Identifier: imarina:9283521
Authors:
Casadó Marín, Lina Cristina
Abstract:
The act of bodily self-harm – defined as the way in which some people deliberately cut, burn or scratch their bodies with non fatal desires – has had a profound impact on public opinion in last five years. Even the act of self-harm without the intention of dying is not a new phenomenon in Spain, the lack of understanding and its consideration as an ‘underground epidemic’ affecting mainly young women (Truth Hurts, 2006 and CASE report – comparative Findings From the Child and Adolescent Self-Harm in Europe, 2008), have promoted an upsurge of studies –mainly quantitative – which are essentially interested in concretising in numbers the magnitude of the phenomenon as well as trying to identify co-morbidities and risk factors for self-harm. In this framework, the purpose of my chapter is double: On the one hand I would like to show how the gender and age bias that quantitative literature shows, makes essential the application of ethnographic tools that allow us to delve into the comprehension of the symptom from inside: as an expression of embodied social suffering that is particularly raging among young women. And, on the other hand, to think about the perceived gap during my fieldwork experience, between expert discourses and the voice of girls – less boys – who self-harm.
Repositori URV