Page - 152 - in Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Puberty and Adolescence - The Inner Worlds of Teenagers and their Parents

152 Lost by the wayside – overstepping limits Any “anti -aggression training” serves the goal of preventing or reducing aggres- sive behavior so that it will not occur in daily life, or occur less often. To this end, cognitive and emotional factors are observed and analyzed. In addition, partici- pants are confronted with aggressive behavior – both their own and that of their fellow participants. They should learn to renounce violence even if they have the physical strength to prevail – or avoid violence when faced with it. The courses seek to depict use of force as weak, i.e., an attacker is not strong enough to find better methods of resolving conflicts. Training units simulate controlled situations where aggressive behavior can arise. When “trained” in non -aggressive, alternative behavioral patterns, partici- pants learn to find better solutions. The following two case studies are of adoles- cents in custody. Case study: adolescent B. B. was born in 1980 as the oldest of three siblings; his mother is deaf. Officially, he lives with her, but he mostly stays with friends, since – as he says – “life at home is unbearable because of my mother’s partner”. The mother is an alcoholic, with several unsuccessful withdrawal programs behind her. For this reason, B. was already placed in a children’s home at the age of ten. He later was in other homes, although his mother always opposed this. Only for the last year has he lived officially with his mother again. Now and again, there are incidents of assault between the mother and her partner due to alcohol, where – for instance – B. attempts to protect his mother. In his first ten years, B. was very often left alone, since his mother would descend into an alcoholized condition for days and weeks at a time, leaving her children to fend for themselves. Due to poor performance in the regular school, B. was sent to an institute for special education. He only lasted there until completing his minimum compulsory school attendance at the age of 15 – the second class of the non -academic second- ary school. This lack of education also makes it difficult for B. to get a job. B. seems older than his years. He is 180 cm tall and of muscular build. His head is shaven and he has tattoos such as HASS (hate) and SKIN on his arms and hands, although he vehemently rejects and denies membership in any radical right -wing group. He is a heavy smoker. Through his forbidding appearance and aggressive behavior, he has trouble appealing to people who come into conversa- tion with him, and he often has physical fights with his peers, especially when he is drunk. The last time he got in a fight he injured someone, and was sentenced to five months in prison. B. voluntarily attended the anti -aggression training. In the seventh session, the participants are asked to draw a lifeline, with the highlights and low points of their life plotted in its vertical curves. The paper already has the periods of grammar school, high school and post -15 -year -old period graphed for the purposes of orientation. B. quickly drew his lifeline (Figure 6.2).