title: The construction of self-injury in the clinical literature: a sociological exploration.
abstract: This article presents a sociologically informed critique of a range of academic literatures relating to self-injury. It is noted how a lack of consensus on definitional issues, together with the inaccurate portrayal of the "typical self-injurer" in the clinical literature, has impeded the development of a sound understanding of self-injury. Some of the more problematic explanations for self-injury are explored. The individualistic focus of existing research is found to be inadequate, since it fails to account for the social context in which self-injury occurs. Social scientific approaches critically examine psychiatric and psychological constructions of self-injury, explore wider social and cultural meanings of the behavior, and examine its distribution across different social groups. The inclusion of social scientific perspectives into current debates will greatly improve understanding of self-injury.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research on Families and Relationships, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. a.chandler@ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chandler
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Platt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012652:Self Mutilation / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D019529:Sexuality / Q000523:psychology; D012923:Social Class; D012961:Sociology; D013405:Suicide / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D055815:Young Adult