Resumen de The non-display of authentic distress: public-private dualism in young people�s discursive construction of self-harm

Jonathan Scourfield, Katrina Roen, Elizabeth McDermott

• Keywords:self-harm;youth;mental health;discourse analysis Abstract This article draws from focus groups and interviews investigating how young people talk about self-harm. Some of the research participants had personal experience of self-harm but this was not a prerequisite for their inclusion in the study. Thematic coding was used initially to organise and give an overview of the data, but the data were subsequently analysed using a discourse analytic approach. The article focuses on the young people�s constructions of deliberate self-harm such as �cutting�. Throughout the focus groups and interviews, a dichotomy was set up by the young people between authentic, private self-harm which is rooted in real distress (and warrants a sympathetic response) and public, self-indulgent attempts to seek attention. This dualistic construction is discussed in some detail and located in various socio-cultural contexts. It is argued that the dualism illustrates contemporary ambivalence about mental health and youth.