self-portrait: see portraiture.

self-help group, nonprofessional organization formed by people with a common problem or situation, for the purpose of pooling resources, gathering information, and offering mutual support, services, or care. Self-help groups began to spread in the United States following World War II and proliferated rapidly in the 1960s and 70s. Among these groups are such organizations as Alcoholics Anonymous and those for the victims and families of victims of specific diseases, child abuse, suicide, and crime. Groups concerned with a shared situation include those for the elderly, single parents, and homosexuals. The definition of such groups sometimes includes social-advocacy organizations and halfway services (e.g., drug rehabilitation centers). Although self-help groups may draw on, or offer a bridge to, professional assistance, free services are usually provided by the members themselves through meetings, publications, the Internet, and individual contacts.

self-heal or heal-all, weedy perennial (Prunella vulgaris) with the typical angular stems and bluish flowers of the family Labiatae (mint family). Although it probably originated in the Old World, self-heal is now distributed throughout temperate climates and is a common plant of North American pastures and open woods. It was formerly used as a domestic remedy for sore throats and other minor ailments. Prunella is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Lamiales, family Labiatae.

self-fulfilling prophecy, a concept developed by Robert K. Merton to explain how a belief or expectation, whether correct or not, affects the outcome of a situation or the way a person (or group) will behave. Thus, for example, labeling someone a "criminal," and treating that person as such, may foster criminal behavior in the person who is subjected to the expectation.

In criminal law, the giving of evidence that might tend to expose the witness to punishment for a crime. The term is generally used in relation to the privilege of refusing to give such evidence. In some continental European countries (e.g., Germany), a person fearing self-incrimination may make his own decision as to whether or not he will testify. In Anglo-American practice, a person other than an accused cannot refuse to testify; he may only cite his privilege against self-incrimination, and the judge then decides whether he must testify. If required to testify, he must answer all questions except those he considers to be self-incriminating. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution contains a provision that protects a person from being compelled to make self-incriminating statements, one intention being to prevent coercion of testimony. Seealso rights of the accused; exclusionary rule.

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Fusion of male and female sex cells (gametes) produced by the same individual. This type of fertilization occurs in bisexual organisms, including most flowering plants, numerous protozoans, and many invertebrates. Many organisms capable of self-fertilization can also reproduce by means of cross-fertilization. As an evolutionary mechanism, self-fertilization allows an isolated individual to create a local population and stabilizes desirable genetic strains, but it fails to provide a significant degree of variability within a population and thereby limits the possibilities for adaptation to environmental change.

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Process by which a group of people, usually possessing a degree of political consciousness, form their own state and government. The idea evolved as a byproduct of nationalism. According to the UN charter, a people has the right to form itself into a state or to otherwise determine the form of its association with another state, and every state has the right to choose its own political, economic, social, and cultural systems. Moreover, the administering authorities of dependent territories are enjoined to ensure political advancement and the development of self-government in those territories.

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Practice of the denial of physical or psychological desires in order to attain a spiritual ideal or goal. Most religions have some features of asceticism. The desire for ritual purity in order to come in contact with the divine, the need for atonement, and the wish to earn merit or gain access to supernatural powers all are reasons for ascetic practice. Christian hermits and monks, wandering Hindu ascetics, and Buddhist monks all reject worldly goods and practice various forms of self-denial, including celibacy, abstinence, and fasting. Members of the Digambara sect of Jainism practice an extreme form of asceticism that includes the rejection of wearing clothes. Though monasticism is rejected in the Qurhamzahān, ascetic movements such as zuhd have arisen in Islam. Zoroastrianism forbids fasting and mortification.

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In criminal law, an affirmative defense (e.g., to a murder charge) alleging that the defendant used serious force necessarily for self-protection. The claim of self-defense must normally rely on a reasonable belief that the other party intended to inflict great bodily harm or death and that avoidance by retreating was impossible. Seealso homicide.

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