TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2018//
TI  - Understanding skin-cutting in adolescence: sacrificing a part to save the whole
JO  - Body and society
A1  - Le Breton, David
SP  - 33
EP  - 54
VL  - 24
IS  - 1-2
N2  - Adolescents are said to be, figuratively speaking, thin-skinned. But their thin-skinnedness is also real: both ambivalent and ambiguous, the border between self and other is, for many young people, a source of constant turmoil. The recourse to bodily self-harm is a means of dealing with this turmoil and the feelings of powerlessness it generates. Drawing on extensive semi-structured interviews conducted over the course of the last twenty years, this article explores the experiences of adolescents who engage in self-cutting. A deliberate and controlled use of pain, this 'symbolic homeopathy' - that is, harming oneself to feel less pain - acts as a defence against externally imposed suffering. Far from being destructive, self-harm practices can paradoxically be understood as survival techniques. Part of a long-term, ongoing project investigating adolescent risk-taking, this article seeks to better understand the experiences of teens who injure themselves through skin-cutting.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1357-034X
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1357034X18760175
ID  - ref1
ER  -