Millard, C. orcid.org/0000-0001-5517-492X (2013) Making the cut: The production of 'self-harm' in post-1945 Anglo-Saxon psychiatry. History of the Human Sciences, 26 (2). pp. 126-150. ISSN 0952-6951
Abstract
'Deliberate self-harm', 'self-mutilation' and 'self-injury' are just some of the terms used to describe one of the most prominent issues in British mental health policy in recent years. This article demonstrates that contemporary literature on 'self-harm' produces this phenomenon (to varying extents) around two key characteristics. First, this behaviour is predominantly performed by those identified as female. Second, this behaviour primarily involves cutting the skin. These constitutive characteristics are traced back to a corpus of literature produced in the 1960s and 1970s in North American psychiatric inpatient institutions; analysis shows how pre-1960 works were substantially different. Finally, these gendered and behavioural assertions are shown to be the result of historically specific processes of exclusion and emphasis.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2013. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page(http://www.uk.sagepub.com/aboutus/openaccess.htm). |
Keywords: | disease concepts; gender; history; psychiatric syndromes; self-harm; self-mutilation; stereotypes |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Sheffield) > Department of History (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 28 Mar 2017 13:46 |
Last Modified: | 28 Mar 2017 16:34 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0952695112473619 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications (UK and US) |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/0952695112473619 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:110407 |
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