Analyzes interviews with four self-injuring young women. Suggests the meaning of self-injury is not the same as the meaning of attempted suicide, and that the two acts are related in the sense that self-injury is an adaptive alternative to suicide. The function of self-injury is a communicative act. The extent to with self-injurers can control…

Examines parallels between the findings of empirical studies on bulimia and the findings of empirical studies on the diffusion status of the adolescent identity transition. Results reveal similarities in familial descriptors, personality characteristics, and interpersonal styles for adolescents who are bulimic and those who are identity diffused.…