Self-Harm Narratives of Urban and Suburban Young Women

This qualitative study explored the motivations, meanings, functions, and consequences of self-harm for young women in urban and suburban contexts. It found that all 6 participants deliberately harmed themselves in response to traumas, family stress, and relationship problems. However, the suburban girls connected their self-harm behaviors to an overall sense of despondency, whereas the urban girls attributed these to release of unresolved anger. Key differences between the groups also emerged in the functions and consequences of their self-harm behaviors. These findings can increase social workers’ capacity to respond to intentional self-injury among ethnically and socioeconomically diverse populations of young women.