Discovering deviance: The visibility mechanisms through which one becomes a person with dementia in interaction

This paper explores the emergence of dementia within interpersonal interactions as a matter of deviance and visibility. The sociology of deviance suggests that we rely on assumptions of normal behaviour to help us develop interpretations of other people when interacting with them. When a person acts within expectation, we deem them normal. When a person transgresses expectation, we deem them deviant. In this way, dementia is revealed.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven community-dwelling people with dementia and 26 carers living in the East Midlands, United Kingdom. Carers were selected for inclusion by participating people with dementia. Interview data was analysed using thematic analysis informed by symbolic interactionism.

Four ways in which audiences may interpret a person as having a dementia are outlined: speech, temporality, conflict and novelty. These four mechanisms of visibility represent key moments in which dementia emerges in interaction.

Examining dementia in terms of deviance and visibility positions dementia within social processes. This externalisation of dementia, relocating it within a combination of action, situation and audience, may suggest new possibilities for mediating its negative repercussions.