This book is open access under a CC BY license and charts the rise and fall of various self-harming behaviours in twentieth-century Britain. It puts self-cutting and overdosing into historical perspective, linking them to the huge changes that occur in mental and physical healthcare, social work and wider politics.

Explores the contemporary significance of Alfred North Whitehead's 1927 book Symbolism: Its Meaning and Effect

This book is an ambitious and expansive examination of the visual language of self-injury in performance art from the 1960s to the present. Inspired by the gendered nature of discussion around self-harm, the book challenges established readings of risk-taking and self-injury in global performance practice. The interdisciplinary methodology draws from art history and sociology to provide a new critical analysis of the relationship between masculinity and self-inflicted injury. Based upon interviews with a range of artists around the world, it offers an innovative understanding of the diverse meanings behind self-injury in performance, and delves into the gendered coding of self-harming bodies. Individual chapters examine the work of Ron Athey, Günter Brus, Wafaa Bilal, Franko B, André Stitt, Pyotr Pavlensky, and Yang Zhichao, offering a new perspective on the forms and functions of self-injury in performance art. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, performance studies, gender studies, and cultural studies.

Social problems are endemic to all societies. The UK is no exception and is grappling with a plethora of issues including poverty, family breakdown, domestic violence, teenage pregnancy, child abuse and neglect, youth offending, alcohol and drug misuse, mental health issues, homelessness, and ethnic and religious discrimination. These problems have huge implications for the individual, the family unit and society at large and take their toll on health, wellbeing, and community resources. They place an enormous amount of strain on government finances and the welfare state, and add to the burden on social institutions, such as the National Health Service and the social work and criminal justice systems. Contemporary Social Problems in the UK explores a wide range of social problems in the UK. Each social problem has been explored using a range of psychosocial theories to generate an understanding of various causal factors and to examine the linkages between different social problems. Government policy and legislation, remedial measures, preventive approaches, and strategies of intervention are also considered for each social problem that has been dealt with. Each chapter deals with a particular social problem and has been penned by an expert in that topic. The endeavour has been to provide a multi-dimensional overview of the social problem in a manner that is engaging and easy to read. The end-of-chapter content includes supplementary reading, useful topic related websites besides a quiz and individual / group activities to generate discussion and stimulate learning. This informative yet accessible textbook will be an invaluable resource for instructors and students in the social sciences as well as professionals who work with people who experience some of these problems.

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.

Contemporary Debates in Education Studies gives the reader a vital and nuanced understanding of the key debates surrounding the field of education today. Exploring important educational themes such as issues of sexuality, extremism and mental health through a variety of viewpoints, this wide-ranging book questions what the nature and purpose of education are, and how this can be understood in contemporary contexts. From eradicating child poverty in schools, to considering how education should rise to the challenge of the digital world, the book covers an extensive range of topics designed to inspire discussion and debate. Examining a variety of perspectives, each chapter looks at these topics through key research, thinkers, theorists and policies, and, featuring discussion questions and case studies throughout, it forms a truly accessible and interactive guide to the issues that can not only help students access the debates, but also provide lecturers with questions to stimulate seminar discussions. Challenging current thinking on a number of topics, this book’s original and distinctive ideas consider how education should meet some of the trials and tribulations of the 21st century, and its wide-reaching and all-encompassing discussion will be essential reading for all students on undergraduate and postgraduate education studies courses.

Self harm is generally regarded as a modern epidemic, associated especially with young women. But references to self harm are found in the poetry of ancient Rome, the drama of ancient Greece and early Christian texts, including the Bible. Studied by criminologists, doctors, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists and sociologists, the actions of those who harm themselves are often alienating and bewildering. This book provides a historical and conceptual roadmap for understanding self harm across a range of times and places: in modern high schools and in modern warfare; in traditional religious practices and in avant-garde performance art. Describing the diversity of self harm as well as responses to it, this book challenges the understanding of it as a single behavior associated with a specific age group, gender or cultural identity.

Fundamentals of Mental Health Nursing is an accessible evidence-based introduction to the role of the mental health nurse. This comprehensive overview explores concepts of mental health and distress, ethics and accountability, key nursing models to be aware of, and the prevalence, predisposing factors and features of the most commonly occurring mental health problems. KEY FEATURES: Places mental health conditions and interventions within a wider holistic context Situates recovery at the centre of mental health nursing practice Links key concepts to mental health across the lifespan Contains learning outcomes in each chapter and includes vignettes, activities and reflective exercises to root concepts in real life practice Information is placed in a practice context from the outset, making this an essential guide to both the theory and the practice of mental health nursing. It is ideal for students on courses relating to mental health care, as well as for registered nurses and health care practitioners looking to revise their knowledge of key concepts. www.wiley.com/go/fundamentalsofmentalhealth Interactive multiple-choice questions Links to online resources Chapter summary sheets

Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing in the UK is an adaptation of Australia and New Zealand’s foremost mental health nursing text and is an essential resource for both mental health nursing students and qualified nurses. Thoroughly revised and updated to reflect current research and the UK guidelines as well as the changing attitudes about mental health, mental health services and mental health nursing in UK. Set within a recovery and patient framework, this text provides vital information for approaching the most familiar disorders mental health nurses and students will see in clinical practice, along with helpful suggestions about what the mental health nurse can say and do to interact effectively with patients and their families. Gives readers a thorough grounding in the theory of mental health nursing. Case studies throughout the text allow readers to understand the application of theory in every day practice. Includes critical thinking challenges and ethical dilemmas to encourage the reader to think about and explore complex issues. Exercises for class engagement complement learning and development in the classroom environment.