Increasing rates of self-injury in the United Kingdom coupled with the apparent lack of understanding, highlights a need for research to be conducted in this area. A dearth of research illuminating the experiences of self-cutting, together with increased awareness of the differences in perspective between people who self injure and professionals, also provides a rationale for this study. This study aims to explore the experiences of people who self-injure in order to identify and understand the processes involved in self-cutting, and develop a theory which aids this understanding. A grounded theory approach is used to meet the aim of the study, generating data through in-depth interviews with 10 people who engage in self-cutting. Participants shared their experiences of self-injury emphasising both the meaning and function of cutting for them, and the struggle they face living with the behaviour. Although the experiences of participants were unique to each individual, clear commonalities in experience emerged during data analysis and were explored with subsequent participants,in keeping with the grounded theory method. As data generation and analysis developed, the aim of the study became more focused, resulting in an exploration of the urge to self-injure and how people who engage in self-cutting respond to this urge. Findings relate to the core category, living with the urge and main categories of experience namely underlying urge, triggering the urge, satisfying the urge and resisting the urge. Discussion of the findings offers a substantive theory, asserting that people who self-injure face a paradox of finding it very difficult to live with self-cutting, while simultaneously facing the challenge of living without the behaviour. This paradox can be understood within the context of the core category, living with the urge, a process which begins before the participants start self injuring, continues while they are cutting, through to when they are trying to live without cutting. The discussion contributes knowledge relating to commonalties between self-cutting and the experience of addiction; issues for prevention; repetitive nature of cutting; the relationship between people who cut and their cutting tools; and ultimately highlights how difficult it is for the participants to break-free from the world of cutting. Implications of the findings for health and social care practitioners, and education and training are discussed, and recommendations for research are made.

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Thesis advisor: Liane Young / Many debates in moral psychology have revolved around the function of harm norms (e.g., against causing pain to others) and purity norms (e.g., against sexual deviance or consuming taboo foods). Two key pieces of this debate are 1) whether purity norms constitute a separate moral domain than harm norms, each with distinct evolved functions, and 2) if so, whether the function of purity norms is to guard people from disgusting behavior that may signal the threat of disease-causing pathogens. Paper 1 addresses the first point by examining how increasing attention to a violator’s mental states (e.g., whether they acted intentionally or accidentally) changes the way people process harm and purity violations. Using behavioral and neuroimaging techniques, it supports a growing literature demonstrating that judgments of purity violations are influenced less by information about the violator’s intent than judgments of harm violations and suggests distinct functions for harm and purity norms. Paper 2 addresses both points by examining how the relational-context of a violation (e.g., whether an action is directed at oneself or another person) impacts judgments of harm and purity violations. Three studies demonstrate that unlike moral judgments of harm violations, moral judgments of purity violations are more tied to the negative impact a violator has on themselves as opposed to others. Moreover, when a participant was the target of another person’s impure actions, their moral judgments of the action were predicted more by perceptions of harm than purity, suggesting that purity norms do not necessarily track concerns about pathogen exposure. Finally, given the evidence in Papers 1 and 2, Paper 3 tests a novel functional distinction between harm and purity norms whereby harm norms regulate the negative impact people have on each other while purity norms function to define group boundaries by setting expectations about how people conduct themselves. Together, these papers challenge current accounts of the evolutionary origins of harm and purity norms and suggest important new avenues for fully characterizing the function of distinct moral norms. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Psychology.

This paper examines leading Canadian decisions in the areas of obscenity and indecency law and freedom of religion to demonstrate that the strangeness of a practice will be a major factor in determining the harm associated with it. Since “strangeness” in sexual deviance cases turn on the perceived objectification and subjugation of women and minority religion cases turn on communal behaviours, these strands intersect in the debate over polygamy. The impact that these skewed perceptions will have on findings of harm in the polygamy context is examined, as are how the benefits of the legislation may be overstated. Finally, the effects of “othering” are addressed for the practice of polyamory, a relationship structure that lacks harm but may nevertheless be equally prohibited.

This paper examines leading Canadian decisions in the areas of obscenity and indecency law and freedom of religion to demonstrate that the strangeness of a practice will be a major factor in determining the harm associated with it. Since “strangeness” in sexual deviance cases turn on the perceived objectification and subjugation of women and minority religion cases turn on communal behaviours, these strands intersect in the debate over polygamy. The impact that these skewed perceptions will have on findings of harm in the polygamy context is examined, as are how the benefits of the legislation may be overstated. Finally, the effects of “othering” are addressed for the practice of polyamory, a relationship structure that lacks harm but may nevertheless be equally prohibited.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Adviser: William T. Trent. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2005. / Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 134 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Deliberate self-harm (DSH) is a major health concern, especially for high-risk populations such as incarcerated youth. DSH refers to socially unacceptable, deliberate behaviour that causes harm to the body regardless of intent to die. There is limited research concerning prevalence rates as well as risk and protective factors for high-risk, adolescent groups. Participants were recruited from a correctional facility for youth aged 12-18. Male (n = 36) and female (n = 51) incarcerated adolescents (N = 87; mean age = 15.9) completed a survey that measured social-demographic characteristics, current depressed mood, lifetime alcohol and drug use, perceptions of social support (availability and satisfaction), approach-avoidance coping, problem-solving confidence, and DSH. The prevalence rates (81% lifetime, 74% annual, and 51% while incarcerated) for this mainly Aboriginal and Métis population were much higher than previous offender, community, and hospital findings. Youth reported much higher rates of DSH on a checklist than in response to a general question previously used in such research, suggesting that previously reported prevalence rates are likely grossly underestimated. Hypotheses regarding risk and protective factors were only partially supported. Depressed mood and drug use were positively, directly related to annual DSH frequency. Depressed mood proved to be a significant risk factor as well for incarcerated DSH. Overall, protective factors did not predict DSH well for this group of offenders. Only approach coping was inversely related to DSH frequency. Participants in this study reported very low levels of protective factors, which likely affected the outcome of statistical analyses. In general, youth reported high rates of risk factors and low rates of protective factors. Rates of DSH warranting medical attention increased with duration and frequency of such behaviour, as did actually receiving medical attention. Although 74% of offenders indicated that medical attention had been warranted at least once, only 50% actually received medical attention. Offenders were equally likely to receive medical attention whether they had engaged in DSH once or repetitively. It is likely that offenders prefer to keep their behaviour private, which affects how often they seek medical attention, even if they believe it is warranted. Recommendations are advanced for detecting and responding to DSH in incarcerated youth.

Tyrėjai vis dažniau skiria dvi save žalojančių paauglių grupes: mėginančius nusižudyti ir nesuicidiškai save žalojančius, kurie nesiekia mirties. Tačiau iki šiol buvo atlikta mažai populiacinių tyrimų, mėginančių šias dvi grupes tiesiogiai palyginti, todėl informacija apie šių grupių psichologinių ypatumų ir save žalojančio elgesio vidinių veiksnių skirtumus yra gana prieštaringa. Tyrime buvo naudojamas „Gyvenimo būdo ir prisitaikymo klausimynas“ (orig. Lifestyle and Coping Skills Questionnaire), kurį Lietuvoje adaptavo ir paauglių save žalojančio elgesio tyrimui pritaikė A. Laskytė ir N. Žemaitienė. Dalis jų surinktų duomenų analizuojama šiame darbe. Tikslas: ištirti bendros populiacijos paauglių suicidinio ir nesuicidinio save žalojančio elgesio vidinius veiksnius: motyvus, savižudiškus ketinimus, žalojančio elgesio ypatumus ir su šiais faktoriais galimai susijusius asmens psichologinius ypatumus. Taip pat atskleisti būdingus šių veiksnių skirtumus merginoms ir vaikinams. Tiriamieji: 15-17 metų amžiaus Lietuvos moksleiviai, kurie pildydami „Gyvenimo būdo ir prisitaikymo klausimyną“, atsakė, kad bent kartą gyvenime sąmoningai save žalojo. Klausimyno pildymo metu paaiškindami save žalojančio elgesio priežastis, prie teiginio „Aš norėjau numirti“ paaugliai galėjo atsakyti „Taip“ arba „Ne“. Pagal šį atsakymą jie buvo suskirstyti į dvi grupes: suicidiškai save žalojančių – norėjusiųjų numirti (n=163), ir nesuicidiškai save žalojančių – nenorėjusiųjų numirti (n=118). Rezultatai:... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Researches often differentiate two groups of self-harming adolescents: those who attempters a suicide, and those who are harming themselves in a non-suicidal way, and they don‘t seek the death. However just a few community-based research, which would directly compare these groups, were done so far, and therefore information about the differences of the psychological peculiarity and self-harming behavior‘s internal factors between the groups is ambivalent. Lifestyle and Coping Skills Questionnaire (Hawton, 2006), adapted and adjusted for the research of adolescents self-harming behavior by A. Laskytė and N. Žemaitienė in 2006, was used in this work. A part of their collected data is also used in this work. The aim: to examine the intrapersonal factors of suicidal and non-suicidal self-harm in a community sample population: the motives, suicidal intentions, the peculiarities of harming self-harm and person‘s psychological traits that could be possibly related to those factors. It also aimed to reveal the typical differences of these factors between the genders. The sample: 15-17 year old Lithuanian pupils who, while answering into Lifestyle and Coping Skills Questionnaire, responded that they were harming themselves at least once in a life time. In the questionnaire while explaining the reasons of self-harming behavior, into the proposition “I wanted to die” they could write “Yes” or “No”- in this way they were separated into two groups: suicidal self-harmers – who wanted to... [to full text]

Deliberate self-harm (DSH) is a major health concern, especially for high-risk populations such as incarcerated youth. DSH refers to socially unacceptable, deliberate behaviour that causes harm to the body regardless of intent to die. There is limited research concerning prevalence rates as well as risk and protective factors for high-risk, adolescent groups. Participants were recruited from a correctional facility for youth aged 12-18. Male (n = 36) and female (n = 51) incarcerated adolescents (N = 87; mean age = 15.9) completed a survey that measured social-demographic characteristics, current depressed mood, lifetime alcohol and drug use, perceptions of social support (availability and satisfaction), approach-avoidance coping, problem-solving confidence, and DSH. The prevalence rates (81% lifetime, 74% annual, and 51% while incarcerated) for this mainly Aboriginal and Métis population were much higher than previous offender, community, and hospital findings. Youth reported much higher rates of DSH on a checklist than in response to a general question previously used in such research, suggesting that previously reported prevalence rates are likely grossly underestimated. Hypotheses regarding risk and protective factors were only partially supported. Depressed mood and drug use were positively, directly related to annual DSH frequency. Depressed mood proved to be a significant risk factor as well for incarcerated DSH. Overall, protective factors did not predict DSH well for this group of offenders. Only approach coping was inversely related to DSH frequency. Participants in this study reported very low levels of protective factors, which likely affected the outcome of statistical analyses. In general, youth reported high rates of risk factors and low rates of protective factors. Rates of DSH warranting medical attention increased with duration and frequency of such behaviour, as did actually receiving medical attention. Although 74% of offenders indicated that medical attention had been warranted at least once, only 50% actually received medical attention. Offenders were equally likely to receive medical attention whether they had engaged in DSH once or repetitively. It is likely that offenders prefer to keep their behaviour private, which affects how often they seek medical attention, even if they believe it is warranted. Recommendations are advanced for detecting and responding to DSH in incarcerated youth.