An exploration of discursive constructions of young people who self-injure / suicide; young people's internet newsgroup accounts and received academic / professional wisdom

Abstract

This thesis recounts an innovative critical exploration of accounts of child and adolescent mental health (CAMH); sourced from young people's Internet newsgroup contributions and academic/professional publications (both viewed equally as 'data' sources). An original discursive approach, informed by the concerns of 'postmodernism', 'constructionism', 'discourse analysis' and 'narrative inquiry', was developed and employed.
Commencing with historical accounts of CAMH, an 'unconventional account' is presented which reads that history in terms of 'marketing'. Considering young people's Internet newsgroup accounts of CAMH as possible 'resistance' to conventional CAMH accounts, investigation into the types of post contributed and the subjects of interest being discussed indicated that self-injury/suicide were of particular interest to young people. Consequently, further in-depth critical investigation of young peoples' accounts of self-injury/suicide followed; comparing their accounts with the received wisdom found in the academic/professional literature.
Outcomes indicate that three major themes run through the young people's contributions regarding self-injury/suicide; namely, 'change', 'control' and 'relationship'. Marked agreements between the newsgroup material and the academic/professional literature were established. However, significant differences were also discerned. Young people who selfinjure/ suicide ubiquitously described wishing to 'change' their thoughts/actions; in contradistinction to academic/professional wisdom that questions the genuineness of that desire, viewing such young people as 'difficult clients'. A number of 'questionable arguments' were also highlighted within the existing academic/professional literature.
It is proposed that enhanced understanding of CAMEl accounts and their effects challenges the 'individualising' within existing discourses/narratives of young people who selfinjure/ suicide. Implications for enhancing theory/research and care practice are also discussed.