this process as
necessary if the message is truly to be ‘grasped’ by the audience. In the context
of the Irish Daily Mail this simplification process involved facilitating and
simplifying the narratives of professionals in order to frame the problem of
mental health in a certain manner. This is in line with research with respect to
media framing of mental health that has been completed by other scholars8.
Pointing to research in the area of children and young people’s mental health,
these simplistic problematisations and solutions are problematic. Proposing an
age-related ban on smartphones to address mental health problems in
children and young people, who are characterised as using digital technology
in a problematic manner assumes that this use is a cause of mental health
problems in children and young people (Frith 2017: 6). Research9 pertinent to
the area of children and young people’s mental health and the online space
has produced somewhat disparate conclusions. There is little consensus as to
Tobin. G., Lyddy. F. (2013) Media representation of depression in young people: a corpus-based analysis of Irish
newspaper coverage. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine Vol 31.
Foster. J. L. H. (2006) Media Presentation of the Mental Health Bill and Representations of Mental Health Problems.
Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology Vol 16.
Ohlsson. R. (2018) Public discourse on mental health and psychiatry: Representations in Swedish newspapers.
Health Vol 22 (3).
Bilic. B., Georgaca. E. (2007) Representations of “Mental Illness” in Serbian Newspapers: A Critical Discourse
Analysis. Qualitative Research in Psychology Vol 4
Marchant. A., Hawton. K., Stewart. A., Montgomery. P., Singaravelu. V., Lloyd. K., Purdy. N., Daine. K., John. A.
(2017) A systematic review of the relationship between internet use, self-harm and suicidal behaviour in young
people: The good, the bad and the unknown. PLoS ONE 12(8)
Sampasa-Kanyinga. H., Lewis. R. F. (2015) Frequent Use of Social Networking Sites Is Associated with Poor
Psychological Functioning Among Children and Adolescents. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking
Vol 18 (7)
47
the relationship between mental health and technology use; by its very nature
it is difficult to accurately account for the cause / effect relationship. Thus,
research has concluded that overuse of technology, and social media in
particular, may be indicative of a child trying to satisfy an unmet need for
mental health support rather than being the instigator of a mental health
problem (Sampasa-Kanyinga et al 2015: 383). This indicates that there is a lack
of knowledge as to the direction of the relationship, and that the Irish Daily
Mail was simply presuming a causative relationship without any evidence.
48
Service Delivery; The Primary Problem facing Children’s Mental Health
Of the 32 Irish Independent articles analysed, the number of issues that were
identified as pertaining to the problem of children and young people’s mental
health was more substantial than that of the Irish Daily Mail. While there were
references to digital technology as per the Irish Daily Mail, one of the more
distinctive aspects of much of the Irish Independent coverage was the
attention given to mental health service delivery in Ireland. Again, the
identification of this was facilitated by analysing the articles using questions 1,
2, and 5 of my analysis framework. The problem as it was set out in 1010 articles
was defined in terms of the excessively long waiting time for children to access
mental health services, the admission of children to adult mental health wards,
and the lack of cost effectiveness of mental health services for children.
Perhaps one of the most striking features of these specific articles was the lack
of critique afforded to existing constructs of mental health service delivery
which hegemonises psychiatry and understands distress in biomedical terms,
outside of making reference to waiting times and an overall lack of resources.
Furthermore, the coverage of a specifically contentious proposal by way of an
10
O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘Counselling online is among €55m package for mental health’. Irish Independent, 8 October, p.
12.
O’Regan. E. (2018)’ Dirty hospitals, hours alone: state of mental care exposed’. Irish Independent, 25 July, p. 14.
Larkin. L. (2018) ‘Mental health treatment by Skype scheme to tackle crisis’. Irish Independent, 29 August, p. 18.
O’Kelly. I. (2018) ‘Stigma from mental health diagnoses lasts a lifetime – so leave labels for jars, not people’. Irish
Independent, 23 April, p. 22.
O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘’Virtual’ psychiatrists will replace clinics for children; Acute shortage of staff has forced minister
to look to alternatives’. Irish Independent. 6 December, p. 6, 7.
O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘More mental health patients should get ‘talk therapy’, not pills – report’. Irish Independent, 18
October, p. 18.
Dillon. F. (2018) ‘Government gets low marks on children’s rights as 7,000 wait to see psychologist’. Irish
Independent, 14 February, p. 10, 11.
O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘’There is only so much I can help my son with’ – 37,000 vulnerable children on lists’. Irish
Independent, 28 November, p. 11.
Larkin. L. (2018) ‘A third of children’s mental health beds shut’. Irish Independent, 10 August, p. 11.
O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘Care of suicidal children needs to be improved, says watchdog’. Irish Independent. 13 June, p.
11.
49
alternative was simply reported on, rather than being critically analysed in any
distinctive way;
311 of the 9 articles reported on a proposal from Minister of State with
responsibility for mental health Jim Daly, to provide ‘tele-counselling’ / ‘virtual
psychiatrists’ for children and young people experiencing acute mental health
problems. This alternative means of treatment was identified as a remedy to
issues of access to mental health services for children and young people. In
the articles, reference was made to Minister Daly identifying a ‘global problem’
in recruiting psychiatrists as a rationale for the poor provision of children’s
mental health services in Ireland. Yet in one of the articles that highlighted this
problem, the responsibility for poor service provision was subsequently
attributed to “6,500 children and young people … waiting for their first
psychological appointment” (O’Regan 2018: 12). Given that psychology and
psychiatry are two different professions, and forms of intervention within
children’s mental health services, this had the effect of confusing the claims
made, as well as the rationale for the proposal. In the other articles, the
purpose of the proposal was identified as a means of rationalising services due
to the “acute shortage of child psychiatrists” (O’Regan 2018: 6, 7) within
children’s mental health services. This was explained with reference to the
Minister’s contention that “the current goal to have a consultant psychiatrist in
every A&E and mental health unit is “impossible”” (O’Regan 2018: 6, 7). Thus,
the effect of this representation of the problem was to identify reactive
11
12.
Larkin. L. (2018) ‘Mental health treatment by Skype scheme to tackle crisis’. Irish Independent, 29 August, p. 18.
to look to alternatives’. Irish Independent. 6 December, p. 6, 7.
50
technological solutions to children and young people’s mental health
problems (Bacchi 2009: 15).
In the remaining articles, ill-resourced mental health services were identified
as being a barrier to solving the problem of children experiencing mental
distress. For example, O’Regan (2018: 11) reported on excessive waiting lists,
and their impact on children and young people, by way of introducing
comment from June Tinsley of Barnardos who contended that “children face
extreme difficulties in their everyday lives because they can’t get timely access
to healthcare”. Larkin (2018: 11) identified how a “third of beds for children
and teens with mental health problems are closed due to staff shortages”.
Albeit, these remaining articles did not introduce reported solutions like the
aforementioned articles, media criticism of the inadequacy of mental health
services for children failed to critically analyse mental health structures and
isolated the problem for children and young people’s mental health strictly
within the prism of resourcing and staffing of mental health services. For
example, O’Regan (2018: 11) reported on the Ombudsman for Children, Niall
Muldoon, expressing his concern with “the care of suicidal children”. In this
criticism, there was no analysis of the state and society’s culpability in creating
distress in children and young people that could lead to suicide, rather the
location of the problem was isolated in the state’s response to distress. This
was a tone that was widespread across the articles, which had the effect of
privileging reactive measures over any semblance of proactive awareness with
respect to children and young people’s mental health, perhaps most succinctly
summarised with the line contained within O’Regan’s (2018: 11) article where
the Ombudsman for Children stated that “State agencies need to co-operate
in the best interests of children”.
51
There was a solitary outlier in the Irish Independent in terms of a critical view
of the construct of children and young people’s mental health services. While
O’Kelly (2018: 22) did primarily locate the problem of children and young
people’s mental health within service provision, she cautioned against the use
of labelling, asking if their use was anything other than “convenience for
diagnostic purposes”. Using the phenomenon of celebrities publicising their
mental health struggles, O’Kelly implied that mental distress was experienced
in vastly different ways, primarily due to issues of access to mental health
services. Notwithstanding this nuanced approach, what compounded the
distinctiveness of her problem framing was in the critical view she took with
respect to the diagnostic approach of children and young people’s mental
health services as they are currently constructed. While it was unclear if O’Kelly
(2018: 22) was drawing a distinction between waiting lists in children and
young people’s mental health services, and an overly diagnostic approach to
mental health, she was categorical in her criticism of “labelling and
scaremongering”. Ultimately it appears as though O’Kelly was advocating for
a less pathological approach to children and young people’s mental health,
and the provision of more talk therapies within mental health service provision.
It was her contention that less labelling and increased provision, specifically in
the area of counselling, could address the mental health problems of our
youth. Thus, it is unclear what the intended purpose or effect of O’Kelly’s
article could be; more talk therapies may not address the underlying nature of
mental health problems in children and young people.
52
Social Structures, Poverty, and Inequality;
the Elephants in the ‘Treatment’ Room
In June 2019, the United Nations Human Rights Council (2019) released a
report, which highlighted the underlying determinants which contribute to the
mental health of the individual, and the wider populace. The report advanced
the contention that good mental health should not be characterised by the
absence of a defined mental health problem; rather that it should be defined
by the existence of a “psychosocial, political, economic and physical
environment” (UN 2019: 1) that is conducive to all citizens’ well-being. In the
report, special attention was paid to the role of inequality and poverty in
creating mental distress, and the need for a human rights based approach to
mental health to focus on improving human living conditions, rather than
pathologising human responses to poverty and inequality. Thus, when
analysing the problem of mental ill-health experienced by children and young
people against the background of this report, it is inconceivable that any
pertinent discourse would be divorced from one’s inhabited social, economic,
and / or political landscape; and the role these landscapes play in shaping the
mental health of children and young people. Much academic scholarship
reflects this. For example, Green et al (2005) reported that children from the
poorest households in Britain were up to three times more likely to experience
mental health problems than those children from less disadvantaged
backgrounds, while research completed in Canada by Spady et al (2001)
identified how children living in households where welfare was a primary
source of income were nearly twice as likely to experience mental health
problems. More recently in 2009, Williams et al’s (2009) Irish study found a
substantial correlation between a mother’s educational level and the level of
emotional and behavioural problems experienced by their respective children.
While there was no explicit measurement of income in the study, the deduction
53
made is that there is a correlation between a mother’s educational attainment
and the income profile of a child’s household in Ireland.
Taking this data into account, as well as Bacchi’s contention that what is absent
from the discourse may illuminate inadequacies in how a problem is framed
(Bacchi 2009: 13), one of the most striking findings from the analysis of all 49
articles across both the Irish Independent and the Irish Daily Mail was the
absence of any significant reference to social structures, poverty, or inequality
in either perpetuating or contributing in any way to the mental health problems
faced by children and young people in contemporary Ireland. In the Irish Daily
Mail mental health was problematised in a very simplistic manner and there
was no significant link made to underlying social factors. Consequently, digital
technology was blamed; mental health was generally understood in bio-
medical terms; and some commentators identified the problem of waiting lists
for children to access mental health services. In the Irish Independent the same
problematisations were made, with some scant references additionally made
to family and relationship breakdowns12, educational related stress13, celebrity
culture14, personal trauma15, and the shrinking space of childhood16 as
12
O’Malley. S. (2018) ‘Very young children are self-harming – we can’t turn a blind eye to mental health’. Irish
Independent, 22 June, p. 28
13
Naughton. C. (2018) ‘Parents’ guide to exam stress’. Irish Independent, 8 May, p. 31, 32, 33
O’Malley. S. (2018) ‘Success isn’t everything; kids need to learn from failure too’. Irish Independent, 17 February, p.
4.
14
O’Kelly. I. (2018) ‘Stigma from mental health diagnoses lasts a lifetime – so leave labels for jars, not people’. Irish
Independent, 23 April, p. 22.
15
Coleman. D. (2018) ‘Why is my daughter hearing voices?’ Irish Independent, 13 August, p. 14.
16
Donaghy. K. (2018) ‘W is for well-being: Schools tackle soaring anxiety’. Irish Independent, 27 October, p. 8, 9.
54
responsible for the perceived growth of mental distress in children and young
people. 217 articles from the total of 32 analysed referenced homelessness or
issues regarding economic access to housing, as a factor in creating children
and young people’s mental health problems. The primary problem with the
discourse in these two articles was that there was no connection made
between the homelessness experienced by children and their families, or the
lack of economic access to housing afforded to young people, and poverty
and inequality.
For example, O’Doherty (2018) identified anxiety in young people as a
perfectly natural response to the fact that young people “have been priced
out of Ireland” (O’Doherty 2018: 24). He referenced how work structures had
changed, and described how zero hour contracts and unpaid internships were
a form of “class segregation” (O’Doherty: 2018). Yet the focus was on young
people and no reference was made to children who were experiencing
homelessness with their families. Furthermore, rather than identifying
homelessness, poverty, or inequality as the problem requiring remedial action,
O’Doherty closed with the contention that young people had to accept that
“life is hard”, and thus problematised young people’s apparent ‘inability’ to
“make the best of the hand you’re dealt” (O’Doherty 2018: 24). In the other
article, Lynott (2018) identified children experiencing homelessness with their
families as being a major problem. While the problem was politicised, what
was striking about this article, was how the language changed from
terminology like depression, anxiety, or self-harm, to children experiencing
17
O’Doherty. I. (2018) ‘We’re betraying a generation by not showing it how to cope with life’s ills’. Irish Independent,
31 July, p. 24.
Lynott. L. (2018) ‘A generation of children is being let down by this Government’. Irish Independent, 27 December,
p. 10.
55
“sadness, low self-esteem and stress” with one line describing how a teacher
had noted how she had seen the “sparkle in children’s eyes vanish” (Lynott
2018). In fact, just one reference was made to the potential psychological
impact of homelessness on a child. This softening of language was notable
given how mental health was framed in the other articles, and thus had the
effect of slackening any direct correlation between homelessness and
children’s mental health. Furthermore, similar to the aforementioned article,
homelessness was discussed in isolation, and no reference was made to the
problem of poverty and inequality specifically.
56
‘The Expert’, and The Individual
Timimi (2014: 15) sums up his discontent with child and adolescent psychiatry
when he observes how the modernist approach to mental health entails the
use of a manual of pre-existing and assumed norms with respect to thoughts,
feelings, and behaviours in order to analyse and subsequently pathologise
individual children, in what he termed “a kind of eugenic terrorism”. Timimi
proceeds to associate this form of diagnostic and pathological approach to
mental health as the hegemonising of perceived experts within the field of
mental health, who are accepted as having a specialised type of insight into all
forms of human experience. Furthermore, Timimi (2014) points to the fact that
this pathological and individualistic approach to mental distress has the effect
of facilitating potential imbalances in power that exist in social life, and that by
identifying themselves as experts in the vast array of the complexities of human
existence, they self-anoint themselves as purveyors of the truth. Drawing on
the work of Foucault and other post-structural thinkers, Timimi points to how
this positivist understanding of human experience and distress cannot be
regarded as a form of progress; rather it is a modern day tool of “alienation”
(Timimi 2014: 16). What is crucial with respect to this critique of child and
adolescent psychiatry, and the diagnostic and individualistic understandings
of mental health it engenders, is the fact that any post-structural critique is not
doubting that mental distress exists, nor that the distressful experiences of a
child are valid and real. Rather, it is our means of interpretation and our
responses to these interpretations that are deemed worthy of specific scrutiny
(Timimi 2014). Ultimately, children are reflections of their lived environments
and experiences; the pathological and individualistic methodologies adopted
by media-anointed experts have the effect of locating the problem, and
subsequent solution, within the distressed child. This is deeply problematic.
57
Taking this scholarship into account, this author was drawn to the pathological
and individualistic approach to children’s mental health in many of the
analysed articles, and the use of ‘the expert’ voice in a cohort of these articles
to further this articulation. Within the ‘WPR’ method of analysis, Bacchi (2009:
19) references how a problem representation is produced and legitimised, and
subsequently identifies this as worthy of exploration within the framework, vis
a vis the utilisation of a probing question regarding the dissemination of
‘knowledge’. Take for example, two articles which O’Malley, an Irish
psychologist, wrote for the Irish Independent; in the first article O’Malley
reported on research conducted by DCU regarding the phenomenon of young
children self-harming. In the article itself, O’Malley outlines how self-harming
was presenting teachers and schools with significant problems. Her contention
was that self-harming is a coping mechanism, and that the best form of
intervention for children experiencing such distress was to avail of counselling.
O’Malley referenced how the DCU report identifies family and relationship
problems as being the main driver of mental distress in children, and
subsequently makes a passing reference to “common problems in society”
(O’Malley 2018: 28) as being responsible for the increase in emotional distress.
There was no elaboration on what these problems were, and while she
recognised that we “seem to live in a world where it seems to be becoming
progressively more difficult to maintain a sense of emotional well-being”
(O’Malley 2018: 28), ultimately her view was that the answer to children’s
mental distress lies in increased access to individualised therapies for children
and young people; the problem may exist outside the child, but the ‘solution’
lay within them.
Her second article explored the stress placed on teenagers as a result of
exams. The language used in this article was particularly striking; O’Malley
58
spoke about “hysteria sweeping through schools” and referenced exams as a
being a form of “ceremonial slaughter”. While resolute in her framing of our
educational system as being flawed and an unnecessary stressor on young
people, what was very striking was her celebration of individualised success
outside of the educational setting. Individual pressure to perform in exams was
undermining children and young people’s mental health, according to
O’Malley, yet the proposed antidote to this was in the celebration of other
forms of individual biographies that young people could sketch. She identified
tech entrepreneurs and Dragon’s Den ‘stars’ as “proper success stories”
(O’Malley 2018: 4), and celebrated her own journey of becoming “financially
independent” (O’Malley 2018: 4) as something that could inspire children and
young people. Given the article title commenced with the words “success isn’t
everything…” (O’Malley 2018: 28), and O’Malley’s contention that individual
pressure to perform was distressing young people, it was somewhat
perplexing that an alternative form of individual success was portrayed as a
panacea to the mental distress experienced by young people. However,
O’Malley and / or the Irish Independent were not outliers. Across both the
Irish Independent and the Irish Daily Mail the voice given to ‘experts’ who
subsequently pathologised children and young people’s mental health, and
observed solutions through the prism of an individualised treatment
methodology was quite evident.
59
Of the 49 articles analysed a total of 3118 articles either used the voice of a
perceived ‘expert’ and / or advocated for a pathological approach to children
and young people’s mental health in some degree. While the pathological lens
18
Donaghy. K. (2018) ‘W is for well-being: Schools tackle soaring anxiety’. Irish Independent, 27 October, p. 8, 9.
Byrnes. N. (2018) ‘My daughter’s broken arm has healed – but she’s still suffering’. Irish Independent, 2 July, p. 8.
Byrne. K. (2018) ‘Tired but wired: living with anxiety; Anxiety and panic attacks are becoming more prevalent in
Ireland, especially among adolescents and young adults’. Irish Independent, 3 February, p. 12, 13.
12.
O’Malley. S. (2018) ‘Hurting the ones most in need?’ Irish Independent, 25 May, p. 39, 40, 41
O’Malley. S. (2018) ‘Very young children are self-harming – we can’t turn a blind eye to mental health’. Irish
Independent, 22 June, p. 28.
Byrne. L. (2018) ‘Compulsive gaming is a mental health condition, rules the WHO; but no need for moral panic –
psychologist’. Irish Independent, 19 June, p. 8.
Larkin. L. (2018) ‘Mental health treatment by Skype scheme to tackle crisis’. Irish Independent, 29 August, p. 18
O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘Dirty hospitals, hours alone: state of mental care exposed’. Irish Independent, 25 July, p. 14.
to look to alternatives’. Irish Independent. 6 December, p. 6, 7
O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘More mental health patients should get ‘talk therapy’, not pills – report’. Irish Independent, 18
October, p. 18.
Dillon. F. (2018) ‘Government gets low marks on children’s rights as 7,000 wait to see psychologist’. Irish
Independent, 14 February, p. 10, 11.
Rooney. D. (2018) ‘How to help your little worrier’. Irish Independent, 24 January, p. 14, 15.
Larkin. L. (2018) ‘A third of children’s mental health beds shut’. Irish Independent, 10 August, p. 11.
Coleman. D. (2018) ‘Why is my daughter hearing voices?’ Irish Independent, 13 August, p. 14.
Heffernan. B. (2018) ‘Attending a creche ‘better for child’s emotional development’ than being cared for by family
members’. Irish Independent, 2 October, p. 10, 11.
O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘Care of suicidal children needs to be improved, says watchdog’. Irish Independent. 13 June, p.
11.
O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘’There is only so much I can help my son with’ – 37,000 vulnerable children on lists’. Irish
Independent, 28 November, p. 11.
Coleman. D. (2018) ‘My five year-old son hears voices telling him not to be bad’. Irish Independent, 29 January, p.
14.
Coleman. D. (2018) ‘I can’t get my six-year-old daughter into school without tears. What can we do to help her?’
Irish Independent, 21 May, p. 14
Clarke. S. (2018) ‘Dear Santa, this year can we please have some skyscrapers?’ Irish Daily Mail, 21 November, p.36.
Weinstock. L. (2018) ‘Self-Harm Epidemic?’ Irish Daily Mail, 11 August, p. 28, 29, 30, 31.
Fernandez. C. (2018) ‘Stressed fathers pass on mental illness to unborn’. Irish Daily Mail, 17 February, p. 24.
Smyth. R. (2018) ‘Children made to wait a year; Mental health appointments are delayed as experts warn that early
detection is vital’. Irish Daily Mail, 29 December, p. 1, 6.
p. 5.
to poorer quality of life’. Irish Daily Mail, 12 June, p. 8
Fegan. C. (2018) ‘Phone addiction in children ‘is causing an anxiety epidemic’’. Irish Daily Mail, 13 January, p. 2
Fegan. C. (2018) ‘Now Apple investors say: stop targeting children!’ Irish Daily Mail, 9 January, p. 1, 2
60
used to construct children and young people’s mental distress varied in
economy of application across the articles analysed, there are a number which
are worthy of exploration, given the nature of the discourse propagated.
For example, in the Irish Independent Heffernan (2018: 10, 11) reported on a
study from France, which concluded that “children who attend a creche are
less likely to have emotional and behavioural problems than those cared for
by a childminder or by family and friends”. Heffernan constructed the
‘problem’ with children’s mental health using pathological and positivist
language; ‘conduct problems’, ‘hyperactivity’ and ‘low attention spans’,
amongst other classifications were used as terminological criteria to classify
children, and to subsequently categorise these children in certain percentile
groupings. Following this, these quantitative measurements were used to
portray difference in ‘outcomes’ for children who attended creche, versus
those who were cared for in more informal settings, including family settings.
The narrative created was that children who were not cared for in formal
settings were being disadvantaged. In order to strengthen this assertion,
Heffernan introduced June Tinsley, head of advocacy with Barnardos, who
subsequently endorsed the findings, on the basis that “only a handful of
childminders are registered with Tusla” (Heffernan 2018: 10, 11) in Ireland.
Thus, the narrative created was that informal arrangements were a substandard
means of care for children, as a result of a lack of regulation, in a way that
formal providers were not.
Byrne (2018: 8) in the Irish Independent also reported on how the World Health
Organisation had classified “compulsive playing of video games” as a
‘disorder’. In the article Byrne gave voice to an Irish psychologist Catherine
Hallissey, and quoted the World Health Organisation’s Director for Mental
61
Health, Dr. Shekhar Saxena. What was remarkable about this article in
particular was the incongruity of the framing of the “compulsive playing of
video games” (Byrne 2018: 8). On the one hand Byrne reported that Catherine
Hallissey welcomed the classification of excessive gaming as a mental health
‘disorder’, yet also noted how she has advised against “stigmatising children
with labels” (Byrne 2018: 8). Furthermore, while Hallissey identified the
potential that excessive gaming could be a form of negotiating stressors for a
child, and how a child’s lived environment may require remediation, she
located the problem of environment strictly within that child’s “family life”
(Byrne 2018: 8). Furthermore, the subsequent solutions were identified as the
expansion of “the child’s interests” and an ability to get a child “to interact
with the real world” (Byrne 2018: 8). There appeared to be no thought given
to the fact that the ‘real world’ could in fact be the stressor that the child was
navigating through game playing. Compulsive playing of video games was
compared to drug and alcohol addiction, yet rather than focusing on the
factors that were leading to children playing video games in a ‘problematic’
manner, the solutions remained individualistic and the onus was placed upon
the child to adapt to the stressors, whatever they may potentially be. Thus,
while appearing to attend to the responsibility the external environment plays
in creating mental health problems for a child or young person, the favoured
solution is to change the child and / or the child’s family, rather than the
environment.
The Irish Daily Mail also used ‘the expert’ voice to construct children’s mental
health in an individualised and pathological manner; Fernandez (2018)
reported on a conference from the US where Professor Tracy Bale had
announced findings of a particular study. The documented findings from this
study asserted that “men experiencing stress could father children with a
62
greater risk of developing mental illness” (Fernandez 2018: 24). There were a
number of striking factors about this article; firstly the experiment had solely
used male mice, yet the headline stated quite categorically that “stressed
fathers pass on mental illness to unborn” (Fernandez 2018: 24). This had the
effect of constructing mental illness in strict neuroscientific and somewhat
misleading terms. Secondly, the narrative was hugely individualised; from the
aforementioned heading, to the fact that the author spoke about how “it is
known that a mother’s condition during pregnancy can harm her child – with
damage caused by factors such as poor diet, stress or infection” (Fernandez
2018: 24). The article isolated mothers and fathers and did not look to explore
potential stressors in their respective lives and from where these stressors
emanated. A father’s stress levels were directly linked to “the development of
psychological disorders” (Fernandez 2018: 24) in their children, thus placing
responsibility for children’s mental health firmly with parents, removed of any
and all social context.
Amidst myriad of articles which framed the problem of children and young
people’s mental health using ‘the expert’ voice and in an individualised
manner, one article stood out, primarily because of the egregious nature of
contradictions contained within the same article. Quigley (2018) reported in
the Irish Daily Mail on the benefits of exercise and team sports for children’s
mental health; the article opened with a reflection on a University of Kansas
study, which “showed that 97% of those who played team sports made it to
college level with their average marks being 10% higher than those who didn’t
participate in sports” (Quigley 2018: 26). Thus, contrary to the headline which
insinuated that the focus was on improving children’s mental health,
immediately the discourse was framed in an educational performance context.
The article then introduced Ashling Thompson, a well-known Cork camogie
63
player, and “fitness ambassador for Red Bull” (Quigley 2018: 28), who
staunchly advocated for children and young people being involved in team
sports. Ashling identified team sports as playing a pivotal role in facilitating
children and young people to “go to the next level” (Quigley 2018: 26),
whether that be in their chosen sport, choice of future career, or any other
aspect of their life.
Again, mental health was not constructed in terms of a child or young person’s
well-being; rather there was a focus on the impact mental health has on
individual performance across varying contexts. Of particular note in this
respect was Ashling’s contention that “the social aspect of being in a team”
was particularly useful in navigating stress and increasing relaxation in children
and young people. Ashling drew attention to the effect social media was
having in contributing to children and young people’s mental health in a
negative way. What was particularly striking about these observations, was the
contradictory nature of these assertions. All the contributors identified the
isolation of the individual, in this instance children and young people, as
posing significant issues to their mental health, and subsequently identified
team sports, which could be identified as representative of the social in an
individual’s life, as ameliorating their mental distress. Yet, rather than exploring
why a social connection like that provided in team sports has the potential to
be positive, the garnered effect was constructed in order to advantage their
individualised futures. Individual performance and achievement within sport
and education was celebrated as a means of combating mental health
problems for children and young people in the article; the author, ‘the expert’,
and Ashling Thompson all alluded to how beneficial it would be for children
and young people to emulate sports people in team settings. Yet
contradictorily, children and young people who were trying to emulate
64
“people on Instagram” were identified as putting their mental health at risk. It
remains to be seen why narratives of emulation in one context could enhance
one’s mental health, while in another context it could have the polar opposite
effect.
65
Neoliberalism: A Common Theme
Taking the entire corpus of articles analysed, a common theme that integrates
the analysis is that of neoliberalism, and how it influences the media, ‘experts’,
and society’s understanding of children and young people’s mental health.
The effects of neoliberal discourse emanated from the analysis in varying
guises, which were in line with the ‘WPR’ framework questions; namely the
construction of the problem; assumptions made with respect to the problem;
how the representation of the problem came about; what was omitted from
the discourse; the effects produced by the problem; and how this
representation was produced, disseminated and almost beyond reproach
(Bacchi 2009). In this respect it is crucial at this juncture to draw on academic
discourse in order to place neoliberalism in context. Harvey (2005) identifies
three specific aspects that define neoliberalism; the atomisation of the
individual and the subsequent subservience of collective responsibility; the
ensuing subversion of social justice and democracy; and the hegemonic status
afforded to technology and expertise. Taking these aspects in the order in
which they are outlined, the atomisation of the individual was particularly
present in much the analysed articles; across the themes identified, the
responsibilisation of children and / or their families for their mental health
problems was endemic. Responsibilisation in this context can be understood
as individual citizens being assigned responsibility for addressing any and all
factors that may affect their mental health.
Garrett (2008) argued that responsibilisation is a product of neoliberalism, and
reflective of a state that expects citizens to manage their own ‘risks’ and
engage in ‘self-care’ where necessary. Furthermore, state services have
evolved under neoliberalism to solely be a means of evaluation and managing
66
the ‘at risk’ citizen (Liebenberg et al 2015: 1008). Ultimately then, neoliberal
discourse locates responsibility with the individual to circumnavigate
vulnerabilities and / or disadvantages in order to be able to participate in the
competitive society (Stonehouse et al 2015: 394). This is pertinent given the
lack of any reference to poverty or inequality in any of 49 articles analysed.
Furthermore, a cohort of the analysed articles identified changes in family
environments, counselling for children, the lateral movement of meritocracy in
young people, parents’ enrolment of their children in formal care settings,
parents’ enrolment of their children in team sports, and an elimination of
fathers’ stress levels as being the antidote to children’s mental health
problems; all solutions which responsibilise children and / or their parent/s for
the problems they face.
In research conducted in rural Canada, Cairns (2013) identified how neoliberal
discourse had captured the minds of youth, who envision their futures via
ideals of individual success and fears of individual failure. Her research found
that young people had a particular envisioned embodiment of what
constituted ‘the good life’, and how both young people and their parents
invested heavily in individualised success stories as a means of ensuring their
children attained ‘the good life’. In Quigley’s article, team sports were
provided as the antidote to the mental health problems children and young
people face, irrespective of their socio-economic background, vulnerability, or
the wider context of their lives. In essence, the mental health problems
experienced by children and young people were simplified in a contradictory
manner, and subsequent good mental health promoted for the way it would
enable individual achievement into the future; but only individual
achievement, which the authors and contributors accepted as valid. In
O’Malley’s (2018) article regarding education, she identified overbearing,
67
individualised stress as being responsible for children and young people’s
mental distress, yet the solution remained individualised, and the concept of
individual meritocracy and success merely moved laterally.
In this respect, Brunila (2014) draws attention to how neoliberal discourse has
shifted responsibility for survival on to the individual citizen. In the context of
children and young people she identifies how a common approach to mental
health treatment is the employment of behavioural change techniques, rather
than more holistic or environmental solutions; those who cannot thrive must
adapt. Pimlott-Wilson (2015) claims neoliberal discourse has responsibilised
children and young people to envision and take charge of their own futures.
The problem she identifies with this is that this method of responsibilisation
marginalises many children and young people who don’t or can’t comply to
this individualised ideal of citizenship. This has the effect of burdening children
and young people with self-doubt, who identify an inability to achieve
individual success as a precursor for marginalisation within the neoliberal
society; Pimlott-Wilson (2015) identifies this phenomenon as being a
significant contributor to their emotional distress. However, as Holloway et al
(2011: 4) allude to, little research has been forthcoming about the possible
negative emotional effects of neoliberal policy on children and young people.
Thus, the analysed articles framing of the problem would not appear to be an
anomaly in terms of tone and content; it simply represents the neoliberal
discourse which has completely hegemonised children and young people’s
mental health, and situated neoliberalism as an ideology that is beyond
reproach (Bacchi 2009: 19).
Taking Harvey’s (2005) second concept regarding the subversion of social
justice and democracy, this is particularly noteworthy in the lack of attention
68
afforded to the role of social structures, poverty, and inequality in causing
mental health problems in children and young people. Wilkinson et al (2011)
conducted research across nine western countries, using data from the World
Health Organisation, which identified a direct link between the level of
inequality in a society and the proportion of people who experience mental
health problems. While they were keen to stress that there was no correlating
data available to measure the potential link between children and young
people’s mental health and inequality, the data produced, and correlation
made was definitive. However, isolating inequality and / or poverty in and of
itself is problematic, as it simply highlights an effect, similar to how mental
distress is seen as an effect of inequality and / or poverty. In this context,
research completed by Piketty et al (2015) which identified a remarkable
increase in income inequality in the US from the 1980’s onward is worthy of
exploration.
In their research they identified this rise in inequality as emanating from the
adoption of neoliberal principles of economics and politics in the US. In
tandem with this increase, similar patterns emerged that identified the
weakening of social supports and minimum wages, the lowering of top
marginal tax rates, and a significant drop off in personal savings as a
percentage of disposable personal income during this period (Kotz: 2018). This
illustrates how the advent and subsequent embedding of neoliberalism in the
US dramatically increased inequality and poverty. Taking the US experience
into account, this author was drawn to a speech given at the American Bar
Association in July of 2000, when Mary Harney, the then Irish Minister for
Enterprise, famously commented; “spiritually we are probably a lot closer to
Boston than Berlin” (Fischer 2014). While identified at the time as an Irish
Minister pandering to her audience, it was also remarked upon how this was
69
emblematic of the Irish State identifying its model of economics and politics in
line with that of the US. In the time since this speech, Ireland’s adoption of
neoliberalism has become even more embedded; commenting on the banking
crash and subsequent recession that occurred in Ireland post 2007, Dukelow
et al (2018) identified how a form of ‘disciplinary neoliberalism’ engendered a
regressive approach to social supports, a form of policy that naturally affects
society’s most disadvantaged most acutely. This is particularly emblematic in
the dramatic rise in homelessness in low income families in Ireland since the
recession began, a phenomenon that exists to this day.
Given that much of the academic discourse has identified how neoliberalism
fosters inequality and poverty, which in turn has been shown to have a
detrimental effect on children and young people’s mental health, the task of
understanding the omission of any reference to these correlations in the 49
articles analysed could present itself as an arduous task. Yet, in much of the
scholarship on the pervasiveness of neoliberalism in a contemporary context,
there tends to be agreement on one of the most prominent features of
neoliberalism’s hold on society; it is accepted so widely that an alternative has
become unconscionable. Neoliberalism is rational; it’s proponents common
sense thinkers, it’s opponents, fantasists. Thus, when the media highlight the
problem of children and young people’s mental health, the hegemonic
position of neoliberalism and all it entails remains unquestioned. The effect of
this is that mental health problems in children and young people are isolated
and individualised as a phenomenon (Bacchi 2009). However, this type of
discourse is not limited to the media, nor is it indicative of a wider form of
deliberate collusion. Brown (2015: 35) identified the capillary-like nature of
neoliberalism when she commented how neoliberalism was “more termite like
than lionlike”. In essence what Brown is alluding to here is how neoliberalism
70
has become hegemonic in an almost stealth like fashion, as it manipulates
multiple realms steadily over time. Thus, the aforementioned framing of the
problem of children and young people’s mental health, and the lack of any
correlation made in any of the articles between children and young people’s
mental health, poverty and inequality, and neoliberalism becomes somewhat
more comprehensible, if not still deeply problematic. Neoliberalism and its
many embodiments have become part and parcel of our way of understanding
contemporary Irish life. To question neoliberalism is to question our entire
construct and understanding of contemporary Ireland; a task perhaps
perceived beyond the scope of any single media article or reporter.
With respect to Harvey’s (2005) final component of neoliberalism; the
hegemonic status afforded to technology and professional expertise, this is
most salient in the case of the articles proposing ‘tele-counselling’ / ‘virtual
psychiatrists’ as an antidote to poor mental health service provision, as well as
the cohort of articles which used ‘the expert’ voice to frame the problem of
children and young people’s mental health in a specific way. Timimi (2010)
speaks about the ‘McDonalization of Childhood’ in which he identifies
neoliberalism as being responsible for the promotion of a narrow biomedical
format of understanding and treating of children’s mental health. The
contemporary biomedical framework which commands mental health service
provision hegemonises psychiatry in particular, and places a significant level of
trust in psychiatry’s construction of mental health problems and subsequent
treatment methodologies. The consequence of this is that the shortage of
psychiatrists, as was reported on in a cohort of articles analysed, does not
prompt a questioning of the reliance on this particular model of care. Rather,
the assumption made is that a technological solution which places strain on
the one of the most fundamental aspects of care, patient-centredness, is
71
promoted as an antidote; one of the articles in particular noted that Minister
Daly was expecting “push-back”, but accepted this as it was “a more efficient
and effective use of resources” (Larkin 2018: 18). Thus, not alone is the concept
of providing care remotely via a technological system assumed to offer a
solution to resourcing issues, it is also celebrated from the point of view that it
is cost efficient, a rationale which removes the patient, in this instance a child
or young person, from the centre of service planning and resourcing.
This framing of the problem is something that scholars have highlighted.
Cosgrove et al (2018) wrote of the effect of neoliberalism with respect to
mental health service provision; in particular, they take cognisance of how
neoliberalism in a medical context frames human distress and suffering in strict
economic terms. This framing was distinctly notable in certain articles,
specifically when gaps and flaws in resourcing for children’s mental health
services were being identified;
“Children’s community services suffer from inadequate staffing and
variable funding. It can range from €40 a head in one area to €92 in
another, with no rationale for the differences and inequality of care;
Children in mental distress are having to attend hospital A&E
departments, leaving staff in a desperate search to find an in-patient bed.
There is just one child and adolescent emergency inpatient bed in the
country”
(O’Regan 2018: 14)
Furthermore, the critique of these gaps in services ended at the point of
identification of the problem, irrespective of whether the gaps were
72
constructed in economic, resourcing or human terms. There was no discussion
as to where these gaps emanated from, nor was there any reference to the
nature of under-funding or how the political economy shaped these problems
within service provision. Writing on the relationship that exists between
neoliberalism and mental health service provision in a British context, Ramon
(2008) identified a clear link between the political makeup of specific British
governments, their ideological affiliation with neoliberalism, and the
implications this had on service provision, vis a vis funding. Cuts to NHS
funding, perpetuated by a Conservative government, had a disastrous effect
on health services in Britain, according to Ramon. This kind of analysis of the
role of the political economy in perpetuating the mental health problems faced
by children and young people is something that was notably absent from the
discourse in all of the articles that were focused on the problems of children’s
mental health service provision.
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In Summary
At the outset of this chapter, there was a focus on the media’s vilification of
digital technology in its construction of the problem of children and young
people’s mental health. In terms of identified narratives, the vilification of
digital technology, in the absence of any form of comprehensive evidence of
cause and effect, was only distinctly noticeable in the Irish Daily Mail. A further
exploration of this, using a wider corpus would be worthy of analysis, however,
given this was present in only one of the print media sources analysed, this
could be indicative of the generation of a form of moral panic which is more
often associated with tabloid newspapers (Cohen 1972). Thus, due to the
isolated nature of this type of framing, a thorough exploration was beyond the
scope of analysis in this research project. While there was a particular framing
of the primary problem confronting the mental health of children and young
people in the Irish Independent, that being problems pertaining to mental
health service provision, this framing was compatible with the primary and
consistent finding of this analysis; neoliberal discourse has shaped our
understanding and responses to mental health problems in children and young
people in a very significant way.
This neoliberal discourse was present across both publications and underlined
much of the narrative, irrespective of how either publication, journalist, or
‘expert’ constructed the problem of children and young people’s mental
health. For example, WPR’s method of analysis facilitates a critical analysis
based on what is not present within constructed narratives, as much as what is
present. This was perhaps the most striking finding in the analysis, and is
deeply indicative of neoliberal discourse; poverty and inequality were not
linked in any coherent manner to the problem of children and young people’s
74
mental health across either publication. Neoliberal discourse shaped the
problem, it offered assumptions as to what underpinned the problem, it
subsequently shaped the representation of the problem, it omitted essential
factors which underpin mental health problems from the discourse, which in
turn created effects for children and young people experiencing mental health
problems, and then drew on professional expertise to further a neoliberal
representation of the problem. Thus, WPR’s method of analysis illustrated that
neoliberalism is a very influential and consistent feature in the discourse of
children and young people’s mental health (Bacchi 2009) in the media formats
analysed within this paper.
75
Chapter 6: Conclusion
In this final chapter I will reflect upon my experiences when conducting this
research. This reflection will transgress personal reflections upon completion of
this project, as well as my overall assessment, based on the research I
conducted, of the neoliberalisation of children and young people’s mental
health. The chapter will close with some broad recommendations for the future
in the area of children and young people’s mental health.
76
6.2 Reflections
At the outset of this project I identified six questions that underpinned the
overall analysis, taken from the ‘WPR’ approach. While these six questions were
applied to each article individually, the consistency in identified themes mean
they can be answered with respect to the broader corpus also. Question 1
asked, what the problem was represented to be with respect to children and
young people’s mental health? While there was great variety in terms of
identified narratives, a neoliberal discourse embellished the discourse in a
significant way. Question 2 asked what assumptions were made in terms of the
representation of the problem of children and young people’s mental health,
as portrayed by the media. Many things were taken for granted, yet again, the
normalisation of a neoliberal discourse was most evident. Question 3 asked
how the particular representation of the problem of children and young
people’s mental health had come about? Reflecting upon the concept of
neoliberalism and its advancement within an Irish context informed this
question to a large degree. Question 4 posed a crucial question, that being
what was not mentioned, or rarely mentioned, in the media with respect to
children and young people’s mental health. In almost every single article
analysed there was no reference whatsoever to poverty, inequality or the role
of social structures in perpetuating mental distress in children and young
people. Question 5 asked what body of knowledge was being produced by
the overall representation of the problem, vis a vis the solutions to the
problem. The solutions in the main were neoliberal in nature; more
counselling; more psychiatrists; more technology. Finally, Question 6 asked
how the representation of the problem was produced, disseminated, and
defended? As identified at the outset of this project, neoliberalism embraces
experts and technology to navigate all forms of problem constructions. This
77
was most notable in the discourse as experts and technology were often
marked as solutions or panaceas to the problems that pertained to children
and young people’s mental health.
In many ways, I found this project quite difficult both emotionally and
academically. The analysis of the discourse revealed elements of contemporary
culture and politics that make me extremely uncomfortable; most notably a
digression from the concept of care for vulnerable people, to a methodology
of ‘care’ that is invariably viewed from behind and through the lens of ‘the
market’. Ultimately, this digression fills me with a level of anxiety for the future
of care of vulnerable children, not to mind other vulnerable groups in society.
What I have found most troubling is the way in which issues that pertain to
children and young people’s mental health are normalised if they are set within
the parameters of what is acceptable within the realm of neoliberal discourse.
Furthermore, the ever-expanding concept of individualism which underpinned
such a significant portion of the discourse, as well as that of neoliberalism more
broadly, is a terrifying movement. The increasing disconnection from each
other and society at large marks a worrying trend in the evolution of society,
and serves to give life to Margaret Thatcher’s famous remarks regarding the
inexistence of society in the realm of neoliberal politics. The pace at which
society and media have begun to normalise the individual as being responsible
for navigating every element of their own existence, even when those
individuals are children or young people, is an indictment of contemporary
society. It is my opinion that unless society faces up to the reality of the absolute
necessity for the comfort of the collective in navigating our many experiences,
children and young people will continue to face significant challenges to
experience good mental health.
78
6.3 Recommendations
In terms of plotting a route forward I have proposed a number of
recommendations;
• The primary proposal I would have following completion of this project
is for further research, in the shape of a discourse analysis of Irish media
articles, to be completed using a wider corpus. While the analysis
contained within this project illustrates a clear neoliberal discourse
pertaining to children and young people’s mental health, an expanded
corpus will further legitimise this analysis, or serve to inform it more by
pivoting it further. Whatever the outcome with respect to broadening
the corpus analysed, an expansion can only strengthen the analysis
further.
• I also believe the completion of extensive research that pertains to
children and young people in the area of mental health is crucial. Jigsaw
completed the most significant piece of research in Ireland in the area
of children and young people’s mental health in 2012. It aimed to give
voice to children and young people regarding their mental health by
distributing a questionnaire to a large cohort of students, however, there
were two issues with their research as I see it. Firstly, it was quantitative
in nature; of course there is a role for quantitative research in the area of
children and young people’s mental health, however, to truly capture
causes, experiences, and outcomes for children and young people we
need to step outside the realm of statistics and engage with the richness
of qualitative research. Secondly, while I am not questioning the
impartiality or independence of Jigsaw, the lens of the research was
narrow in that it was constructed in order to satisfy a remit, in my opinion.
79
Thus, I feel it is crucial that research grounded in the social sciences,
which explores the experiences of the various stakeholders is engaged
with, in order to shift the premise of our questioning from how do we
react, to why is this happening; as well as to identify if current
interventions are in any way helpful to children and young people
experiencing distress. This could be commenced by engaging
professionals working within the system, who are critical of
contemporary methodologies of intervention.
• I also believe it is critical that social science researchers in the area of
children and young people’s mental health engage with the media more
regarding critical discourses and their own research. Of course this
would require a level of buy-in from the media and journalists, as critical
discourses often do not often offer simplified constructions of problems
which the media favour. Notwithstanding this, conveying research which
illustrates the negative consequences of simplified constructions of
children and young people’s mental health would be a place to start in
terms of opening that dialogue.
• Finally, and taking up the concept of simplified constructions of mental
health problems, I believe that it is incumbent upon researchers in the
social sciences to engage with ethnographic research with respect to
children and young people’s mental health. There are myriad of statistics
that identify minority cultures and the economically disadvantaged
within societies as being more susceptible to mental health problems.
Thus any absence of critical discourses with respect to dominant
intervention methodologies only serves to disenfranchise large cohorts
of children and young people, while enabling underlying determinants
of mental health problems.
80
6.4 In Summary
This research project could be perceived as being particularly critical of certain
professions and the media, most notably given the problem-laden nature of
the recommendations, yet that is not the intention. What I have aimed to
highlight with this project is how narrow our view of children and young
people’s mental health is, and how a neoliberal discourse has co-opted our
construction of the problems facing children and young people’s mental
health. As I have previously mentioned, poststructuralism does not look to
create truths, and neoliberalism is not a single entity, thus the convergence of
the two in this project looks to create questions first and foremost. It is these
questions regarding our construction of children and young people’s mental
health problems that I vehemently believe need to be put under the media
spotlight. Psychiatry and psychology frame mental health problems in
particular ways; this was evident in the analysis of discourse. Yet, we need
understandings of mental health problems and their impact on children and
young people that are located outside these constructions, and their
propagation of what constitutes ‘truth’ and ‘knowledge’. Human existence is
complex. Simplifying it for the sake of column inches, dominant economic
interests, or professional ends is not a means for progress, but regression. My
review of literature in this project has filled me with a great deal of hope for the
future. It is clear that a vast swathe of professionals and academics are critical
of the way in which children and young people’s mental health is currently
constructed. Thus, moving forward I hope that this research and any further
research I engage with in the area of children and young people’s mental health
can add to the body of knowledge that looks to advance change, so that our
children and young people’s mental health can be enhanced now, and into the
future.
81
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shocking claim by GPs amid calls for regulator’. Irish Daily Mail, 9
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• Molony. S. (2018) ‘Dail is told how the cyberbullying crisis adds to teen
suicide’. Irish Daily Mail, 6 December, p. 2
• Moscovici. S. (1988) Notes towards a description of social
representations. European Journal of Social Psychology Vol 18
86
• Murphy. M. (2018) ‘Apple urged to curb phone addiction among
young’. Irish Independent, 9 January, p. 19
• Naughton. C. (2018) ‘Parents’ guide to exam stress’. Irish
Independent, 8 May, p. 31, 32, 33
• O’Doherty. I. (2018) We’re betraying a generation by not showing it
how to cope with life’s ills. Irish Independent. p. 24
• O’Doherty. I. (2018) ‘ This is what happens when we think we’re all
stars in our very own biopic’. Irish Independent, 24 November, p. 24
• O’Donnell. L., Molony. S. (2018) ‘Children’s internet use ‘linked to
depression’; Paediatricians say screen-time leads to poorer quality of
life’. Irish Daily Mail, 12 June, p. 8
• O’Kelly. I. (2018) ‘Stigma from mental health diagnoses lasts a lifetime
– so leave labels for jars, not people’. Irish Independent, 23 April, p.
22
• O’Malley. S. (2018) ‘Hurting the ones most in need?’ Irish
Independent, 25 May, p. 39, 40, 41
• O’Malley. S. (2018) ‘Success isn’t everything; kids need to learn from
failure too’. Irish Independent, 17 February, p. 4
• O’Malley. S. (2018) ‘Very young children are self-harming – we can’t
turn a blind eye to mental health’. Irish Independent, 22 June, p. 28
• O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘Dirty hospitals, hours alone: state of mental care
exposed’. Irish Independent, 25 July, p. 14
• O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘Counselling online is among €55m package for
mental health’. Irish Independent, 8 October, p. 12
• O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘’Virtual’ psychiatrists will replace clinics for
children; Acute shortage of staff has forced minister to look to
alternatives’. Irish Independent. 6 December, p. 6, 7
87
• O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘Care of suicidal children needs to be improved,
says watchdog’. Irish Independent. 13 June, p. 11
• O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘’There is only so much I can help my son with’ –
37,000 vulnerable children on lists’. Irish Independent, 28 November,
p. 11
• O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘More mental health patients should get ‘talk
therapy’, not pills – report’. Irish Independent, 18 October, p. 18
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• Rosen. R. (2018) Poverty and Family Troubles: Mothers, Children, and
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91
Appendix
Analysed Corpus
Irish Daily Mail
1. Blackford Newman. K. (2018) ‘Are our children becoming hooked on
depression pills they don’t need?’ Irish Daily Mail, 25 September, p.
21, 22, 23.
2. Clarke. S. (2018) ‘Dear Santa, this year can we please have some
skyscrapers?’ Irish Daily Mail, 21 November, p.36.
3. Dunne. S. (2018) ‘Addiction to gaming officially a ‘disorder’’. Irish Daily
Mail, 19 June, p. 6.
4. Dunne. S. (2018) ‘US study shows too much screen time damages
health of toddlers’. Irish Daily Mail, 8 November, p. 5.
5. Fegan. C. (2018) ‘Phone addiction in children ‘is causing an anxiety
epidemic’’. Irish Daily Mail, 13 January, p. 2.
6. Fegan. C. (2018) ‘Now Apple investors say: stop targeting children!’
Irish Daily Mail, 9 January, p. 1, 2.
7. Fegan. C. (2018) ‘The addiction to ‘likes’ that’s leaving our children in
the grip of an anxiety epidemic’. Irish Daily Mail, 13 January, p. 10, 11.
8. Fernandez. C. (2018) ‘Stressed fathers pass on mental illness to
unborn’. Irish Daily Mail, 17 February, p. 24.
9. Kane. C. (2018) ‘Make real friends not artificial ones, Elisha’s Mass
told’. Irish Daily Mail, 30 March, p. 10.
10. Kissane. A. (2018) ‘Erin: how can children cope with abuse on social
media?’ Irish Daily Mail, 21 March, p. 7.
92
11. Michael. N. (2018) ‘Social Media is making our children mentally ill;
shocking claim by GPs amid calls for regulator’. Irish Daily Mail, 9
April, p. 1, 4.
12. Molony. S. (2018) ‘Dail is told how the cyberbullying crisis adds to teen
suicide’. Irish Daily Mail, 6 December, p. 2.
13. O’Donnell. L., Molony. S. (2018) ‘Children’s internet use ‘linked to
depression’; Paediatricians say screen-time leads to poorer quality of
life’. Irish Daily Mail, 12 June, p. 8.
14. Quigley. M. (2018) ‘Team sports that improve children’s mental
health’. Irish Daily Mail, 3 April, p. 26.
15. Slater. S., Smyth. R. (2018) ‘My Elisha was abused; Mother of tragic
teen reveals suffering of her daughter and vows to help others’. Irish
Daily Mail, 19 April, p. 12.
16. Smyth. R. (2018) ‘Children made to wait a year; Mental health
appointments are delayed as experts warn that early detection is vital’.
Irish Daily Mail, 29 December, p. 1, 6.
17. Weinstock. L. (2018) ‘Self-Harm Epidemic?’ Irish Daily Mail, 11 August,
p. 28, 29, 30,31.
Irish Independent
1. Blake Knox. K. (2018) ‘Too much social media too young ‘drives teen
unhappiness’’. Irish Independent, 21 March, p. 5.
2. Byrnes. N. (2018) ‘My daughter’s broken arm has healed – but she’s
still suffering’. Irish Independent, 2 July, p. 8.
3. Byrne. K. (2018) ‘Tired but wired: living with anxiety; Anxiety and panic
attacks are becoming more prevalent in Ireland, especially among
93
adolescents and young adults’. Irish Independent, 3 February, p. 12,
13.
4. Byrne. L. (2018) ‘Compulsive gaming is a mental health condition,
rules the WHO; but no need for moral panic – psychologist’. Irish
Independent, 19 June, p. 8.
5. Coleman. D. (2018) ‘Why is my daughter hearing voices?’ Irish
Independent, 13 August, p. 14.
6. Coleman. D. (2018) ‘My five year-old son hears voices telling him not
to be bad’. Irish Independent, 29 January, p. 14.
7. Coleman. D. (2018) ‘I can’t get my six-year-old daughter into school
without tears. What can we do to help her?’ Irish Independent, 21
May, p. 14.
8. Dillon. F. (2018) ‘Government gets low marks on children’s rights as
7,000 wait to see psychologist’. Irish Independent, 14 February, p. 10,
11.
9. Donaghy. K. (2018) ‘W is for well-being: Schools tackle soaring
anxiety’. Irish Independent, 27 October, p. 8, 9.
10. Feehan. C. (2018) ‘’Teach mental health at primary level’ – mother of
tragic Milly’. Irish Independent, 30 August, p. 18, 19.
11. Heffernan. B. (2018) ‘Attending a creche ‘better for child’s emotional
development’ than being cared for by family members’. Irish
Independent, 2 October, p. 10, 11.
12. Larkin. L. (2018) ‘A third of children’s mental health beds shut’. Irish
Independent, 10 August, p. 11.
13. Larkin. L. (2018) ‘Mental health treatment by Skype scheme to tackle
crisis’. Irish Independent, 29 August, p. 18.
14. Lynott. L. (2018) ‘A generation of children is being let down by this
Government’. Irish Independent, 27 December, p. 10.
94
15. Murphy. M. (2018) ‘Apple urged to curb phone addiction among
young’. Irish Independent, 9 January, p. 19.
16. O’Doherty. I. (2018) ‘ This is what happens when we think we’re all
stars in our very own biopic’. Irish Independent, 24 November, p. 24.
17. O’Doherty. I. (2018) ‘We’re betraying a generation by not showing it
how to cope with life’s ills’. Irish Independent, 31 July, p. 24.
18. O’Kelly. I. (2018) ‘Stigma from mental health diagnoses lasts a lifetime
– so leave labels for jars, not people’. Irish Independent, 23 April, p.
22.
19. O’Malley. S. (2018) ‘Hurting the ones most in need?’ Irish
Independent, 25 May, p. 39, 40, 41.
20. O’Malley. S. (2018) ‘Very young children are self-harming – we can’t
turn a blind eye to mental health’. Irish Independent, 22 June, p. 28.
21. O’Malley. S. (2018) ‘Success isn’t everything; kids need to learn from
failure too’. Irish Independent, 17 February, p. 4.
22. O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘Care of suicidal children needs to be improved,
says watchdog’. Irish Independent. 13 June, p. 11.
23. O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘’There is only so much I can help my son with’ –
37,000 vulnerable children on lists’. Irish Independent, 28 November,
p. 11.
24. O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘’Virtual’ psychiatrists will replace clinics for
children; Acute shortage of staff has forced minister to look to
alternatives’. Irish Independent. 6 December, p. 6, 7.
25. O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘More mental health patients should get ‘talk
therapy’, not pills – report’. Irish Independent, 18 October, p. 18.
26. O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘Counselling online is among €55m package for
mental health’. Irish Independent, 8 October, p. 12.
95
27. O’Regan. E. (2018) ‘Dirty hospitals, hours alone: state of mental care
exposed’. Irish Independent, 25 July, p. 14.
28. Naughton. C. (2018) ‘Parents’ guide to exam stress’. Irish
Independent, 8 May, p. 31, 32, 33.
29. Riegel. R. (2018) ‘It is time to teach anti-cyber bullying classes in
schools’. Irish Independent, 11 January, p. 3.
30. Rooney. D. (2018) ‘How to help your little worrier’. Irish Independent,
24 January, p. 14, 15.
31. Unknown Author (2018) ‘Mind Monster campaign to raise awareness’.
Irish Independent, 10 December, p. 3.
32. Unknown Author (2018) ‘Gaming – psychiatric disorder or bad habit?’
Irish Independent, 2 July, p. 13.
96
Sample Article
‘Compulsive gaming is a mental health condition, rules the WHO; but no
need for moral panic – psychologist’.
Byrne. L. (2018) - Irish Independent, 19 June, p. 8.
Compulsive playing of video games, such as the hugely popular 'Fortnite', now
qualifies as a mental health condition under a new World Health Organisation
(WHO) classification. Yesterday the WHO, the United Nations body concerned
with international public health, said classing Gaming Disorder as a distinct
condition will serve a public health purpose for countries to be better prepared
to identify this issue.
The move was welcomed by Irish psychologist Catherine Hallissey, who works
with families where children struggle from compulsive gaming. "This is a step
in the right direction for helping those with a disorder," the Cork-based
lecturer told the Irish Independent. However, she cautioned against a "moral
panic", pointing out just a tiny fraction of children were likely to have the
disorder, and most can play games as a hobby without showing problematic
behaviour.
She also cautioned against stigmatising children with labels and said she
couldn't advise as to how the Government might introduce programmes to
treat the condition. "It's too new and it's quite controversial," she said, adding
more scientific study would have to be done. "For the vast majority of people,
it doesn't become a disorder."
97
Dr Shekhar Saxena, director of the WHO's department for mental health, said
the WHO accepted the proposal that Gaming Disorder should be listed as a
new problem based on scientific evidence, in addition to "the need and the
demand for treatment in many parts of the world".
The classification comes one week after a study released by California State
University showed how video games can have a similar effect on children's
brains as drug abuse or alcoholism. MRI scans showed the impulsive part of
the brain, known as the amygdala-striatal system, was not only more sensitive
but also smaller in excessive users so that it processed the stimuli of video
games and social media faster.
The studies showed games such as 'Fortnite', which is now hugely popular with
Irish children as young as six, evoke the same "reward" system in the brain as
with other addictions. Ms Hallissey said signs to parents that their children may
have a problem with gaming would include not sleeping at night, falling asleep
in school, having relationships online that are more important than those in the
real world, not eating and not going outside.
But the solutions are focused on changing a child's environment, rather than
the games they are playing. "The first thing I would do is look at family life, try
to reduce stressors. "Games are often stress blockers used to go into another
world," she said. "Number two would be build relationships with the child and
three would be to expand the child's interests," she said. Healthy outdoor
activities and those that get the child to interact in the real world should be
encouraged, she said.
The Department of Health said it was committed to supporting people to lead
healthy and independent lives. "This issue will be kept under active review in
98
the department's policies and strategies to improve mental health and to
promote rehabilitation and recovery from harmful addictions."
Analysis of Article using ‘WPR’ approach framework
1. What is the problem represented to be with respect to children and
young people’s mental health?
• Gaming ‘disorder’
• Need and demand for treatment in many parts of the world
• Effect of gaming on children’s brains; similar to drugs / alcohol
• Effect of gaming on children’s lives; online friends replacing real life
friends, not going outside and not sleeping at night
2. What assumptions are made in terms of the representation of the
problem of children and young people’s mental health, as portrayed by
the media?
• Solutions exist with the child’s immediate environment; “family life”
• Child and family are the creator of the ‘problem’
• Behaviours are universal and thus appropriate to classify rigidly
3. How has this particular representation of the problem of children and
young people’s mental health come about?
• Indivdualisation of distress
• Pathologisation of behaviours, including metrics to ascertain normal v’s
‘abnormal’ behaviour; WHO classification etc
99
• Mental health professionals identified as ‘experts
4. What is not mentioned, or rarely mentioned, in the media with respect
to children and young people’s mental health?
• Social context of those who develop gaming ‘disorder’
• Classification system that pathologises children is not problematised or
critically analysed
• Little reference made to behavioural responses being linked to
environmental factors; children do not control their environment
5. What is the body of knowledge being produced by the overall
representation of the problem, vis a vis the solutions to the problem,
and what are the effects of this portrayal of the problem and these
solutions?
• Individualisation and responsibilisation of children and their families in
addressing mental health ‘disorder’ as well as navigating their
environment irrespective of context
• Lack of representation of social factors in creating environments that
cause mental distress; this harms the most vulnerable children and
families
6. How / Where is the representation of the problem produced,
disseminated, and defended?
• WHO classification is used by psychiatry, psychology and many within
mental health services as a means of evaluating distress
100
• Normalisation of this classification methodology by advocating for its
role in media; pathological approach to behaviours, emotions and
distress normalised in media
101
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Utilising a ‘WPR’ model of ‘Foucauldian Discourse Analysis’ to examine the

Thesis · October 2019

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media construction of children and young people’s mental health in

contemporary Ireland, as evidenced by an analysis of print media articles

from the year 2018

as a physical exhaustion I found difficult to navigate at times. As I neared the

not have garnered sufficient strength to navigate the past month.

also on a more holistic basis. I have always thought critically of contemporary

I got through the last month relatively unscathed. My personal experience in

completing this project serves as a timely, and somewhat ironic reminder,

systems that embellish inequality, oppression, or insularity in the name of

unrelenting in our advocacy for vulnerable populations, and refusal to allow

neoliberal hegemony jeopardise our very existence. The personal and

academic experience of this project will forever remain etched in my mind, as

I dedicate this paper to my loved ones, and a bright future…

Chapter 1: Introduction to Research

1.1. Overview of Chapter

1.2. Aims and Objectives

1.3. Why an Analysis of Discourse?

1.4. Informing my Analysis: Literature Review

Chapter 2: Conceptualising Neoliberalism

2.1. Overview of Chapter

2.2. Neoliberalism; An Abstract Concept

2.3. Neoliberalism in Ireland

Chapter 3: Neoliberalism; Childhood and Mental Health:

3.1 Overview of Chapter

3.2 The Neoliberalising of Childhood

3.3 The Neoliberalising of Mental Health

4.1 Overview of Chapter

4.2 A Poststructural Lens

4.3 The ‘WPR’ Approach

4.4 Article Selection

4.5 Data Analysis

Chapter 5: A Picture is Sketched

5.1 Overview of Chapter

5.2 Digital Technology, an Imminent Threat?

5.3 Service Delivery; The Primary Problem facing Children’s Mental

5.4 Social Structures, Poverty, and Inequality; the Elephants in the

5.5 ‘The Expert’, and The Individual

5.6 Neoliberalism: A Common Theme

6.1 Overview of Chapter

1.1 Overview of Chapter

Service Executive’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, hereafter

referred to as ‘HSE’ and ‘CAMHS’ respectively. According to their report, in

longer than 12 months” (McGarry 2018). This particular report follows a

consistent trend in contemporary Irish print media discourse; for example, in

health problems are increasingly presenting to emergency departments

because they cannot access an appropriate bed” (Shanahan 2018).

being forced to wait up to four weeks for emergency psychiatry appointments”

(Finneran 2016). These headlines propose a particular problematisation with

by the wider public. Consequently, analysing the media discourse that

envelopes children and young people’s mental health is important to

understand society’s understanding of the distress faced by children and

framed the ‘problem’ of children and young people’s mental health. In

particular, the project looked to understand how neoliberalism affects our

understanding and construction of children and young people’s mental health.

subsidiary questions will be outlined later in the methodology chapter.

My motivation behind conducting this research stemmed from a level of

young people’s mental health has become somewhat of a ‘buzz’ topic in

result of what seems to be a greater public interest in and discourse about

aforementioned groups demand that children and young people’s mental