self-injury

The article discusses the motives and functions of self-injurious acts
in ritual practices of primitive tribes, religious rituals and modern
practices of body modification.

The article presents the results of the research of emotional and personal correlates of body modifications (N = 135). The following methods were used: emotional intelligence questionnaire EmIn, (D. Lyusin), Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Cook-Medley Hostility Scale, self-injury scale (N. A. Polskaya). The link between body modifications and self-injuries was discovered. In connection to body modifications self-injury becomes a cultural symbol taking part in constructing desired identity.

The article covers the results of the study on time perspective, personality traits and self-injurious behaviour of drug-addicted patients. Statistically high rates of depression, irritability and reactive aggression are distinguished; time perspective is characterized by hedonistic and fatalistic fixation on the present, negativistic evaluation of the past and uncertainty of the future; there is a high rate of self-injurious acts in the sample.