A review of rates of prevalence and precipitating factors to Asian females deliberate self-harm (literature review) ; Dynamic understandings of mental health and mental illness as they are experienced and employed by young Pakistani females: a qualitative investigation (research paper)

• Main Author: Basra, Tarvinder Kaur
• Published: University of Birmingham 2007
• Subjects: 616.89
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.486622

This thesis consists of two papers. The first paper is a review of the literature exploring self-harm in Asian females. Research that explored prevalence rates revealed-that during the transition from adolescence to adulthood rates ofself-harm were higher in Asian females compared to their Asian male and White female counterparts. The paper then reviews research that has aimed to identify precipitating factors for Asian female adolescents and Asian women's self-harm. Methodological considerations are discussed and it is argued that further research is needed to inform service provision and delivery. The second paper is a qualitative research project that explored young Pakistani females (aged between 14 and 16 years old) understanding and perception of mental health and mental illness. Focus group transcripts were analysed using Foucauldian Discourse Analysis. Participants drew on psychological and social discourses, and religious and spiritual discourses, to discuss how mental health problems were caused. These discourses were also used to construct mentally ill people as 'different'. Individual interviews were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Three main themes were identified: complementary and dichotomous understandings of the causes of mental illness, conflicts and contingencies in seeking help and choosing interventions and resolving dilemmas: respect and responsibility.