Responding to Self-harm: A documentary Analysis of Agency Policy and Procedure

• Published in: Children & society Vol. 27; no. 3; pp. 184 - 196
• Main Authors: Paul, Sally, Hill, Malcolm
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.05.2013; Wiley-Blackwell; Blackwell
• Subjects: Adolescents; childcare; Coping; Delivery Systems; Documentary analysis; Foreign Countries; Individualism; Intervention; Mental Health; policy and practice; Policy Formation; Prevention; Risk; Scotland; Self Destructive Behavior; Self-management; Services; Social problems and social policy. Social work; Social services; Sociology; Sociology of the family. Age groups; Stigma; United Kingdom; Working groups; Youth; Youth problems; United Kingdom (Scotland); United Kingdom; Intervention; Young people; Social work; policy and practice; childcare; Mental Health; Risk behaviour; Child care; Content analysis; Documentary source
• ISSN: 0951-0605; 1099-0860
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1099-0860.2011.00399.x

This paper reports on the findings of a documentary analysis of policies and procedures relating to self‐harm from a range of organisations working with young people in the UK. It identifies the extent to which policies and/or procedures relating to self‐harm are available for service providers and offers a wider understanding of the concepts of self‐harm and approaches to helping as incorporated into service guidance and delivery. It highlights the prevalence of self‐harming behaviours in a climate of stigma and the need to define appropriate and supportive agency responses from a trained staff that is both sensitive and individualised.