title: The non-display of authentic distress: public-private dualism in young people's discursive construction of self-harm.
abstract: This article draws from focus groups and interviews investigating how young people talk about self-harm. Some of the research participants had personal experience of self-harm but this was not a prerequisite for their inclusion in the study. Thematic coding was used initially to organise and give an overview of the data, but the data were subsequently analysed using a discourse analytic approach. The article focuses on the young people's constructions of deliberate self-harm such as 'cutting'. Throughout the focus groups and interviews, a dichotomy was set up by the young people between authentic, private self-harm which is rooted in real distress (and warrants a sympathetic response) and public, self-indulgent attempts to seek attention. This dualistic construction is discussed in some detail and located in various socio-cultural contexts. It is argued that the dualism illustrates contemporary ambivalence about mental health and youth.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Glamorgan Building, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3WT. scourfield@cardiff.ac.uk
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Scourfield
authors.forename: Katrina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Roen
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: McDermott
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D012652:Self Mutilation / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult