Introduction

This briefing on self-harm is intended primarily for child and family social workers and their managers, and other frontline practitioners including family support workers and residential care staff. Other frontline staff including teachers, youth workers and health care practitioners are also likely to find it helpful. Its aim is to increase understanding of self-harm – what it is, why it happens, what it means, and how to respond to and support children, young people and their families.

Given the extensive literature on self-harm, this frontline briefing provides a broad introduction to the topic, while the complementary resource – ‘Suggestions for Practice: Responding to self-harm among children and adolescents’ – offers practical strategies and techniques to help frontline staff respond more effectively to those affected by self-harm.