Tattoos as a window to the psyche:How talking about skin art can inform psychiatric practice  

作　　者：Hannah Roggenkamp Andrew Nicholls Joseph M Pierre 

机构地区：[1]Mental Illness Research,Education and Clinical Center,VA Puget Sound Healthcare System [2]VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System [3]Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences,David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

出　　处：《World Journal of Psychiatry》2017年第3期148-158,共11页世界精神病学杂志

摘　　要：Tattooing the skin as a means of personal expression is a ritualized practice that has been around for centuries across many different cultures.Accordingly,the symbolic meaning of tattoos has evolved over time and is highly individualized,from both the internal perspective of the wearer and the external perspective of an observer.Within modern Western societies through the 1970 s,tattoos represented a cultural taboo,typically associated with those outside of the mainstream such as soldiers,incarcerated criminals,gang members,and others belonging to marginalized and counter-cultural groups.This paper aims to review the more recent epidemiology of tattoos in Western culture in order to establish that tattooing has become a mainstream phenomenon.We then review psychological and psychiatric aspects of tattoos,with a goal of revising outmoded stigmas about tattooing and helping clinicians working with tattooed patients to facilitate an exploration of the personal meaning of skin art and self-identity.We suggest that as a kind of augmentation of the physical exam,looking at and talking to patients about their tattoos can provide a valuable window into the psyche,informing clinical practice.Tattooing the skin as a means of personal expression is a ritualized practice that has been around for centuries across many different cultures.Accordingly,the symbolic meaning of tattoos has evolved over time and is highly individualized,from both the internal perspective of the wearer and the external perspective of an observer.Within modern Western societies through the 1970 s,tattoos represented a cultural taboo,typically associated with those outside of the mainstream such as soldiers,incarcerated criminals,gang members,and others belonging to marginalized and counter-cultural groups.This paper aims to review the more recent epidemiology of tattoos in Western culture in order to establish that tattooing has become a mainstream phenomenon.We then review psychological and psychiatric aspects of tattoos,with a goal of revising outmoded stigmas about tattooing and helping clinicians working with tattooed patients to facilitate an exploration of the personal meaning of skin art and self-identity.We suggest that as a kind of augmentation of the physical exam,looking at and talking to patients about their tattoos can provide a valuable window into the psyche,informing clinical practice.

关 键 词：Tattoos Military PSYCHIATRY Deviance SKIN art PSYCHOPATHOLOGY Psychology 

分 类 号：R749[医药卫生—神经病学与精神病学]