SOC212: Chapter 33 – Cyber Communities of Self Injury

Ross Au

Reactions:

1) One negative reaction I had to this article was that I noticed a lack of detailed explanation for actual
cyber communities of self injury, despite the title of the article. Rather, I find that the article talks more
about the individual, psychological issues associated with self-injurers. Admittedly, there is some
detail that touches upon interactions (or lack of) between different self-injurers, however, information
that actually pertains to online communities of self-injury is relatively scarce. I am surprised however,
in the number that the subjects in this article that consented to revealing their deviant nature, given the
fact that self-injury is often such a secretive activity.

2) When I read the segment about the case of a young woman trying to prevent her boyfriend from
cutting, by threatening to burn herself, I was confounded. I felt confused and angry about that persons
logic behind how threatening to burn yourself would help the situation. It's ridiculous in my opinion.
It's even worse that the idea of “fighting fire, with fire”. Maybe my reaction is biased because I have
never committed a deliberate act of self harm, so I don't have first hand knowledge of the reasoning and
processes behind self-injury, but certainly there are better ways to deal with the situation than that.

Keepers:

1) Unlike many other forms of deviant organization, the structural organization that revolves around
self-injurers is very limited, and operates on a very individual level. Self-injurers often lack the support
of a broader deviant subculture, and therefore, the techniques, judgments, rationalizations, and
meanings of their acts of self harm often derives from the individual. Also, as a consequence due to
this lack of support from fellow deviants, patterns of self-harm are often brief and unstable.

2) Another keeper for this chapter is that self-injurers often experienced a structural strain between
normative expectations and deviant behavior. Based on Matza's drift theory discussed earlier this year,
those who participate in self-harming activities switch between a normative lifestyle and a deviant one.
Often however, self-injurers face issues in their normal lifestyles. For example, they will go to great
lengths to hide their scars, and may avoid instances where their bodies may be exposed (like
swimming, or wearing short sleeve shirts) for fear of their deviant identity to be exposed.

Questions:

1) I would like to know if the reasoning behind the discovery of self-injurers in the early 2000's is
linked to the technological advances in the past few decades. I believe it is possible that technological
feats such as the cellphone, the internet, and “social” media, have largely contributed to the weakening
of real social bonds and personal, face-to-face interaction with others, resulting in problems that could
lead to self-injury, such as depression, alienation, and loneliness.

2) Another question I have for the authors: What is being done about the problem? I would like to
know if there are any social services or groups that try and help self-injurers. It seems to me that most
self-injurers (although they freely choose to do perform self-injury), realize that what they are doing is
deviant, as exemplified by the quote, “I was ashamed of myself because it's disgusting and it's not
normal, which is OK, but it's just bad to do”, on page 406. Due to their generally secretive nature
though, would self-injurers even accept professional help offered to them?

Why does the topic matter?

I believe the topic matters because like the the case of eating disorders, it allows insight into a
more individualistic deviant phenomenon that is not explicitly illegal (unlike many of the other “loner”
deviant activities such as: using drugs, rape, or murder). The article also allows for the exploration of a
scenario in which a deviant activity usually only thrives when there is a social mechanism that supports
it's existence (like other deviants who participate). Above all else though, I think the topic matters,
because self-harm is a sign of anomie, and that our society is not able to fulfill the needs of all
individuals.