About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherReaktion Books, The Limited

ISBN-101789141486

ISBN-139781789141481

eBay Product ID (ePID)14038790517

Product Key Features

Number of Pages320 Pages

Publication NamePsyche on the Skin : a History of Self-Harm

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2019

SubjectPsychopathology / General, Mental Health, Suicide

TypeTextbook

Subject AreaPsychology, Medical

AuthorSarah Chaney

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height1 in

Item Weight10.1 Oz

Item Length7.7 in

Item Width5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

Dewey Edition23

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal616.8582

SynopsisSelf-harm is thought by many to be a modern epidemic: a phenomenon of the late twentieth century, a symptom of extreme emotional turmoil in young people, particularly young women. Yet it was 150 years ago, within early asylum psychiatry, that self-mutilation was first codified as a category of behaviour, and explanations for a variety of self-injurious acts were conceived very differently. Psyche on the Skin charts the secret history of self-harm. The book describes its many forms, from sexual self-mutilation and hysterical malingering in the late Victorian period, to self-castrating religious sects, to self-mutilation and self-destruction in art, music and popular culture. Sarah Chaney's refreshing historical approach refutes the notion that self-harm has any universal meaning -- that it necessarily says something specific about an individual or group, or that it can ever be understood outside the historical and cultural context of a particular era. Drawing on her personal experiences, written in an engaging style and containing many powerful images, Psyche on the Skin challenges the misconceptions and controversies surrounding self-harm. The book is crucial reading for professionals in the field as well as all those affected by this act. 'A valuable contribution.' -- TLS 'The skill of this book is that it understands self-harm so broadly, sweeping within its remit a range of other forms of injury, including bloodletting, castration and flagellation...The impressively amassed sources and the sensitivity behind it suggest that there is more to discover and understand in the history of self-harm.' -- Times Higher Education 'Eloquent, awe-inspiring, and sassy. This book will captivate anyone curious about the body and pain.' -- Joanna Bourke 'A remarkable account from the pen of a young and brilliant scholar of the history and meaning of self-harm. Insightful and immensely readable.' -- Sander L. Gilman, It's a troubling phenomenon that many of us think of as a modern psychological epidemic, a symptom of extreme emotional turmoil in young people, especially young women: cutting and self-harm. But few of us know that it was 150 years ago--with the introduction of institutional asylum psychiatry--that self-mutilation was first described as a category of behavior, which psychiatrists, and later psychologists and social workers, attempted to understand. With care and focus, Psyche on the Skin tells the secret but necessary history of self-harm from the 1860s to the present, showing just how deeply entrenched this practice is in human culture. Sarah Chaney looks at many different kinds of self-injurious acts, including sexual self-mutilation and hysterical malingering in the late Victorian period, self-marking religious sects, and self-mutilation and self-destruction in art, music, and popular culture. As she shows, while self-harm is a widespread phenomenon found in many different contexts, it doesn't necessarily have any kind of universal meaning--it always has to be understood within the historical and cultural context that surrounds it. Bravely sharing her own personal experiences with self-harm and placing them within its wider history, Chaney offers a sensitive but engaging account--supported with powerful images--that challenges the misconceptions and controversies that surround this often misunderstood phenomenon. The result is crucial reading for therapists and other professionals in the field, as well as those affected by this emotive, challenging act.

LC Classification NumberRC552.S4