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Nonsuicidal Self-Injury Among Nonclinical College Women

Lessons From Foucault

Elms College, kokaliarie{at}elms.edu

Joan Berzoff

Smith College, jberzoff{at}smith.edu

This article presents a qualitative study that explored nonsuicidal self-injury among relatively psychologically healthy college women. It examines the phenomenon of self-injury through a social theoretical perspective using Foucault's concepts. Key arguments are that self-injury in women may be a reaction to an insidious form of social control and a reflection of the social pressures for productivity that are enacted on the body. Self-injury may regulate socially unacceptable affects and modify states of the ego so that women can regain their capacity to produce within a competitive and capitalist society. Implications for social work practice are discussed.

Key Words: Foucault • patriarch • self-injury • self-mutilation

Affilia, Vol. 23, No. 3, 259-269 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0886109908319120


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