Nonsuicidal self-injury among nonclinical college women - Lessons from Foucault

This article presents a qualitative study that explored nonsuicidal self-injury among relatively psychologically healthy college women. It examines the phenomenon of self-injury through a social theoretical perspective using Foucault's concepts. Key arguments are that self-injury in women may be a reaction to an insidious form of social control and a reflection of the social pressures for productivity that are enacted on the body. Self-injury may regulate socially unacceptable affects and modify states of the ego so that women can regain their capacity to produce within a competitive and capitalist society. Implications for social work practice are discussed.