In this chapter, the rhetoric of 'burden' was studied during medical evaluations where parents' describe their difficulties with their child to a medical professional in the attempt to seek help.

State University of New York at Binghamton

This chapter claims that parents utilize the rhetoric of 'burden' to persuasively construct their child’s behaviors as consistent with a legitimate psychiatric pathology, thereby warranting institutional intervention and mitigating potential blame regarding their parenting.

Chapter 3: Exploring the Rhetoric of ‘Burden’

Lester, J. N. (Ed.). (2021). Discursive Psychology and Disability. Palgrave Studies in Discursive Psychology. Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Reference For: Discursive Psychology and Disability

- Rhetorical Strategy Complex 
- Evidence-Building Arsenal

The Rhetorical Performance: How parents persuasively construct their case

- Doctorable Problem
- Institutional Legitimation
- Psychiatric Disability Framing
- Accountability Management

The Defense Architecture: Why parents shift blame & secure legitimation

- Conversation Analysis (CA)
- Discursive Action Model (DAM)
- Unmotivated Looking
- Jefferson Transcription System
- Naturally-Occurring Data

The Methodological Foundation: How the research was conducted

This chapter DOES NOT moralize the rhetorical actions parents' take to shift blame for their child's behavior away from their parenting. Not using terms like good or bad, but instead presents their actions objectively; talking about how and why. This allows room for discussion on why parents feel pressured to account for their parenting methods when their children experience severe problems. 

In some cases, parenting methods are not to blame for their child's behavior, but parents' may still feel the need to preemptively shift the blame away from them due to societal tendencies to question one's parenting when a child misbehaves; a remnant of the moral model of disability. Shifting the blame away from them and onto the child would therefore save time and resources in finding a solution for the family and their child.

In cases where poor parenting is to blame, shifting the blame away from themselves allows parents to avoid addressing the issues they bring to their child, and force the child to shoulder all of the blame for their behavior.

Moralization of Parents Avoiding Blame for Child's Behavior

Setting for Constructing Burden

Chapter 3 discusses parental narratives regarding children with mental health distress. DP analyzes how parents produce narratives of "burden", revealing the rhetorical labor required of families to secure support within medicalized systems.

Response to O’Reilly (Chapter 3: Mental Health)

- The Construction (The Process)
- The Gatekeeper (The Institution)
- The "What If" (Critical Reflection)

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