The purpose of the present review of self-injurious behavior is to analyze the origin and possible maintenance of the behavior. A number of behavioral hypotheses have been posited on the function of the behavior in self-injury, and the present manuscript reviews and analyzes the major hypotheses in the areas of operant contingencies, sensory contingencies, and/or biological variables. A brief review of definitions and prevalence of self-injurious behavior preclude the review of etiology. With the lack of any empirical data to definitively suggest a proven single explanation for the origin of self-injurious behavior, a hypothesis is forwarded which includes components from both the operant and biological domains.
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