Sociology paper on self harm in adolescents?

Question

For my intro to sociology class I am writing a paper on self-harm in adolescents. I have never written a long paper like this before (8-10 pages) and have never written a sociology paper.I have made a bit of an list of what i want to say, kind of like an outline... and started to write but am not very good at organizing. Can anybody here give me suggestions on how to better organize/write my paper?

what i want to say is that because society reacts so strongly to self-injury (thinking it is a failed suicide attempt or something) and schools do not educate about self-harm, adolescents do not seek help.

here is my basic set up

- defining self harm. what it is and what it is not

- why people self harm

- why adolescents do not get help with thier self harm (here i talk about lack of education and how people misconstrue self harm for suicide attempts)

- a study in college students on self harm

all of the above only makes 3 pages. what else can i add or reorganize to make it a good paper?

Answer 1

Maybe look for some statics... some stories... how they harm themselves... how it effects their relationships... how it effects their future...  is it more prone to certian children, race or age or if they were harmed in some way by someone else first...  

I hope this helps you... good luck

Answer 2

In the beginning part you outline what you are going to say

In the end you could say what you think woudl be a good step forward for society.

Some accounts might be a good idea - you could look on the net to see if there are any good accounts - also see if you can find some statistics on self harm.

The other reason we don't talk about it is its a highly secret ritual as well as people making a fuss about it, it literally marks you out also presenting at hospital to be stitched up is to endure endless abuse and punishment like not being given local anaesthetic.

Parasuicide and self harm do go together so it might be useful to look up stats for this too.

I find when I am writing an essay it helps em to do it in freeflow juts putting down all my thoughts and any research from trawling the net - and then I mark paragraphs by what I have said rather than making the structure first - that way I get more content and just do  a cut and paste job to put it all together.

It would be good to do an interview with someone who works with self harming adolescents.Plus a list of resources and initiatives.

Answer 3

first paragraph is the introdcution...Last paragraph is a summary...good luck

Answer 4

whether a person's past may or may not cause the self harm

if there is always a chance that a person may relapse

agencies resources to help those who may want help

statistics (age most common, gender, socioeconomic status, race)

types of self harm