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40 CHAPTER 5 Cutting Influences Peer Pressure and Out-of-Control Lives “The phenomenon known as ‘contagion’ is growing. Teens are learning about the behavior from one another, from the press, and from popular culture, and it is giving them ideas. Several popular singers and rock groups portray self-injury in their lyrics and album art” (Conterio and Lader 23). The researchers add that many children and teenagers may begin self-injury by accident—literally. Following an accidental cut, however, these adolescents “were surprised when they were flooded by feelings of relief” (22). Cutting then becomes a deliberate pattern of behavior . One survey of 245 college students found that 12 percent admitted to having harmed themselves deliberately (qtd. in Conterio and Lader 21). And Whitlock, Eckenrode, and Silverman’s study of 8,300 hundred Cornell and Princeton students found that 17 percent engaged in selfinjurious behaviors (1945). With the emerging work of researchers like Conterio and Lader and the memoir written by Carolyn Kettlewell comes the theory that the increase in SIBs in our culture can be attributed, at least in some women, to conscious, learned, or deliberately imitated behavior. And what of the media’s contributions to cutting behavior? “Music groups are now expressing themes of self-injury, and even popular television shows like Beverly Hills 90210 and 7th Heaven are giving exposure to the problem” (Conterio and Lader 6). Celebrities including Johnny Depp, Roseanne Barr, and Princess Diana all admitted publicly to cutting behavior. Particularly during the 1990s, the decade to which most researchers attribute this veritable wave of self-injury’s emergence, those celebrities were quite popular, particularly among adolescents. “I think there is a great deal of copycatting in the rise we see in cutting,” says Katherine Jensen (personal communication). A psychologist who practices in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, she has treated several clients, especially in the past ten years, who engage in cutting behaviors. The typical 27460 part 01.indd 40 27460 part 01.indd 40 10/2/07 2:04:17 PM 10/2/07 2:04:17 PM Cutting Influences 41 cutter, says Jensen, is a young adolescent female being raised by only one parent. While abuse, particularly sexual abuse, is certainly a factor in the majority of cases of self-injury, Jensen believes that cutting has become as popular a method of “fitting in” and being accepted by peer groups as wearing the right clothing. “The emulation of the behavior, whether it is emulation of someone who actually has these behaviors caused by some psychopathology or the emulation of behaviors in others who are doing it to seek status among their peers, is a factor in the counterculture of certain adolescents.” She agrees that media influence probably has an effect, but she was not aware of young-adult literature with cutting as the theme. “I Needed Relief Fast” Several books have been written on the theme of cutting, most notably two works of fiction geared toward the female, young-adult audience: Cut by Patricia McCormick and Crosses by Shelley Stoehr. Both books are written in the first person, narrated by female adolescent cutters who chronicle their out-of-control lifestyles. Crosses includes accolades on the front cover from the School Library Journal, “Reminiscent of Go Ask Alice, the powerful portrayal of Nancy and Katie will be read again and again,” and citations from the American Library Association for “Best Book for Young Adults,” and “Recommended for Reluctant Readers.” Knowing that the theme is self-injury, I recall thinking quizzically about these citations even before I read the book. While Crosses doesn’t tout cutting’s virtues, it certainly does, in my opinion, feature an unhealthy main character who not only cuts herself but also engages in sex, consumes alcohol and drugs, lies to her parents, and witnesses the overdose and subsequent death of her best friend and cocutter. I don’t recall books as racy as this one being recommended by librarians when I was a teenage reader. In fact, as I recall, Go Ask Alice was an underground book—the kind my high school and local libraries considered contraband. I heard about the book for years before finally getting my hands on a copy. The narrator of Crosses, Nancy, is fifteen. The book, set in the mid1980s , was published in 1991. It belongs to a subgenre known as the “problem novel,” popular with young adults. I was intrigued by the title because I recalled my own experiences with cutting. Aside from two brief...

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