The diploma thesis "Social Environment and Physical Modifications of Adolescents - a Contribution to Social Pedagogy" deals with the issue of physical modifications as a widespread phenomenon today. It focuses mainly on the two most common forms in today's society: tattoos and piercings. It analyzes the possible causes and motivations (in relation to the social environment) to undergoing visual changes to their own body. The pedagogical aspect of the work is the focused on the family environment, life patterns of respondents and peer groups. Part of the theses is devoted to the school environment. The first part deals with the theoretical insight into the issue, the importance of body modifications, the definition of adolescence, self- concept and social environment. The practical part contains interviews with respondents, which were implemented using a semi-structured interview and then analyzed and interpreted.

Tattooing has persisted across time and space, often developing across ancient civilizations, even before cross-cultural contact. With the current oldest verified tattoos on the mummified body of Ötzi, the 5,300-year-old Tyrolean Iceman, up to current-day tattooing, a variety of uses and meanings have been ascribed to the practice. A majority of anthropological research has been dedicated towards indigenous tattooing traditions, external perceptions of marked individuals, and tattooing's deviant associations. Only a marginal amount of work has been geared towards the internal perceptions and cultural structuring of tattoos within modern societies, especially in the West. Frequently, a ‘tattoo community' is assumed in both daily conversation and academic publications. Yet surprisingly, the small amount of research that sets out to test for the possibility of a unique community structured around tattoos cannot come to an agreement on what the current social configuration surrounding Western tattooing is. This thesis sets out to investigate if there is such a community, or if such a group fits a different social figuration instead. Due to constraints brought on by COVID-19, it has been adapted to become an in-depth literature analysis with emic input from materials published from within the tattoo industry. This study also primarily focuses on North America, but does include international resources due to the high level of cross-cultural input historically and contemporarily. With a blending of insider and outsider resources, I intend to provide the most comprehensive compilation of possible social configurations theorized across disciplines, along with theorizing as best within my abilities the possible nature of a universal tattoo group in North America in my Honors Undergraduate Thesis.

[pt] As modificações corporais abordadas nesta pesquisa incluem a aplicação de tatuagens, body piercing, implantes subdérmicos e quaisquer outros tipos de intervenções que envolvam procedimentos dolorosos que geram uma transformação corporal extrema, resultando no cobrimento de uma parte considerável ou até mesmo quase total da superfície corporal, que é realizada por razões não-médicas e que fogem dos padrões estéticos comumente vistos na sociedade. Na presente pesquisa objetivou-se refletir sobre a relação existente entre corpo e psiquismo, explorando as noções de sensorialidade, memórias corporais, vivências primárias do bebê e o papel do Outro na constituição psíquica e corporal do sujeito para uma melhor compreensão acerca do modo como o corpo é concebido e hiperinvestido na atualidade, sendo as práticas de modificações corporais um exemplo disso. As investigações teóricas apontam que a constituição psíquica e a percepção corporal desenvolvem-se paralelamente uma à outra e influenciam-se mutuamente, sendo o ambiente um fator de grande importância para o desenvolvimento subjetivo, corporal e psíquico da criança, o que acaba coincidindo com o modo como o corpo é concebido desde tempos longínquos até os dias atuais, dentro de uma perspectiva individual e também social, servindo como palco de representações psíquicas que se traduzem na maneira como o sujeito se expressa através de seu corpo, sendo as modificações corporais exemplos importantes desse fenômeno, uma vez que elas permitem que a plasticidade corporal seja explorada a ponto de gerar reflexões em torno de até onde se estendem os limites do corpo e da versatilidade comunicativa da qual a dimensão corporal se utiliza para se expressar simbolicamente. / [en] The body modifications presented in this survey include tattooing, body piercing, sub-dermal implanting and any other kinds of physical interventions, involving painful procedures that might generate an extreme transformation, coming out as the coverage of a large or even the total body surface. Carried out for non-medical purposes, these modifications are outside the social aesthetic standards. The following research seeks a reflection on the relationship between body and psyche, exploring notions of sensoriality, body memories, early newborn experiences and the Other s part to play in the psychic and physical constitution of the subject for a better comprehension on how the body have been perceived and hyper-invested lately, being the body modifications an example of that. The theoretical investigations have pointed that the psychic constitution and the corporeal perception are developed at the same time, influencing one another, being the environment a considerable factor for the child s subjective, physical, and psychic development. Which ends up overlapping with how the body is perceived since remote times until the present days, within both individual and social perspectives. The body modifications are a important representation of this phenomenon, once they allow the corporeal malleability to be explored, to the stage of rising reflections about how far can go the limits of the body and the communicative versatility, which is used by the corporeal dimension to symbolically express itself.

This dissertation examines how the human bodymind has been seen as malleable by science, technology, and policy practitioners from the Eugenic era in the United States in the first half of the 20th century, to the future imaginaries of Transhumanists and technology innovators. I critique the main goal of these practitioners – to perfect the human bodymind and through that perfection, perfecting human society – as utopic, impossible, and amoral. I argue instead, that we are intra-dependent – dependent on and through each other and our ecological contexts. I ground this argument both in the lived experience of those whose bodymind arrangements go against our normative expectations – folks like disabled people, queer and transgender people, body modders, and more – and in the philosophical metaphysics of Karen Barad's Agential Realism. I argue that we can only produce a future where bodymind alteration is acceptable if we first value different bodymind arrangements. I argue both that we cannot consider ourselves individuals, separate from the world or each other, and that multiplicity of bodyminds is a generative, heterotopic (neither utopic nor dystopic), force toward which we ought strive through engaging intentionally with each other in care relations. / Doctor of Philosophy / An interdisciplinary examination of how science and technology has made possible bodymind alteration from the eugenics in the early 20th century until today. Particular focus is given to how futures were imagined by different groups (eugenics educators, regenerative medicine scientists, and transhumanists in particular), the practices used to realize these futures, and the ethics around the practices and beliefs that are often taken for granted. I also describe several communities (disabled people, body modders, otherkin, and more) whose bodyminds are decidedly non-normative in order to reveal practices of community, kinship, and resistance to power that illuminate the lived realities of having a different morphology. I argue that these communities reveal ways to value and include morphological difference that might bring about a Morphological Freedom in which we might all thrive.

Cette recherche étudie les processus psychopathologiques associés aux comportements se référant au Body Art. Ce travail est centré sur l'approche de pratiques relevant de la modification corporelle (piercing, tatouage, scarification, stretch) et de la pratique de performances (séance de tatouage de plusieurs heures, suspension, play piercing et performance artistique). La méthodologie mixte est axée sur l'évaluation quantitative de variables symptomatologiques, de personnalité, émotionnelles et de variables associées à la dimension « corporelle » au sein d'une population de sujets adultes pratiquant ou non la modification corporelle et/ou la performance. L'évaluation qualitative étudie les productions discursives des individus à travers l'analyse de la structure grammaticale du discours et les thématiques qu'ils abordent. / This research examines psychopathological processes associated with behaviors referring to the Body Art. This work deals with body modification practices (piercing, tattooing, scarification, stretch) and performance (several hours tattoo sessions, suspension, play piercing and artistic performance). The methodology consists on both quantitative and qualitative study. Quantitative evaluation focuses on variables of symptomatology, personality, emotional and variables associated with "body" dimension in a population of adult body artists and non-practicing. Qualitative evaluation examines discursive productions through the analysis of the grammatical structure of the speech and associated topics.

[pt] O presente trabalho abordará as modificações corporais especificamente no campo psicanalítico. Partirá da premissa de que a questão da noção do corpo na psicanálise é fundamental e delicada, ressaltará a importância da via sensorial para a constituição do psiquismo. A investigação terá como base teórica o conceito freudiano de eu, a proposta de Piera Aulagnier a respeito da constituição do corpo próprio e da origem do psiquismo, as noções de Eu-pele e Eu-pensante de Didier Anzieu, alguns conceitos winnicottianos sobre a importância do vínculo materno na díade mãe-bebê para promoção de saúde mental, bem como algumas noções sobre saúde e criatividade. O trabalho visa refletir sobre as possíveis relações existentes entre as modificações corporais e a constituição da subjetividade. / [en] The present work will address the body modifications specifically in the psychoanalytic field. It assumes the question of the notion of the body in psychoanalysis as a fundamental and delicate one, will underscore the importance of the sensorial pathway for the constitution of the psyche. The investigation will have as its theoretical basis the Freudian concept of ego, Piera Aulagnier s proposal regarding the constitution of one s own body and the psyche s origin, the notions of self-skin and self-thinking of Didier Anzieu, some Winnicottian concepts about the importance of maternal bond in the mother-infant dyad towards the promotion of mental health, as well as some notions of health and creativity. The work intends to consider the possible relations between body modifications and the constitution of subjectivity.

O presente estudo aborda as modificações corporais como tatuagem, piercing, escarificação, semelhança animal, no contexto social e particular contemporâneo à luz de olhares da Sociologia, da Filosofia e principalmente da Psicanálise. Apesar de sua antiguidade, de estarem associadas a rituais de passagem e de terem pertencido, algumas delas, a determinados grupos ao longo da história, pensa-se que atualmente tais práticas encontram-se disseminadas por todos os grupos sociais, tendo perdido, em parte, seu caráter ritual. Elas indicam um desejo de eterno retorno mítico à natureza perdida em função da inscrição da linguagem no corpo e se colocam como esboço de um corpo em contínuo ajuste de sua imagem, sobretudo quando falta palavra (no seu sentido significante) que defenda contra uma intensa demanda do Outro. As marcas que visam uma semelhança animal trazem à tona estes seres como interrogantes de nosso parentesco, mas fundamentalmente elas evidenciam nosso corpo próprio naquilo que sempre resta de um Real a nos indagar como enigma, além de apontar novas formas de subjetivação na atualidade. / The present study investigates body modifications, such as tattooing, piercing, scarification, and animal resemblance, in the social and particular contemporaneous context from a sociological, philosophical, and mainly psychoanalytic standpoint. Despite the fact that body modifications are ageold and long-standing practices, historically associated with rites of passage, and that some of them have been adopted by certain groups throughout history, they are currently widespread across all social groups, but they have partially lost their ritualistic nature. These practices indicate the body modifiers’ relentless quest for the mythical reappropriation of their lost nature through body inscription, and can be regarded as the depiction of a body whose image has been under constant adjustment, especially in the absence of words (in the sense of the signifier) that shield usfrom the vigorous pursuit of the Other. Body modifications that seek to imitate animals make us wonder about our similarity to these beings, but they basically reflect our own body in what is always left of the real, challenging us like a puzzle, and show us the new forms of subjectivation available today.

O presente estudo aborda as modificações corporais como tatuagem, piercing, escarificação, semelhança animal, no contexto social e particular contemporâneo à luz de olhares da Sociologia, da Filosofia e principalmente da Psicanálise. Apesar de sua antiguidade, de estarem associadas a rituais de passagem e de terem pertencido, algumas delas, a determinados grupos ao longo da história, pensa-se que atualmente tais práticas encontram-se disseminadas por todos os grupos sociais, tendo perdido, em parte, seu caráter ritual. Elas indicam um desejo de eterno retorno mítico à natureza perdida em função da inscrição da linguagem no corpo e se colocam como esboço de um corpo em contínuo ajuste de sua imagem, sobretudo quando falta palavra (no seu sentido significante) que defenda contra uma intensa demanda do Outro. As marcas que visam uma semelhança animal trazem à tona estes seres como interrogantes de nosso parentesco, mas fundamentalmente elas evidenciam nosso corpo próprio naquilo que sempre resta de um Real a nos indagar como enigma, além de apontar novas formas de subjetivação na atualidade. / The present study investigates body modifications, such as tattooing, piercing, scarification, and animal resemblance, in the social and particular contemporaneous context from a sociological, philosophical, and mainly psychoanalytic standpoint. Despite the fact that body modifications are ageold and long-standing practices, historically associated with rites of passage, and that some of them have been adopted by certain groups throughout history, they are currently widespread across all social groups, but they have partially lost their ritualistic nature. These practices indicate the body modifiers’ relentless quest for the mythical reappropriation of their lost nature through body inscription, and can be regarded as the depiction of a body whose image has been under constant adjustment, especially in the absence of words (in the sense of the signifier) that shield usfrom the vigorous pursuit of the Other. Body modifications that seek to imitate animals make us wonder about our similarity to these beings, but they basically reflect our own body in what is always left of the real, challenging us like a puzzle, and show us the new forms of subjectivation available today.

O presente estudo aborda as modificações corporais como tatuagem, piercing, escarificação, semelhança animal, no contexto social e particular contemporâneo à luz de olhares da Sociologia, da Filosofia e principalmente da Psicanálise. Apesar de sua antiguidade, de estarem associadas a rituais de passagem e de terem pertencido, algumas delas, a determinados grupos ao longo da história, pensa-se que atualmente tais práticas encontram-se disseminadas por todos os grupos sociais, tendo perdido, em parte, seu caráter ritual. Elas indicam um desejo de eterno retorno mítico à natureza perdida em função da inscrição da linguagem no corpo e se colocam como esboço de um corpo em contínuo ajuste de sua imagem, sobretudo quando falta palavra (no seu sentido significante) que defenda contra uma intensa demanda do Outro. As marcas que visam uma semelhança animal trazem à tona estes seres como interrogantes de nosso parentesco, mas fundamentalmente elas evidenciam nosso corpo próprio naquilo que sempre resta de um Real a nos indagar como enigma, além de apontar novas formas de subjetivação na atualidade. / The present study investigates body modifications, such as tattooing, piercing, scarification, and animal resemblance, in the social and particular contemporaneous context from a sociological, philosophical, and mainly psychoanalytic standpoint. Despite the fact that body modifications are ageold and long-standing practices, historically associated with rites of passage, and that some of them have been adopted by certain groups throughout history, they are currently widespread across all social groups, but they have partially lost their ritualistic nature. These practices indicate the body modifiers’ relentless quest for the mythical reappropriation of their lost nature through body inscription, and can be regarded as the depiction of a body whose image has been under constant adjustment, especially in the absence of words (in the sense of the signifier) that shield usfrom the vigorous pursuit of the Other. Body modifications that seek to imitate animals make us wonder about our similarity to these beings, but they basically reflect our own body in what is always left of the real, challenging us like a puzzle, and show us the new forms of subjectivation available today.

The increased popularity of tattooing in recent years serves as the backdrop for this research report. As tattooing has grown in popularity it has become increasingly mainstream and has been embraced by people from all walks of life. In particular, a large Internet archive of tattoos has emerged, that contains narratives by people with tattoos as well as numerous pictures of tattoos. In this research report a discourse analysis was conducted on fifty-two of these Internet postings, in order to ascertain what discourse were in use in these postings. Thus, the discourse analysis looked at the ways in which having a tattoo/ being tattooed were constructed within these postings. In order for the discourse analysis to be conducted, the research first embarked on an extensive review of literature, that looked at the academic readings of tattooing. It was found that these readings were varied, and that it was possible to read tattooing in many different ways. Both positive and negative readings of tattoos are highlighted within the literature review. The theoretical backdrop of social constructionism informs the methodology section of the research, as it presents a detailed and contradictory discussion of the field of discourse analysis. Rather than unproblematically claiming to produce a discourse analysis, the research interrogated the term itself, highlighting the contradictions in the field before narrowing to the presentation of a pragmatic approach to discourse analysis that was used in this specific research report. Following the debate in both the literature review and the methodology, three discourses were identified by the discourse analysis conducted. The first discourse relates to tattooing as being a definition or a redefinition of the self, a way to construct a new and complete identity. The second discourse refers to the process of getting a tattoo as providing access to a certain way of speaking that is only available to those who have tattoos. The third discourse identified looks at the construction of the tattoo artist as expert, and the role that the tattoo artist has as a gatekeeper to the discourses of tattooing. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Psychology / unrestricted