Ecological Variation in Self‐Injury Behavior

<jats:p><jats:bold>ABSTRACT: </jats:bold> Only recently have efforts been made to discover the extent of self‐injury behavior in the general population. The study reported here was designed to ascertain and examine the degree of relationship between the ecological distribution of self‐injury behavior and the indices of economic and ethnic status. The general hypothesis predicts that high rates of self‐injury behavior are associated with low economic status and high ethnic status census tract populations in a northern metropolitan area. A total of 2,755 cases of self‐injury were collected for the year 1972 from the records of the city and county police departments, hospital emergency facilities, and a sample of private physicians. Self‐injury behavior was defined as any case of self‐inflicted overdosage, asphyxiation, or injury, whether or not there was evidence of suicidal intent. The indices of economic and ethnic status for the various census tracts were computed in the manner suggested by <jats:ext-link xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="#b8">Shevky and Bell (1955)</jats:ext-link>. All the measures of economic status were found significantly related to self‐injury in the predicted direction. The relationship between ethnic status and self‐injury rates was not significant. When ethnic status was disaggregated, a significant relationship was found between self‐injury rates for nonwhites and foreign‐born whites. The explanation was offered that ethnic differences in self‐injury are mediated by economic status variables and subcultural factors.</jats:p>