Cutting through the Silence: A Sociological Construction of Self-Injury

This project provides a sociological perspective on self-injury by assessing whether cutting is a learned behavior and whether practitioners use stigma management techniques. In-depth interviews via e-mail with self-reported self-injurers indicate cutting is learned from the self or from outside sources. Interviewees also discussed the stigma management techniques they use and whether they choose to disclose their behavior. The findings point to a potential increase in learned cutting from outside sources, and the potential for outside sources to help cutters maintain their behavior by providing each other with support.