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Theorising schools’ influence on adolescent self-harm in Wales: a qualitative, grounded theory study to understand the role of the secondary school context in pupils’ experiences of adolescent self-harm, to develop system-level preventive intervention

Parker, Rachel ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7349-2136 2024. Theorising schools’ influence on adolescent self-harm in Wales: a qualitative, grounded theory study to understand the role of the secondary school context in pupils’ experiences of adolescent self-harm, to develop system-level preventive intervention. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
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Abstract

In the UK adolescent self-harm is a serious public health concern. It is a multifaceted behaviour, sharing a complex risk continuum with suicide. There are increasing rates in UK hospital admissions and yet the majority population in the community do not access health services for support. There are some challenges in its public health surveillance, in service support provision capacity, and in understanding adolescents’ support needs within their community. All of these issues present adolescent health risks. To help address these points secondary schools are posited as key community-based support settings, however this community context requires further research exploration. This study theorised schools’ influence on adolescent self-harm, undertaking a qualitative research study that utilised grounded theory for its analysis, informed by the perspectives of the research participants, centred upon the secondary school context in Wales. 76 research participants were gained from 5 purposefully sampled secondary schools in Wales and organisations within the wider youth support system network. A participatory approach informed the research interviews, through the use of Participatory Appraisal. A qualitative research safety protocol was designed to inform the research project, so that the ethical concerns which centred upon adolescent self-harm research with youth participants could be mapped and successfully navigated. The results in this thesis illustrate: the significant adolescent self-harm research access barriers for pupils; the problems in pupils’ and staff’s adolescent self-harm health education and knowledge; the perceived school context factors in how adolescent selfharm came to be present in pupils’ own lives; and stigma being the main institutional, socio-cultural level influence upon adolescent self-harm in the school context. This thesis furthers our understanding of the institutional-level conditions that can risk accumulative negative impacts at an individual-level for adolescent self-harm. These findings can be taken into account within system-level preventive intervention design for schools in Wales.

Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
Date Type: Completion
Status: Unpublished
Schools: Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Funders: .ESRC/ DECIPHer
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 12 March 2024
Last Modified: 12 Mar 2024 17:04
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/167137

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