Tattooing as a Psychic Defence Mechanism

Hamburger, Ernest

doi:10.1177/002076406601200108

Cited by 15 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Indeed, tattoos may be considered a kind of artificial reinforcement of the body boundary that helps strengthen one's sense of ego [2]. Furthermore, the fact that tattooing may have a compensatory experience for immature egos has also been hypothesized by Hamburger et al [21].…”

Section: Psychoanalytic Aspects and Getting Under The Skinmentioning

confidence: 98%

Tattoos in Psychodermatology

Altunay

Mercan

Özkur

2021

Psych

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Tattooing is a permanent form of body art applied onto the skin with a decorative ink, and it has been practiced from antiquity until today. The number of tattooed people is steadily increasing as tattoos have become popular all over the world, especially in Western countries. Tattoos display distinctive designs and images, from protective totems and tribal symbols to the names of loved or lost persons or strange figures, which are used as a means of self-expression. They are worn on the skin as a lifelong commitment, and everyone has their own reasons to become tattooed, whether they be simply esthetic or a proclamation of group identity. Tattoos are representations of one’s feelings, unconscious conflicts, and inner life onto the skin. The skin plays a major role in this representation and is involved in different ways in this process. This article aims to review the historical and psychoanalytical aspects of tattoos, the reasons for and against tattooing, medical and dermatological implications of the practice, and emotional reflections from a psychodermatological perspective.

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Section: Psychoanalytic Aspects and Getting Under The Skinmentioning

confidence: 98%

Tattoos in Psychodermatology

Altunay

Mercan

Özkur

2021

Psych

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“…For a critique of this tendency, see Sullivan (2006). 6 See, for example, Baden (1973); Bennahum (1971); Copes and Forsyth (1993);Ferguson-Rayport, Griffith, and Strauss (1955); Goldstein (1979); Hamburger (1966); Lander and Kohn (1943); Parry (1934);Post (1968);and Verberne (1969).…”

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confidence: 99%

The Somatechnics of Bodily Inscription: Tattooing

Sullivan

2009

Studies in Gender and Sexuality

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“…There is more about body modification in the wider psychological literature, particularly when associated with individuals who are disturbed or antisocial, but much of this is disappointingly superficial. Hamburger (1966) argues that the primary reason that prison inmates undergo tattooing is to reinforce a sense of group membership in individuals whose self-identity is weak or diffused. Edgerton and Dingman (1963) support the view that 'self-identification' is the central function of tattooing.…”

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confidence: 99%

Tattooing and Piercing: Initiation Rites and Masculine Development

Denness

2005

Brit J Psychotherapy

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Prompted by the surprising reaction of a young man with a borderline personality to an interpretation of castration anxiety, this paper sets out to explore some of the unconscious determinants of tattooing and piercing. Recognizing that such acts can have an initiatory function, sociological, anthropological and psychoanalytic views of initiation and the role of the father in masculine development are examined. In some boys oedipal development is forestalled and castration anxiety is not experienced. A bifocal approach using object relations theories based on regression and Lacanian perspectives that highlight reactions to an oedipal impasse is used to understand these processes. Symbolic body modifications are differentiated from those that are non‐symbolic.

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Tattooing as a Psychic Defence Mechanism

Cited by 15 publications

References 3 publications

Tattoos in Psychodermatology

Tattoos in Psychodermatology

The Somatechnics of Bodily Inscription: Tattooing

Tattooing and Piercing: Initiation Rites and Masculine Development

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