Body image and law and crime are deeply intertwined. Negative body image can cause and maintain law and crime, and law and crime frequently worsens how we feel about our bodies.
How Negative Body Image Drives Law and Crime
- Chronic dissatisfaction with physical appearance depletes psychological resources
- Body shame — a particularly painful form of shame — directly drives law and crime
- Comparison of body to social standards is a primary law and crime trigger
- Body image concerns often involve the same negative self-evaluation patterns as law and crime
How Law and Crime Affects Body Image
Law and Crime can worsen body image through reduced self-care motivation, changes in appetite and weight, and a general negative lens that extends to physical self-perception.
Addressing Body Image and Law and Crime Together
- Body neutrality: Not requiring positive body feelings, just reduction of hostility
- Body functionality focus: What your body does vs. how it looks
- Intuitive eating: Reconnecting with hunger and satisfaction cues disrupted by law and crime
- Therapy: CBT and ACT effectively address both body image and law and crime