Body Modification

Body Modification practices have existed as long as people, yet in western society the deviancy label remains applied to individuals who participate in various modification practices. Culture dictates societal norms as well as abnormal, taboo, and out casting stratification. Where the lines are drawn, separating acceptable and unacceptable expression, vary according to whom one asks as well as what culture they allege, and the trends of that time. Exploring the origin of the deviancy label as it applies to body modification practices in contemporary western culture, and updating previous misconceptions as certain practices become more mainstream. The significance of better understanding the rationale, implications, and possible classifications of individuals and beliefs surrounding body modification practices may be extremely useful in changing fallacies and informing practitioners, as well as the public, for the advancement of us all.

Whether you pluck your eyebrows, tattoo your arm, or bind your feet you are participating in a form of body modification. This general term applies to an extremely wide range in activities. For the purpose of this review, a narrowing of the discussion to deviant classified practices is required. It is a relatively rational assumption that basic grooming practices such as hair and nail trimming are typically executed in an effort to promote social acceptance though expression in unconventional means is also possible in these areas. More invasive body modification practices like surgery can also be postulated as attempts to socially modify one's standing and or in conjunction with improvement in physical functioning and appearance in the individual's perspective. Some individuals chose to alter their height, remove teeth, acquire implants or add horns, all in an effort to improve their personal beliefs of physical attractiveness. If people in society want to alter their physical appearance, why does it matter to the rest of society, and what is the deviant harm in doing so? Life altering consequences and opportunities occur because of certain body modification practices as well as lack of others, and this is an important piece of the puzzle to better bridge the gap between the labels and its appropriateness in contemporary western culture. These questions are important to ask and attempt to understand in the review of body modification practices that deemed deviant in this culture, is steadily blurring the lines between what is distasteful and conventional.

What is beautiful and where do the standards come from? Because society is ever changing and adapting so too are the standards of beauty. American history has run the pop culture gamut of large women being attractive to heroin sheik being what is in, to beehives and mullets, to grunge kids and baggy jeans. Clothes, hair, and skin all change as we age, time passes, and yet some popular beauty standards seem to remain relatively consistent. Health is and has become a prevalent and propelling force for trends, and mainstream beauty standards, though some means to obtain a healthy appearance is ironically unhealthy. There are no clear origins of beauty, though the quest for it in all its various cultural forms can be seen in ancient times; symmetry seems to be what pleases the human senses. Beauty is subjective and varied and but some individuals will be denied a job for a tattoo and asked to remove a piercing, still in the contemporary America that is in flux and presenting a more inclusive and accepting attitude toward some forms of body modification.

A correlation between youths with piercings and tattoos exists among deviant behaviors. The younger the teens are that have tattoos, the more likely they are to acquire more tattoos and participate in deviant behaviors like weapon possession and drug use. Noticing trends among youths that may be at risk is one useful tool teachers and counselors may be able to rely on to direct questions and attention to youths who need intervention (Dukes & Stein, 2011). Perhaps the true correlation lies within the attempt to gain control over the difficult life struggle and individual trauma more than a rebellious mindset, though it is the aim for many body modifiers. Some individuals enjoy the painful aspect of body modification and the status of toughness the individual is associated with due to their capacity to endure pain, others succumb to peer-pressures of a group or association and as a means of initiation, acquire tattoos or branding, and still others acquire a tattoo or piercing because they think it is cute. Research supports the claim that adolescents and young adults who engage in body modification like piercings and tattoos report having mental health issues including depression, cutting, and psychopathological conditions. Others utilize these same body modification techniques as a means of therapy and autobiographical significance (Stirn & Hinz, 2008). Taking into account the age and reasoning behind the allure of body modification is an insightful and useful tool in understanding the individual, possible prior life events, and worldview. Considering adolescences and young adults are at the point in their physical and mental development in which a striving to establish the self is at the forefront of concern, utilizing body modification, as a modality may be an effort to control and express the self that is in the process of becoming using their bodies as a canvas. Since society is by its nature fluid, and people are living longer, redefining themselves several times over into late adulthood, body modifiers will continue to appear in society and are likely to have many tattoos and therefore the possibility of many talking points in therapy. Since tattooing and piercing have increased in mainstream popularity, a sonorous understanding and awareness of individual differences is important to avoid over generalizing people who modify in these ways. Counselors can especially be aided in their efforts to assist clients if they have a deeper, well-informed understanding of this form of expression and the implications of personality type and coping styles. It is postulated that if counselors become skilled in reading the art of the body they will better enable the therapeutic relationship and how culture and the individual's goal for beauty combine in outward expression that may be rooted less in deviant behaviors and more closely in a new social normative form of accepted expression (Albin, 2006).

Though all people modify their bodies, individuals are labeled deviant for certain tattoos, piercings, and nonmainstream body modification like scarification (Wright & McNeal, 2012). Since many individuals that chose to participate in shocking body modification, like horn implants or tongue splitting, there is a fear and confusion about why these individuals