Page - 160 - in Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Puberty and Adolescence - The Inner Worlds of Teenagers and their Parents

160 Lost by the wayside – overstepping limits parents’ divorce (when he was eight) after a short stay in Serbia with his father and stepmother; since then, he has lived together with his mother and younger sister. R. always has had difficulties at school; he was left back one year in primary school, even though he speaks fluent, idiomatic German. He attended the school in a children’s home for delinquents as a day student, without graduating. Since 14 years old he is unemployed; his mother provides him with generous financial support. Since the age of 14 he has been brought to court many times for aggressive acts. His gang has often fought physically in various parks. His most recent crimes – this time leading to imprisonment – were several robberies. Queried as to his motives for participating in the anti -aggression training, he replies: My behavior should change. I don’t want to go on this way. . . . Here, we can discuss why I’m so aggressive and flip out so easily. R. draws his lifeline (Figure 6.4). Figure 6.4 Lifeline of R. (from Staudner -Moser 1997)