The motivation of self-injurious behavior: A review of some hypotheses.

The literature on self-injurious behavior suggests 5 major hypotheses concerning the motivation of such behavior: (a) Self-injurious behavior is a learned operant, maintained by positive social reinforcement (positive reinforcement hypothesis); (b) self-injurious behavior is a learned operant, maintained by the termination of an aversive stimulus (negative reinforcement hypothesis); (c) self-injurious behavior is a means of providing sensory stimulation (self-stimulation hypothesis); (d) self-injurious behavior is the product of aberrant physiological processes (organic hypothesis); and (e) self-injurious behavior is an attempt to establish ego boundaries or to reduce guilt (psychodynamic hypotheses). Data bearing on each hypothesis are reviewed and evaluated. It is suggested that effective treatment may depend on a recognition of the different motivational sources of self-injurious behavior and the developmental relationships existing among these sources. Animal analog experiments may provide clues to the motivation of self-injurious behavior in cases in which human experimentation is ethically indefensible. (88 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)