The purpose of this study was trying to understand and explain why young people with psychological problems injure themselves by cutting, scratching and burning. The study also examine if self- injuring behaviour is an increasing problem in our society. Self-injuring behaviour is a phenomenon with dissimilar definitions. There are as many ways of injuring yourself as there are individuals who injure themselves. In this study six professionals, who through their work have contact with self- injuring people, have been interviewed. Their own view of self- injuring behaviour was put in comparison with the literature. It was found that despite their dissimilar educations and experiences of self- injuring behaviour they had a similar view of the phenomenon. The most common definition of a self- injuring behaviour was cutting, scratching or burning yourself. Although they don’t know the reason for it, the literature as well as the informants seem to agree that self-injuring behaviour is increasing in society. They emphasize that media, through the attention given to the phenomenon during the last years, could have an effect on the increase. Two of the most common reasons why an individual chose to hurt him- or herself, seem to be reduction of anxiety and/or seeking attention. The most important result found in this study is why people maintain this behaviour and what functions self-injuring behaviour serve them.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:hkr-3793 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Andersson, Helen, Ohlin, Annika |
| Publisher | Högskolan Kristianstad, Institutionen för hälsovetenskaper, Högskolan Kristianstad, Institutionen för hälsovetenskaper |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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