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Becoming a self-harmer : a discourse analysis.

dc.contributor.advisorWassenaar, Douglas Richard.
dc.contributor.authorJacobs, Nicola.
dc.date.accessioned2012-11-29T07:09:11Z
dc.date.available2012-11-29T07:09:11Z
dc.date.created2011
dc.date.issued2011
dc.descriptionThesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.en
dc.description.abstractSelf-harm is a behaviour constructed as ostracised and abhorrent in most social discourses. While there is an abundance of available research about self-harm, a distinctive gap in the literature concerns how an individual begins to self-harm. Research has indicated that having a friend or family member who self-harms is the strongest predictor of future self-harm, yet no published studies have sought to explain this in detail. This thesis explored how self-harming participants construct their first self-harming experience – a behaviour which appears prima facie to be outside of socially accepted conventions, and suggests that this behaviour may become normalised through knowing other self-harmers. It was found that both participants had a self-harming friend prior to the onset of their self-harming behaviour, and that both participants confided in someone who subsequently began to self-harm. Participants positioned these two categories of individuals in different ways. Participants relied on a ‘victim’ discourse to establish their self-harm as meaningful in a way which limited any blame or stigma attributable to them, but which subsequently limited their agency in their narratives. The discourse of attention-seeking heavily influenced participants’ narratives, and was acknowledged as the dominant discourse self-harmers must contend with in presenting their behaviour as meaningful and rational.en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10413/8047
dc.language.isoen_ZAen
dc.subjectSelf-mutilation.en
dc.subjectMental illness.en
dc.subjectTheses--Psychology.en
dc.subjectSelf-injurious behaviour.en
dc.titleBecoming a self-harmer : a discourse analysis.en
dc.typeThesisen

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