Why Do We Hurt Ourselves?: Understanding Self-Harm in Social Life

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.

Author: Baptiste Brossard
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 06/14/2018
Pages: 210
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.92lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.63d
ISBN: 9780253036391

Review Citation(s):
Choice 02/01/2019

About the Author

Baptiste Brossard, a French sociologist, is Lecturer at the Australian National University.