In this study the aim is to examine how employees in treatment programmes relate to girls that self-harm. To achieve this four questions were formulated: (1) What experiences does the empolyees have of meeting girls that self-harm? (2) Based on the employees? experiences, what has been the background to why the girls self-harm? (3) Based on the employees? experience, what increases or decreases the risk of self-harm? (4) How do the employees? work with girls that self-harm? The method being used was qualitative interviews with vignettes. The theoretical framework is Becker?s Labeling Theory and Bronfenbrenner?s Ecology of Human Development.

Self-harm is common among young people in Sweden. Therefore people who work with these young people need to have knowledge about self-harm to be able to provide the right help. The aim of this study was to investigate how the individual experience self-harm, and how this could be understood. The empirical material has been based on consisted of 28 life stories. 24 of them were written by women and 4 by men.

Abstract Author: Robert Andersson & Oskar KarlsjöTitle:?My first thought is a girl that cuts herself? ? A qualitative study about professionals in human service organizations description of self-injurious behavior.Supervisor: Ann OttengrimAssessor: Rickard Ulmestig The purpose of this study has been to understand how professionals in human service organizations (HSO) describe self-injuries behaviour, how they describe the individuals that self-harm and if the professionals describe any possible differences in how men and women self-harm as well as how professional?s knowledge concerning self-injurious behaviour is contructed. The study answers three questions;- What kind of actions do professionals in HSO describe as being self-injurious behaviour?- How is knowledge constructed by professionals in HSO concerning self-injurious behaviour?- How are people who engage in self-injurious behaviour being described?- How do professionals in human service organizations describe potential differences between men and women´s self-injurious behaviour? Qualitative interviews have been chosen as the method in this study to gather empirical data and the social constructionism theory has been implemented to analyse the empirical data.The result of this study shows that self-injurious behaviour is a complex and at the same time a dynamic phenomenon. There are a lot of different actions that are being describes as being self-injurious behaviour.

This study is of a qualitative phenomenological approach. Its background lies in recent reports that show the problem of self-harm increasing among adolescents. The intent of the study was to highlight school counselors? view of self-harm, and their experiences of meeting self-harm through their work. Six school counselors, all employed in secondary school, have participated in semi-structured interviews.

The purpose of this study was to examine the professionals´ views concerning self-harm behaviour in adolescents they meet. We interviewed nine different professionals. Our questions were: What do the professionals believe are the reasons to self-harm? How do the professionals experience self esteem and identity in adolescents with self-harm behaviour? How do the professionals look at the self-harm behaviour from a gender perspective? How do the professionals think a diagnosis can affect adolescents with self-harm behaviour? In our responses we noticed beliefs about the cause as a combination of environmental relationships and the individual who is born with a certain vulnerability. The professionals believe that the adolescents have trouble finding their identity.

Background: Patients with self-harm seek hospital care when something traumatic occurred. Self-harm was a way to cure pain and was expressed overdose, cutting, or by swallowing objects. They described that the staff were derisive, didn?t show empathy and engagement. Aim: The aim was to describe factors that effects staffs answer to self-harm behaviour through their perspective.

The aim with this study was to learn about the experiences of field workers and welfare officers in the field of possible self-harm behavior among young people.Our problem was: Do field workers and welfare officers treat young people with deliberate self-harm differently and - How do field workers and welfare officers describe deliberate self- harm?Our study was conducted through qualitative semistructured interviews with twelve interviewee?s.The result of this study shows that there is a difference in how young people with self-harm behavior are being treated - based on their gender.One possible cause for this result could be the old tradition mindset of viewing boys and girls differently ? and thus, treating them differently when they seek help.Our study shows there is a possibility of treating boys and girls differently ? which shows that we made a thought-provoking point.

The purpose of this thesis has been to investigaste the phenomenon of self-harm. To investigate this phenomenon, I interviewed three experts in Malmö and then compared the result with previous research on self-harm behaviour.The questions I wanted to answer were the following: How common is self-harm behaviour and how does it, according to experts, manifest itself among young men in Malmö? What can we learn from previous research about the causes of self-harm? Are there any correlations between the statements made by experts and previous research?My conclusion is that self-harm behaviour first and foremost is a mean of expression, a way of dealing with feelings that the self- harmer cannot deal with in any other way. People who suffer from self-harm behaviour often seem to have difficulties both in expressing and understanding their own feelings. Furthermore, they have often experienced abuse, abandonment, or other childhood traumas.

BACKGROUND: Mental disorders amongst students, has increased, and foremost amongst girls. One way to regulate their emotions, is by deliberate self-harm. Due to their profession, school nurses have the ability to detect self-harm amongst students, and can therefor give them a good professional support. AIM: The aim of this study is to describe the school nurse's experience of deliberate self-harm amongst students. METHOD: The study is based on thirteen interviews with school nurses, via e-mail.

Background: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of deliberate self-harm in a Swedish University population.Method: A random sample of first year students at University of Kalmar was invited to participate in an Internet-based survey in the autumn of 2007. A total of 139 (53,1 %) completed the anonymous survey.Results: The results showed that 25,2 % (n=35) of the students reported having engaged in some kind of deliberate self-harm at least once, and deliberate self-harm was endorsed by 7,9 % within the past year. The most frequently procedures to self-harm were to tear, carve or pinch self, cutting skin and hitting self on purpose. 37,1 % reported that they had told no one about their self-injurious behaviors and 36,4 % significantly reported that they had no one they trusted and who they could talk to if they were concerned about something. Students with self-injurious behavior were also more likely to report a history of emotional, sexual and/or physical abuse, alcohol and drug use, cut classes and questioning their sexual orientation.Conclusions: Findings suggest that self-harm is associated with risk factors and that self-injury is not only associated with adolescence but also with adulthood.

The aim with this study was to examine professional peoples' view on the reason why females, under the age of 18 years old, self-harm and the professionals view on their treatment. The study is qualitative and based on eight interviews with professional personnel who work with young females with self-harm behavior in the region of Skåne. To be able to analyze our qualitative interviews we used two theories; the attachment theory and trauma theory. The results of this study show that there are many different functions with the self-harm behavior and that the cause of the behavior can be different among the females. Most of the young females seem to self-harm to reduce anxiety but some also do it to punish themselves, to feel alive or to belong to a group of friends.

The aim of this study was to examine why young females develop self-harm behaviour. We also wanted to look at the differences between young females born in foreign countries and young females born in Sweden and investigate if there were any differences regarding the reasons for developing self-harm behaviour and the actual extent of the self-harm behaviour within the group. We used a qualitative method and performed interviews with nine professionals that work with young females with self-harm behaviour. To be able to analyse our qualitative interviews we used concepts such as modernity, anomie, safety and cultural differences in the bringing up of children. The results of this study shows that self-harm behaviour is a symptom of excessive anxiety, which can be caused by a number of reasons, such as childhood trauma or great demands in modern society.

This study intends to illuminate women?s experiences of their own self-harm. Self-harm is mostly associated with women and research shows that women mostly are over-represented. This study describes women?s experiences about their self-harm but also how they perceive the elements around them during their illness.

The purpose of this study is to investigate university students, studying social work, attitudes against the drug policies, zero tolerance and harm reduction. This was done by quantitative survey utilizing questioners targeting students in semester one to four at Stockholm University, Department of Social Work. The study included 295 students responding to the questioners. The results have been analyzed utilizing theories regarding attitudes and their influence of different social aspects; social influences, social norms and conformity. The result of this study shows that the students prefer the drug policy of harm reduction over zero tolerance.

The purpose is to illustrate the phenomenon of self-harm from a social psychological and sociological perspective. The purpose is furthermore to examine the role social relationships play in the individuals´ self- imagine and what role does identification play for anyone who harm themselves? We want to examine in what way social relationships are important and how they function for individuals who harm themselves, both once they have started to harm themselves, and if the relationships in any part caused the cutting to begin with.Questions:How do individuals shape their identity based on self- harm? Which self-image do individuals have who self-harm? Is there anything in the person's previous social relationships that have caused them to begin to hurt themselves?Method:In this paper we have analyzed five autobiographies. We have used open coding from grounded theory as analytical method and subject positions based on discourse analysis.Theory:We have used the Cooley concepts looking glass self, Foucault's theory of power, Giddens' concept of ontological security and existential anxiety.Results and Analysis:We found six different categories that we thought were central. These were negative self-image, guilt, lack of family support, negative experiences of others' views, the protective identity as self- harmer and insecure social relationships in school.Conclusion:The self-harming is a very complex behavior.