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Self‐harm and the words that bind: a critique of common perspectives
Author(s) -
ALLEN S.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.69
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1365-2850
pISSN - 1351-0126
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2850.2007.01060.x
Subject(s) - harm , phenomenon , health professionals , nursing , critical appraisal , psychology , public relations , health care , medicine , social psychology , political science , alternative medicine , epistemology , law , philosophy , pathology
The issue of self‐harm is not only a widespread phenomenon but also a challenging one. Nurses in particular are faced with this challenge, as they tend to be the primary professional group when working with people who self‐harm within health service provision. The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical appraisal of common perspectives as reported in the existing literature. Having highlighted these areas, the paper will attempt to address the challenges faced by nurses and other healthcare professionals through the proposal of strategies, including the suggestion that self‐harm may be considered from a position of social constructionism to achieve a more informed and effective response when working with someone who self‐harms.