This dissertation is an analysis of the mechanism by which tattoo acts as a method of self-transformation, coping and self-healing for young college-educated Chicanas. The purpose is to investigate how tattoo, accessing complex mind/brain/body interconnections, allows participants to re-negotiate and transform the meaning of stressful and/or traumatic events into narratives of strength, agency and survival. While tattoo has been explored as a means of empowerment, there has not been an empirically grounded examination of the mechanisms by which tattoo might act as a practical therapeutic tool.

My focus is on college-educated Chicanas/Latinas between 18 and 40 years old. This embodied subject position offers an opportunity to investigate how intersecting vectors of oppression shape participants' experience as one of self-transformation, healing and agency. I argue that a consideration of the ways in which gender, race, culture and class intersect is critical in understanding how participants construct meaning around stressful and/or traumatic events and circumstances.

Methodologically, my research model combines quantitative and qualitative data collection methods in a 3-phase interdisciplinary project. In Data Collection Phase 1, a heterogeneous sample of 588 undergraduate and graduate students responded to an online questionnaire entitled "The General Tattoo Perceptions and Practices Questionnaire." This established a baseline for cross-comparison of attributes, backgrounds, and life experiences. In Data Collection Phase II, the online questionnaire entitled "The Chicana Tattoo Questionnaire" gathered 38 tattooed Chicana participant responses across multiple lines of inquiry, including motivations and level of bodywork. Data Collection Phase 3 used 8 personal interviews to probe individual histories and uncover relationships between tattoos and ideas of coping/healing. Analyzing these, I used a grounded-theory approach integrated with phenomenological analysis.

Examining the crosscutting influences of gender, class, ethnic and cultural status, we see how tattoo's unique properties make it an effective mechanism for self-transformation, coping and healing. Findings suggest that tattoo, directly tapping into the brain/mind/body continuum of trauma, acts as a mechanism to gain access to --- and retranslate --- stressful and/or traumatic events, initiating healing and recovery. This suggests that tattoo offers a powerful tool to not only affect personal transformation, but to challenge dominant social systems of meaning.