‘In two minds’ – socially motivated self-harm is perceived as less serious than internally motivated: A qualitative study of youth justice staff

Abstract

Community-based young offenders are at high risk of self-harm and unlikely to be in contact with mental health services. Semi-structured interviews with community youth justice staff and a content analysis of 50 records of self-harm not only revealed staff concerns about the impact of stigma on disclosure and service use, but also found dismissive attitudes towards socially motivated self-harm, which was equated with lower suicide risk and less emotional distress. Efforts to improve identification of self-harm will need to address the perceived – and false – distinction between ‘genuine’ and socially motivated self-harm.