Counting the sharpeners: How do secondary school staff experience student self-harm?

Background: This is a mixed-methods study which explores how student self-harm is experienced by staff in a secondary school in the East Midlands. Research suggests that self-harm is becoming more common across the population and is particularly prevalent in girls aged 13-16. Schools are being given more responsibility to support their student’s social, emotional, and mental health which includes supporting those who self-harm. The research has two phases, beginning with a questionnaire shared with all school staff (phase one) which is used to inform impressions of wider staff views, and then a classic grounded theory approach (phase two) to further explore the experiences of eight members of staff in greater depth. Method: The research was made up of two phases. The first phase was heavily quantitative and used a questionnaire that was distributed to all members of staff within the secondary school. Questions were developed to gain knowledge on the overall experience of student self-harm from staff across the school and were piloted prior to distribution. The second phase of the research uses classic grounded theory with data being collected through focus groups and interviews. Three iterative rounds of data collection were completed before theoretical saturation was reached. Analysis and discussion: The findings of this study were that there are barriers to what secondary school staff can offer students who self-harm. Currently, staff members are taking proactive steps to prevent self-harm, such as removing sharp objects and not allowing students to be without supervision if they are known to self-harm. Staff within the research have indicated that they may be taking such steps but they do not feel that this is enough. They feel they are unable to do more as they have not had any specific training or support and are also concerned about responding in the wrong way. They also feel there is not enough time or funding to provide additional support to these students. Staff perceptions and understanding of self-harm do not differ from data previously found, yet the responsibility that they have to support students who self-harm has significantly increased given changes in policy direction and potential incidence. This mismatch will affect the outcomes of young people. Staff confidence and competence in supporting students who self-harm needs to be increased by reducing and removing the barriers that they face.