Reflecting on ADHD and disaffection in education with Erich Fromm

Drawing upon the thought of Erich Fromm, this paper argues that efforts to understand and counter behaviour that causes difficulties in education should begin in a critical and reflective engagement with both the conditions of human freedom and the character of educational institutions and society as a whole. Fromm’s critique of dominating ideas about good mental health within capitalistic societies is examined in relation to disablement and attention-deficient hyperactivity disorder. A study of a sixth-form college in the south of England elucidates connections between Fromm’s insights into social psychology and disablement as a process of oppression.