Page - 168 - in Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Puberty and Adolescence - The Inner Worlds of Teenagers and their Parents

168 Lost by the wayside – overstepping limits seriously giving him this “homework assignment”. He listens to her explanation, but again expresses his unwillingness and leaves the room brusquely. The group is meant to talk about the subject of victimhood through role -playing in a TV discussion. R. is assigned the role of a member of an ethnic minority. . . . Nobody says a word. The adolescents slide around on their chairs, stand up, and walk around the group room together. R. shakes his head a few times, places his elbows on his knees and withdraws increasingly. He demonstrates this physically. He becomes nauseated, has to go to the open window and breathe deeply. After some time, this exercise is interrupted and they discuss how difficult it is to carry them out. (Staudner -Moser 1997, 110) The goal of this exercise was to show the adolescents that their general rage at the “world” or life leads them to harm real people – and disregard how these real people feel. R. does not even manage to speak. Thinking about the victims of his violent acts is most unpleasant for him. The exercise fails because the group collectively resists carrying it out – whether because of the difficulty of taking responsibility for violent deeds or because of deep layers of victimhood in child- hood and the attendant pain of feeling and discussing them, remains unclear. In place of this “victimhood” discussion, the trainers offer another exercise: a “balloon trip” from the Remscheider group of games (C3). The task is defined as follows: a hot -air balloon hovers over the open sea, on the brink of falling due to excessive weight. Through convincing arguments, each passenger must make the others believe how important s/he is for the world. Each of them of course wishes to survive, but the least convincing of them must jump overboard. R. assumes the role of navigator. Self -confidently, he claims he is important because only he knows the goal and can steer the balloon. Here, he considers himself important and has taken a meaningful task into his own hands, regardless of how his friends see him. He argues that he alone can take them safely to their destination. Thus, R. has undertaken to dispose over life and death – but in a con- structive way, and not a destructive way as in his physical fights. He likes the task, and he feels wonderful “flying there”, as he describes it. One group member is willing to jump overboard, and R. tells him when he can jump out at a safe place. Shortly before they reach their goal – R. already knows the balloon will land safely only if he also jumps out – he gives up his place to another passenger, who in this role -playing has a wife and two children. He then jumps out himself, but at the same safe place. Accordingly, R. is a social being to the point of sacrificing his dominant role as navigator (see Staudner -Moser 1997, 109ff ). R. is able to convince others in his role as navigator. He does not use his position to force others to jump out, but steers them to a safe place. At the end, he is able to recognize the responsibilities of another passenger – the father of a family – and hands over to him the important task of navigation. Instead of letting everyone