Why Do We Hurt Ourselves?

Understanding Self-Harm in Social Life

von Baptiste Brossard

210 Seiten, Taschenbuch

Kurzbeschreibung des Verlags

Why does an estimated 5% of the general population intentionally and repeatedly hurt themselves? What are the reasons certain people resort to self-injury as a way to manage their daily lives? In Why Do We Hurt Ourselves, sociologist Baptiste Brossard draws on a five-year survey of self-injurers and suggests that the answers can be traced to social, more than personal, causes. Self-injury is not a matter of disturbed individuals resorting to hurting themselves in the face of individual weaknesses and difficulties. Rather, self-injury is the reaction of individuals to the tensions that compose, day after day, the tumultuousness of their social life and position. Self-harm is a practice that people use to self-control and maintain order-to calm down, or to avoid "going haywire" or "breaking everything." More broadly, through this research Brossard works to develop a perspective on the contemporary social world at large, exploring quests for self-control in modern Western societies.

• Reihe: Indiana University Press (IPS)
• ISBN: 9780253036407
• Sprache: Englisch
• Erscheinungsdatum: 01.09.2018
• Größe: 216 x 140 mm
• Verlag: Indiana University Press