Only from such models is it fully possible to explore such issues as the rights of women and of children, of the part which the well-being of women plays in the health of a nation, and also the strengths and weaknesses of the various international campaigns on the subject.

Discusses self-mutilation, describing why some individuals choose to hurt themselves, explaining how body modification and self-mutilation are related, and pointing out where to go for help.

This title concerns the different ways in which people use their bodies for self-expression: tattooing, piercing, self-mutilation, which serve both individual and cultural needs.

Understanding and overcoming self-mutilation.

The condemnation of memory inexorably altered the visual landscape of imperial Rome. This volume catalogues and interprets the sculptural, glyptic, numismatic and epigraphic evidence for "damnatio memoriae" and ultimately reveals its praxis to be at the core of Roman cultural identity.

Although instances of deliberate skin-cutting are recorded as far back as the old and New Testaments of the Bible the behavior has generally been regarded as a symptom of various mental disorders. With the publication of Bodies Under Siege, a book described in the New York Times Magazine (July 17, 1997) as "the first to comprehensively explore self-mutilation," Dr. Armando Favazza has pioneered the study of the behavior as significant and meaningful unto itself. Drawing from the latest case studies from clinical psychiatry he broadens our understanding of self-mutilation and body modification and explores their surprising connections to the elemental experiences of healing, religions, salvation, and social balance. Favazza makes sense out of seemingly senseless self-mutilative behaviors by providing both a useful classification and examination of the ways in which the behaviors provide effective but temporary relief from troublesome symptoms such as overwhelming anxiety, racing thoughts, and depersonalization. He offers important new information on the psychology and biology of self-mutilation, the link between self-mutilation and eating disorders, and advances in treatment. An epilogue by Fakir Musafar, the father of the Modern Primitive movement, describes his role in influencing a new generation to "experiment with the previously forbidden 'body side' of life" through piercing, blood rituals, scarification, and body sculpting in order to attain a state of grace. The second edition of Bodies Under Siege is the major source of information about self-mutilation, a much misunderstood behavior that is now coming into public awareness.

A comprehensive reference covering all facets of the management and treatment of mutilating injuries of the hand. Each comprehensive chapter contains a review of the literature as well as historical perspectives; history of the technique; evolution of the treatment strategies over the years; postoperative care; current state-of-the-art management; complications and sequelae with the various techniques; and comparison of functional results using the various techniques.

Like acts of suicide, homicide, and the sexual abuse of children, self-mutilation is an example of human behavior at its most dysfunctional. Covering the entire spectrum of self-mutilation, from wrist cutting to autocastration and self-inflicted eye removal, this is one of the few books since Karl Menninger's Man against Himself (1938) to comprehensively address this disturbing phenomenon. The book is divided into three sections that cover theory, research, and treatment. Part I focuses on the scope of the problem by reviewing the forms of self-mutilation behavior reported in the literature and analyzing its incidence as reported in a number of Western countries. In two particularly important chapters--one theoretical, the other a review of the empirical literature including the authors' own research--the book makes a crucial but difficult distinction between self-mutilative behavior and suicide attempts. The authors conclude that self-mutilation and suicide should be understood and treated as separate clinical problems. In Part II self-mutilation is described as it occurs in different clinical populations. Results from the authors' study of adolescent self-mutilators identifies key childhood and adolescent antecedents to the behavior. Another study by the authors provides the first empirical evidence for the frequently reported phenomenon of self-mutilative contagion. In addition, a detailed case example of a contagion episode illustrates how such ``clusters'' of self-mutilation develop. This section also offers extended discussion of the distinctive features of self-mutilation in borderline personalities, psychotics, retarded and autistic individuals. Several case examples map the idiosyncratic determinants of these behaviors for each specific group. Part III covers treatment. The authors present new and specific guidelines for the cognitive-behavioral, psychoanalytic, family, and group therapy of mutilators and identify the clinical strategies and responses likely to be counterproductive. The volume ends with a cogent discussion of how these modalities can be integrated into a comprehensive, multimodal treatment program. Designed for a broad range of mental health professionals, including psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, nurses, and paraprofessionals, SELF-MUTILATION will be invaluable for those affiliated with psychiatric inpatient facilities, group homes, residential treatment centers, and schools. It is also a useful resource for researchers interested in self-destructive behaviors.

Condemning the circumcision of boys in industrialized societies as well as traditional practices elsewhere, the 23 essays look at medical, legal, ethical, sociological, anthropological, historical, religious, and political dimensions. They discuss its physical and psychological consequences for the victim, its role in tradition, the medical industry's investment, current legislative efforts, methods being implemented to safeguard children, and other topics. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR