241 Ink-ling of Identity: Unraveling Tattoo Culture for Mental Health Counselors Tattoo art is one of the earliest forms of self-expression, but the advent of colonialism, and its accompanying religious convictions, halted the practice in many Indigenous lands and led to widespread bias against tattooed people—a bias maintained to the present. How might the counseling profession respond to this residual bias and intentionally invoke a cultural shift destigmatizing tattoos? Through an extensive literature review, this article provides a more comprehensive understanding of tattoo-related mental health correlates, biases, and theories that enhance the effectiveness of counseling and parallel trends in the counseling profession that emphasize sociocultural influences on wellness. As a result of this survey, the authors propose a new theory of tattoo motivation, the unencumbered self theory of tattoos, which advances existing tattoo theory and aligns with current counseling trends by postulating that tattoos symbolize the uniquely human desire to transcend norms and laws imposed by external influences. Keywords: tattoo, bias, mental health, theory, counseling Imagine you are the parent of a 13-year-old girl. While at a parent–teacher conference, you learn your daughter is struggling with disruptive behavior and angry outbursts during class. The teacher asks if you would support your daughter seeing the school counselor and adds that the counselor is in the school building and available to speak with parents. You approach the counselor’s office, gently knock, and are welcomed by a warm, feminine-presenting adult. As the counselor offers their hand to shake, you notice an entirely tattooed forearm, and as you greet their eyes, more ink is evident on their neck. What feelings, assumptions, or concerns emerge as you put yourself in the place of the parent in the above vignette? Despite the recent popularization of tattoos, a bias remains. Current research indicates that nearly half of adults in the United States between the ages of 18–34 have at least one tattoo (Roggenkamp et al., 2017), and the tattoo business is one of the fastest-growing enterprises, producing over a billion dollars in annual revenue (Zuckerman, 2020). This trend in tattoo art transcends the United States and is evident throughout the world (Ernst et al., 2022; Khair, 2022; Roberts, 2016). Nevertheless, bias against tattooed people remains, and women and people of color receive the brunt of this discrimination (Baumann et al., 2016; Guéguen, 2013; Kaufmann & Armstrong, 2022; Khair, 2022; Roberts, 2016). Given this meteoric resurgence in tattoo art and the discrimination that clings to it, implications for counseling practice inevitably exist. Professional questions relevant to the counseling practice include: Is there a relationship between a desire for a tattoo and mental health? What motivates a person to seek a tattoo? In what ways may a tattoo bias subconsciously shape a counselor’s interactions with a client? How might the counseling community communicate a spirit of inclusion to the tattooed? To address these questions, this article employs the following structure. First, we provide a context for this bias by briefly examining the history and cultural perspectives of tattoos. Second, to establish the importance of Russ Curtis, Lisen C. Roberts, Paul Stonehouse, Melodie H. Frick Russ Curtis, PhD, LCMHC, is a professor at Western Carolina University. Lisen C. Roberts, PhD, is an associate professor at Western Carolina University. Paul Stonehouse, PhD, is an assistant professor at Western Carolina University. Melodie H. Frick, PhD, NCC, ACS, LPC-S, is a professor at Western Carolina University. Correspondence may be addressed to Russ Curtis, Western Carolina University, 28 Schenck Parkway, Office 214, Asheville, NC 28803, curtis@wcu.edu. The Professional Counselor™ Volume 14, Issue 3, Pages 241–254 http://tpcjournal.nbcc.org © 2024 NBCC, Inc. and Affiliates doi: 10.15241/rc.14.3.241
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