MOTIVATION OF SELF-INJURIOUS-BEHAVIOR - REVIEW OF SOME HYPOTHESES

Literature on self-injurious behavior suggested 5 major hypotheses concerning motivation of such behavior: self-injurious behavior is a learned operant, maintained by positive social reinforcement (positive reinforcement hypothesis); self-injurious behavior is a learned operant, maintained by termination of an aversive stimulus (negative reinforcement hypothesis); self-injurious behavior is a means of providing sensory stimulation (self-stimulation hypothesis); self-injurious behavior is the product of aberrant physiological processes (organic hypothesis) and self-injurious behavior is an attempt to establish ego boundaries or reduce guilt (psychodynamic hypotheses). Data bearing on each hypothesis were reviewed and evaluated. Effective treatment may depend on recognition of different motivational sources of self-injurious behavior and developmental relationships existing among these sources. Animal analog experiments may provide clues to motivation of self-injurious behavior in cases in which human experimentation is ethically indefensible.