Charting the existence and approaches to management of the tattooing and body piercing industry - a historical overview.

Tattooing and body piercing as ancient body arts have existed throughout the centuries. Wholly human phenomena, they are activities that have human phenomena, they are activities that have been practised in almost all cultures at one time or another (Caplan, 2000) and continue and grow in popularity in modern day Western societies (Camphausen, 1997; Rush 2005).The first of a three-part series of articles on the topical issue of tattooing and body piercing, this paper considers the history of tattooing and body piercing. It charts the existence of tattooing and body piercing throughout history and provides an overview of techniques and functions of such activities. Touching on the global revival of tattooing and body piercing, the paper continues by discussing the approaches to management of this industry, highlighting the trend towards state-controlled regulation as the current strategy of choice for controlling industry practices.