Cutting: uma caracterização do fenômeno em escolas de Dourados (MS)

Abstract

The Cutting is a growing social phenomenon, and because of its complexity, it is considered a public health problem. It is a form of self-directed violence that is characterized by the act of cutting the skin in a superficial, moderate or deep way, without conscious suicidal intent. It can be understood as a bodily verbalization of feelings. There are reports that this phenomenon has always been present in our society. However, the historical cultural context underwent several transformations in its structure of functioning, mainly due to globalization. The postmodernity that presents itself has several consequences for the way of being, marking significant changes in the way the social and identities senses are produced. Therefore, new cultural conditions of socialization are placed on adolescents, being up to them to develop new strategies of relation with the other, and with their own bodies. However, there is still an incipient number of researches on the subject in the scientific community, especially regarding its definition, characterization and intervention. In Brazil, mainly where there are also difficulties in how to approach and prevent such phenomenon. In this context, the present study had as its general objective characterize the Cutting phenomenon, among adolescents, in schools of the city of Dourados (MS). As specific objectives, it sought to undertake a survey of the number of Cutting cases in public and private schools in the city of Dourados; to verify the age group in which the practice of the phenomenon is more intense; identify the genre in which the phenomenon is recurrent; detect and discuss the propulsive factors associated with the practice of Cutting; identify if there is conscious suicidal ideation; present and discuss possible prevention strategies for the phenomenon. As a methodological design, it was decided to perform a quantiqualitative research, through a data survey. Adolescents from public and private schools in the city of Dourados (MS), aged 13 to 17 years old, were invited to participate. A questionnaire prepared specifically for this survey was used as instrument for data collection. The data collected were submitted to content analysis procedures. As results we can find that there are cases of cutting in the schools of Dourados. It was possible to identify that at the age group in which the practice of the phenomenon is most intense, it is at age 13. It was also found that the most recurrent genre, in this research, was female, among other data. It is concluded that it has generally been possible to identify that the cutting has been approached by a biomedical reference, which has contributed to its psychopathology, which has denied its historical and cultural domain as a phenomenon that is socially constructed.