Why Do We Hurt Ourselves?

<p>Why does an estimated 5% of the general population intentionally and repeatedly hurt themselves? What are the reasons certain people resort to self-injury as a way to manage their daily lives? In <i>Why Do We Hurt Ourselves</i> sociologist Baptiste Brossard draws on a five-year survey of self-injurers and suggests that the answers can be traced to social more than personal causes. Self-injury is not a matter of disturbed individuals resorting to hurting themselves in the face of individual weaknesses and difficulties. Rather self-injury is the reaction of individuals to the tensions that compose day after day the tumultuousness of their social life and position. Self-harm is a practice that people use to self-control and maintain order--to calm down or to avoid going haywire or breaking everything. More broadly through this research Brossard works to develop a perspective on the contemporary social world at large exploring quests for self-control in modern Western societies.</p>