The Experience of Self-Harming Behaviours That Inflict External Injuries to the Body in UK-Based Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani Females: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Previous studies carried out on self-harm have consistently reported a higher level of self-harm among South-Asian women. They have shown that these women are also least likely to seek professional support from mental health professionals. However, previous studies have clustered the large ethnic group together, regardless of the differences between them, looked at all types of self-harming behaviours as similar and predominantly carried out quantitative studies. Therefore, the present study investigated the experience of self-harming behaviour that inflicts external injuries to the body in Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi females.
A total of eight participants were recruited via purposive sampling and semi-structured interviews were carried out. The interviews were analysed from an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Analyses were carried out on an individual and group level and four super-ordinate themes, and eleven sub-ordinate themes emerged. The superordinate themes were: ‘Powerlessness’ (‘Entrapment’, ‘Internalised Negativity’ & ‘Abused by my Environment’), ‘Mitigation’ (‘Releasing my Overwhelming Emotions’, ‘Connecting to my Pain’ & ‘Addicted to Self-harm’) and ‘Self-harm is Wrong’ (‘It must be Hidden’, ‘What have I done to myself?’ & ‘My Self-harm is Sinful’). The analyses revealed what appears to be novel insights on the impact and importance of the South-Asian cultural values and beliefs on the experience of self-harm in South-Asian women. The findings have been discussed relative to previous studies of this phenomenon. Also discussed are the strengths and limits of the study, clinical recommendations, and future research areas.