Text and turbulence - Representing adolescence as pathology in the human services

This article examines constructions of adolescence and pathology and their relation to human service intervention. The author locates a history of dis courses of adolescence and pathology along a trajectory of 20th-century cap italism. Particular attention is paid to racialized. gendered and class-bas ed aspects of this history. The historic context sets the stage fur a close reading of representations of youth pathology used to market treatment fac ilities to human service professionals. The author argues that the youth tr eatment industry may not be preparing adolescents for healthy adulthood but rather for their place in a continuum of care, control and containment.