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The aim of this research was to investigate the experience and meaning of tattoos that have a healing effect on their wearers.
We acknowledge that healing is a process that is not linear. It may go on for a long time. We are interested in questions like what is the meaning behind the tattoo? Do tattoos help heal difficult experiences and if yes, how? Do healing tattoos contribute to personal growth?
To do this we:
- interviewed and collected images and stories from people who have healing tattoos;
- developed an interactive, open online repository of digital resources related to healing tattoos;
- conducted a scholarly analysis of the repository using the symbolic interactionist framework; and disseminated findings through conference papers, journal articles, and interactive exhibits.
Have you had a look at our digital stories? Visit our YouTube channel here.
Interested in the results and images from this research? Visit the Stories from the Skin page here.