TY - JOUR
T1 - The non-display of authentic distress
T2 - public-private dualism in young people's discursive construction of self-harm
AU - Scourfield, Jonathan
AU - Roen, Katrina
AU - McDermott, Elizabeth Sarah
PY - 2011/7
Y1 - 2011/7
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
UR - https://www.research.lancs.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/the-nondisplay-of-authentic-distress(9dbc9e6c-e131-47a8-9154-c53b522105c2).html
U2 - 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2010.01322.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2010.01322.x
M3 - Article
SN - 0141-9889
JO - Sociology of Health and Illness
JF - Sociology of Health and Illness
ER -