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doi: 10.1093/sw/swu025
373
Research has shown that there are diverse motivations for why people get tattoos and piercings
(Kang & Jones, 2007; Wohlrab, Stahl, & Kappeler,
2007). These motivations, with rare exception, are
personally meaningful to people who choose to
obtain modications, and are thus empowering
from a social work perspective. For example, increasing numbers of women obtain tattoos to negotiate their own unique expression of gender or to
symbolize resiliency in overcoming traumatic experiences, including disease or abuse (Kang & Jones,
2007). In a denitive review of the literature on
motivations for receiving tattoos and piercings,
Wohlrab et al. (2007) reported 10 frequently cited
general motivations. These are, in decsreasing order
of prevalence, (1) beauty, art, and fashion; (2) individuality; (3) personal narrative; (4) physical endurance;
(5) group afliation and commitment; (6) resistance;
(7) spirituality and cultural tradition; (8) addiction;
(9) sexual motivation; and (10) no specic reason.
More recent studies on motivation for modications
remain consistent with previous ndings (Antoszewski, Sitek, Fijalkowska, Kasielska, & Kruk-Jeromin,
2009; Stirn, Oddo, Peregrinova, Philipp, & Hinz,
2011; Tiggemann & Hopkins, 2011).
PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION TOWARD
PEOPLE WITH TATTOOS AND PIERCINGS
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