Non-Suicidal Self-Injury in the Media (original) (raw)

Entering "self-injury" as a search term in Google yields over 15 million results. Using the same term to search YouTube brings up 2,140 videos!. Self-injury appears in popular movies , music lyrics, and music videos. It is described in books, the news, and on the Internet. Ask any adolescent today what self-injury is, and not only will he or she likely be able to define it, nearly half asked will personally know someone who has engaged in the behavior. Self-injury has become such a part of the social landscape today there are even jokes about it: "I wish my grass were Emo so it would cut itself." How are these two phenomena, presence of self-injury in the media and widespread knowledge of it in adolescent populations, related? Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is defined as the deliberate, self-inflicted destruction of body tissue without suicidal intent and for purposes not SOcially sanctioned (International Society for the Study of Self-Injury, 2007). Notably common in adolescent and young adult populations (e.g., ages 13-24), studies have found that between 14% and 23% have engaged in NSSI at some point in their lives (e.g.

Sign up for access to the world's latest research.

checkGet notified about relevant papers

checkSave papers to use in your research

checkJoin the discussion with peers

checkTrack your impact