Self-harm and identity formation

Certain fields of knowledge have stood out in the study of self-harm, including psychiatry, psychology, and psychoanalysis. These fields of knowledge differentiate acts of self-harm as part of a specific culture or religious ritual from self-harming practices that are attributed to pathologies. The latter are considered acts of self-destruction produced by people who need specialist intervention to stop hurting themselves. We start from the assumption that self-harm is a mode of subjectivation constructed and transformed by different discourses depending on the sociocultural context in which it occurs. The intention of this work is to analyse messages from people who self-harm and discuss their experience in virtual communities.

Autorentext

Renata Lopes Arcoverde ist Psychologin an der Bundesuniversität von Pernambuco/UFPE. Sie hat einen Abschluss in Psychologie von der Katholischen Universität von Pernambuco/UNICAP, einen Postgraduiertenabschluss in Neuropsychologie vom Zentrum für Krankenhaus- und Hauspsychologie des Nordostens/CPHD und einen Master in Klinischer Psychologie von der Katholischen Universität von Pernambuco.