Making Sense of Self-harm: The Cultural Meaning and Social Context of Nonsuicidal Self-injury PDF
Preview Making Sense of Self-harm: The Cultural Meaning and Social Context of Nonsuicidal Self-injury
Making Sense of Self-harm This page intentionally left blank Making Sense of Self-harm The Cultural Meaning and Social Context of Nonsuicidal Self-injury Peter Steggals VisitingResearcher,NewcastleUniversity,UK ©PeterSteggals2015 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-1-137-47058-4 Allrightsreserved.Noreproduction,copyortransmissionofthis publicationmaybemadewithoutwrittenpermission. Noportionofthispublicationmaybereproduced,copiedortransmitted savewithwrittenpermissionorinaccordancewiththeprovisionsofthe Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988,orunderthetermsofanylicence permittinglimitedcopyingissuedbytheCopyrightLicensingAgency, SaffronHouse,6–10KirbyStreet,LondonEC1N8TS. Anypersonwhodoesanyunauthorizedactinrelationtothispublication maybeliabletocriminalprosecutionandcivilclaimsfordamages. Theauthorhasassertedhisrighttobeidentifiedastheauthorofthiswork inaccordancewiththeCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988. Firstpublished2015by PALGRAVEMACMILLAN PalgraveMacmillanintheUKisanimprintofMacmillanPublishersLimited, registeredinEngland,companynumber785998,ofHoundmills,Basingstoke, HampshireRG216XS. PalgraveMacmillanintheUSisadivisionofStMartin’sPressLLC, 175FifthAvenue,NewYork,NY10010. PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabovecompanies andhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld. Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnitedStates, theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries. ISBN978-1-349-56550-4 ISBN978-1-137-47059-1(eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137470591 Thisbookisprintedonpapersuitableforrecyclingandmadefromfully managedandsustainedforestsources.Logging,pulpingandmanufacturing processesareexpectedtoconformtotheenvironmentalregulationsofthe countryoforigin. AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Steggals,Peter,1975– Makingsenseofself-harm:theculturalmeaningandsocialcontextof non-suicidalself-injury/PeterSteggals. pages cm Summary:MakingSenseofSelf-Harmprovidesamuchneededalternative examinationofapotentandincreasinglyprevalentpatternofdistressand estrangementthathascometohauntcontemporarysociety.Byexploring nonsuicidalself-injurythroughthelensofculturalsociologyandtheinsights ofthinkerslikeMichelFoucault,NorbertEliasandSusanBordo,thebook describesitmoreasakindofidiomaticpracticeinneedofunderstanding thanasamedicalillnessinneedofbiologicalexplanation.Grounding analysisincompellinginterviewswithpeoplewhoself-harmandinmultiple culturalrepresentationsofthepracticefrombooksandmagazinestomusic andmovies,Steggalsuncoversthehistoryofself-harm,mapsitshidden meaningsandtracesitspeculiarresonancewiththesymboliclifeof late-modernsociety,eventuallycomingtomakesenseofaphenomenon thatsomanyfindprofoundlydisturbedanddisturbing.—Providedbypublisher. 1. Self-injuriousbehavior. 2. Culturalpsychiatry. 3. Socialpsychiatry. I. Title. RC569.5.S48S742015 616.85(cid:2)84450651—dc23 2015021823 For my mother, Doreen, who was the very first person to ask me ‘why do people do it?’ This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgements ix Introduction:TheSignifyingWound 1 1 WhatisSelf-harm? 17 2 TheProblemofGoodUnderstanding 52 3 TheOntologicalAxis 85 4 TheAetiologicalAxis 122 5 ThePathologicalAxis 158 6 TheBelabouredEconomyofDesire 193 Conclusion:MakingSenseofSelf-harm 214 Notes 219 References 223 Index 237 vii This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgements This book originates from research that was funded by the Economic andSocialResearchCouncil(CL09/10/104)andconductedattheSchool of Geography Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University, and I am deeply indebted to both institutions for the opportunity they afforded me. I thank Dr Stephanie Lawler and Professor Elaine Campbell for their guidance, patience and humour throughout the research process, andProfessorRolandLittlewoodandDrRuthGrahamfortheircritical input and encouragement to write and publish this book. Thanks also toEleanorChristieandNicolaJonesatPalgraveMacmillan,andtomy copyeditor Jayne MacArthur. Thanks to my wife Serena for her tireless support. And, finally, thanks also to those people who participated in this research and without whose generous contribution it would not havebeenpossible. ix
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